So I purchased and installed Windows 8...

[BelieverX]

Yesterday I purchased Windows 8 Standard edition. Before installation I gave some thought to whether I should install 8 as a third OS, or delete the XP and 7 partitions and start with a clean slate. I chose the later. After about an hour of backing up data onto a second drive, I installed the new operating system. I have bought and installed every non server Microsoft OS since Windows 3.11, and regardless of the bad publicity I had already made up my mind to try Windows 8. Below are the pros and cons of my experience so far.

Please feel free to add your pros and cons.

Hardware:
Intel Q9300 quad core at 2.5GHz
8GB RAM DDR2-800
500GB HD SATA2
Nvidia 8800GT video card

Pros:

• Installation was fast, really fast.

• Boot time...about half the time it takes for Windows 7 to boot. That will probably change as more software is installed.

• No more system freezes or lockups. Some Windows 7 users, including myself, were having problems with Windows 7 freezing. Without warning everything on the screen would freeze. Nothing other than a cold restart would help. In my case it happened at least twice a day.

Cons:

• Classic desktop without a start button. This wouldn't be such a bad idea if Microsoft had included a way to access software folders without having to return to the "metro" screen.

• Included PDF reader. This thing is an absolute blunder. I double clicked on a PDF file and it opened up in a Windows 8 PDF reader hybrid. It takes three clicks to close the document you've opened in the reader, and that doesn't even close the reader itself. For that you have to move your mouse down to the lower left and click to head back to the "metro" menu. That is extremely annoying if you happened to have opened the document in the classic desktop mode, which would require you to click the desktop app to get back to where you were when you opened the PDF file in the first place. Luckily there is a remedy to this...install Adobe's Reader, and then set it up to be the default PDF handler.

• With today's shuffling of files from one hard rive to another, would it be to much to ask for a Windows Explorer with dual pane capability.

 

[m.a.r.X]

I have tried the developer preview in our computer lab sometime ago and it was very confusing on how to close a program. lots of stuff felt really counter intuitive to me.

I would have liked two distinct environments, much like Linux's KDE, Gnome etc, a classic mode with a more refined windows 7 look and feel with similar menu structure and the new metro mode.

 

[BelieverX]

I would have liked two distinct environments, much like Linux's KDE, Gnome etc, a classic mode with a more refined windows 7 look and feel with similar menu structure and the new metro mode.

You're right, this is exactly the feeling I got when I was clicking back and forth between the two interfaces like a mad man. I really don't need the "metro" side of the OS, a refined desktop option with a start button would serve me better.

Microsoft did practically nothing to the desktop other than to remove the start button. You still can't replace the "control panel" icon without editing the registry. Before if you didn't want the "control panel" icon on the desktop, you could alternatively access the control panel from the classic start button...that option is still there somewhat. You have to move your mouse down to the lower left of your screen, wait for the new start button to appear, left click and then choose control panel from the menu. But this doesn't excuse not giving users an option to change the icon. And the problem with replacing the recycle bin icon is still present. You can replace the icon, but it does not respond when you empty the recycle bin. The only way to change that is to again edit the registry.

Windows Explorer is still a relic when you compare it to other File Manager applications available. I have been using Directory Opus since XP to replace Explorer. I need dual pane capability. Directory Opus also offers a hard drive sync utility, file transfer over ftp, file compression and zip, file encryption etc...

edit..Bible Explorer 4 doesn't work on Windows 8 64bit version. Too bad, because that was my Bible software of choice.

 

[m.a.r.X]

Yeah, I agree but some tech bloggers apparently likes it though

 

[Gnarwhal]

How's it compare to, say, Millennium Edition?

I just ask cause it sounds so far like users are generally unhappy with Windows 8 overall, I'm wondering where it ranks on the list of best-worst Windows editions.

 

[dysert]

Bible Explorer 4 doesn't work on Windows 8 64bit version. Too bad, because that was my Bible software of choice.

I don't have Win8 and have never tried Bible Explorer 4. However, have you ever tried e-Sword (http://www.e-sword.net/)? It's free and works fine on my Win7 64-bit machine.

 

[dysert]

I just ask cause it sounds so far like users are generally unhappy with Windows 8 overall, I'm wondering where it ranks on the list of best-worst Windows editions.

I don't have Win8 and don't plan on installing it until absolutely necessary. Rating the versions is very problematic because of the wide variety of users involved. For example, I'm a programmer and have specific needs for how I want the machine to work. Win7 (plus some freeware additions) works great for how I interact with the computer. Otoh, there are a ton of users who use their machines as kind of a game console (or application dashboard). For these users, I'd guess Win8 will be accepted with much glee. Microsoft is apparently moving in the direction of accommodating the non-technical users (and, to be fair, they probably already constitute the majority of the Windows market share).

 

[paul1149]

IMO, Win8 is a testimony to MS's heavy-handedness, but nonetheless I think it will be successful for the following reasons.

First, it's an improved operating system under the hood. It runs on fewer resources and has functional improvements over Win7. Thus the analogies to Me and Vista don't hold very well.

Second, where Win8 most blatantly falls down - at the immediate big-screen user interface - third party vendors have already stepped into the gap to restore traditional functionality. OEMs are even doing so, so that new machines will behave right out of the box as the typical user is used to. This is critical to corporate adoption.

The $40 upgrade promo is going to help too. I was planning to upgrade an older laptop, but instead sold it. But I still will probably buy a couple of licenses at the reduced price for future use.

PS: If you're in the market for Bible software, check out theWord.

 

[EphesiaNZ]

I'm going to give Windows 8 a try now it's been released. Like I said before, I tried the preview early this year and quite frankly hated it but a few things have been improved during the final development stages so, I will give it a chance in a day or so.

Generally, I don't like the way desktop interfaces are going. Windows 8, Gnome, Ubuntu Unity and others are pandering to the "mobile look" - that's great if you like that but there are a lot of older people (say 40+) that are finding the Windows 8 thing just plain alien. Windows 8 seems to be neither mobile or desktop though in my opinion and looks to be hedging it's bets as to which way the market will go in the future. I'm kinda in agreement with that strategy as the whole IT thing is about reinventing the wheel (or itself) in order to drive sales - what happens when the mobile space gets truly flooded by mobile devices?

Desktops will probably make a return at some point as some kinda new concept that we spend too much time attached to a small mobile device... and no doubt we will all fall for it again!

Monkeyboy shows us what a wonderful experience Windows 8 will be on an 82" touch screen - will be great for the medical world, not the screen, I mean all those RSI cases that will result in using these techologies

Build 2012: Steve Ballmer shows off an 82-inch Windows 8 slate PC at Build 2012 - YouTube

 

[EphesiaNZ]

Yesterday I purchased Windows 8 Standard edition....

Please feel free to add your pros and cons.

Well I ordered the Windows 8 Pro upgrade online and it took about 90 minutes to download (my DSL connection isn't that fast). Once downloaded, I chose to make installation the media rather than install direct so, chose "Make an ISO" which I could burn to CD. You can also make a USB installer image directly but the ISO option is better as you can burn to CD and make a USB installer with Microsofts Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool - ignore the fact it's for Win7, work on Windows 8 too

I actually made a USB installer from the ISO image, using the tool above, as I wanted to install over the Windows 7 install I have on my mini PC box which is too small to house a standard CD/DVD drive. I decided on a clean install so I chose the Windows 7 partition and deleted it before carrying on with install. As already mentioned, the installation was smooth and quick and there it was!

Once in, I played around and found (to my surprise) that things had improved by far over the earlier preview I installed in March. First thing I did was see if there were any updates to be applied - yes, about 260MB worth!

I decided to install Avast anti-virus but could have chosen not too as Microsoft's inbuilt screen and defender tools would probably do the job - with Windows 8 being new I wasn't taking the chance!

Performance was pretty good but not as good as a Linux install . My PC was using about 1.2GB of RAM at idle so I would suggest nothing less than 2GB of memory for Windows 8. I've heard people say Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7 but what they are saying is that a new install of Windows is faster than what was installed - a reinstall of Windows will result in a faster machine. The real test is how does it perform after 6 months with all the applications loaded which you use on a daily basis?

Personally, I would not use this on a machine older than 3 years - my minimum spec would be,

Dual/Quad Core CPU
2GB memory (4GB would be better)
SATA hard drive (SSD would be better)
Reasonable graphics card either discreet or onboard

Do I like Windows 8? - Yes
Will I keep using it? - I will give it a serious go this time
Would I recommend it? - Yes, if you have a modern PC - No, if you have an older XP/Vista PC. Those with older PC's have the following options,

1) Stick with what you have
2) Look at Linux Mint (or another Linux distro) as a way to go forward with your current hardware
3) Get you wallet out and go shopping!

 

[WalksWithChrist]

I upgraded from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 8 Pro. I got Windows 8 for $15, so that was nice.
Windows Upgrade Offer - Landing Page

I normally don't like to upgrade. I'm much more of a clean install guy. But I wanted to see just how easy this could be, so I upgraded and also installed from a flash drive. And boy was it easy! Easiest install ever. And I've done *plenty* of OS installs.

I haven't played around much with the features. But the install process itself was impressive. Especially for Microsoft.


I'm still trying to find the snap in for doing stuff with partitions.

 

[MrJim]

I upgraded from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 8 Pro. I got Windows 8 for $15, so that was nice.
Windows Upgrade Offer - Landing Page

I normally don't like to upgrade. I'm much more of a clean install guy. But I wanted to see just how easy this could be, so I upgraded and also installed from a flash drive. And boy was it easy! Easiest install ever. And I've done *plenty* of OS installs.

I haven't played around much with the features. But the install process itself was impressive. Especially for Microsoft.


I'm still trying to find the snap in for doing stuff with partitions.

I'll be interested to hear your full review

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I normally don't like to upgrade. I'm much more of a clean install guy.

If you go to Settings > Change PC Settings > General > and click on Remove Everything and Reinstall Windows, it will do a completely clean install.

I only learned this after I had used what I thought was the option to format the drive while installing the upgrade and having half my programs installed.

I got 3 copies of Win 8 for $45. You can't beat that price!

 

[EphesiaNZ]

If you go to Settings > Change PC Settings > General > and click on Remove Everything and Reinstall Windows, it will do a completely clean install.

I only learned this after I had used what I thought was the option to format the drive while installing the upgrade and having half my programs installed.

As I said earlier, I just deleted the current Windows partition when it asks you to select the partition you want to install Windows 8 too and then install 8 to that deleted partition. A true upgrade just renames the current Windows system folder "win0" then installs its own "windows" system folder - this has always been the case.

A tip for those with an SSD drive. With Windows installed on an SSD drive you need to disable Windows Defrag utility as defragging an SSD may shorten its lifespan due to the fact that the defrag utility does many writes to the drive during the defragmentation process - SSD's have a finite number of writes to a block on on its memory. Disable defragmentation service which is now called "optimize drives".

Won't turning off disk defragging slow down an SSD?

Technically yes but, SSD's read/write speeds are so fast you probably will not notice if the drive is defragged or not.

 

[m.a.r.X]

As I said earlier, I just deleted the current Windows partition when it asks you to select the partition you want to install Windows 8 too and then install 8 to that deleted partition. A true upgrade just renames the current Windows system folder "win0" then installs its own "windows" system folder - this has always been the case.

A tip for those with an SSD drive. With Windows installed on an SSD drive you need to disable Windows Defrag utility as defragging an SSD may shorten its lifespan due to the fact that the defrag utility does many writes to the drive during the defragmentation process - SSD's have a finite number of writes to a block on on its memory. Disable defragmentation service which is now called "optimize drives".

Won't turning off disk defragging slow down an SSD?

Technically yes but, SSD's read/write speeds are so fast you probably will not notice if the drive is defragged or not.

Thanks for the tip

Have you heard of the RAM Disk ?
I had a windows program to create a "disk" on the RAM and you can use it much like a normal partition of the hdd and its incredibly fast (obviously). And at the end of the session it writes down the contents to the HDD and loads it back at the beginning of the session (I guess).
I wonder if this kind of tech can be used with the SSDs to decrease the amount of writes.

BTW, I just like the Windows 8 ad by Microsoft. That song is absolutely wonderful.
Everything At Once by Lenka on Vimeo

 

[paul1149]

I haven't installed 8 yet, but my understanding is that defrag is turned off automatically for SSDs. I did a little search and came up with the following, which says that it is, but that the defragmenter now also does optimization, a desirable thing which still is enabled for SSDs. If that is so, it would be better to leave the defragmenter enabled:

SSD Defrag on Windows 8 | Windows Secrets Lounge

 

[m.a.r.X]

I haven't installed 8 yet, but my understanding is that defrag is turned off automatically for SSDs. I did a little search and came up with the following, which says that it is, but that the defragmenter now also does optimization, a desirable thing which still is enabled for SSDs. If that is so, it would be better to leave the defragmenter enabled:

SSD Defrag on Windows 8 | Windows Secrets Lounge

Thats a good read. Seems like EphesiaNZ's version is not exactly true.

Need more resarch hmmm.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

I'll be interested to hear your full review

I haven't played around with it much. It seems to run fine performance wise. I'm not finding much use for the "Home" screen really. Not sure what to do with it!

I do like the layout of the control panel. It will take some getting used to, but it's smooth and logical.

I would have played around more with it. But (you'll like this!) my cousin gave me his old MacBook 2 1 and I've been spending all my time with it. I'm a Mac guy again!!! The battery is completely dead, so I ordered a new one from Amazon just a minute ago. It's running Lion and running *very* well. It's one of the black ones! And it's been upgraded to 4GB ram.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

If you go to Settings > Change PC Settings > General > and click on Remove Everything and Reinstall Windows, it will do a completely clean install.

I only learned this after I had used what I thought was the option to format the drive while installing the upgrade and having half my programs installed.

I got 3 copies of Win 8 for $45. You can't beat that price!

That sounds like a good method for doing a clean install after the fact.

The price is nice. It's good to know that OS costs are falling in general.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

As I said earlier, I just deleted the current Windows partition when it asks you to select the partition you want to install Windows 8 too and then install 8 to that deleted partition. A true upgrade just renames the current Windows system folder "win0" then installs its own "windows" system folder - this has always been the case.

A tip for those with an SSD drive. With Windows installed on an SSD drive you need to disable Windows Defrag utility as defragging an SSD may shorten its lifespan due to the fact that the defrag utility does many writes to the drive during the defragmentation process - SSD's have a finite number of writes to a block on on its memory. Disable defragmentation service which is now called "optimize drives".

Won't turning off disk defragging slow down an SSD?

Technically yes but, SSD's read/write speeds are so fast you probably will not notice if the drive is defragged or not.

One big reason I don't like upgrades...wasted HDD space.

I didn't know that about SSDs. I'm taking notes in case I get one one of these days!