Windows 8 release date is October 26, 2012

Comments

1. 
   18 Jul 2012 ~ 4:43pm Straight_Man Thank you for the update, @primesuspect .
2. 
   18 Jul 2012 ~ 5:03pm Soda They killed the ability to bring the start bar back by completely removing the resources for it. They apparently didn't approve of people modding it to actually bring back the best usability feature windows has ever had. Ok that might be stretching it...but you get it =P. Can anyone say shell replacement?
3. 
   18 Jul 2012 ~ 5:14pm Thrax Start8 no longer works?
4. 
   18 Jul 2012 ~ 6:51pm Cliff_Forster Well, for $39.99 I almost have to.
5. 
   18 Jul 2012 ~ 7:02pm boasist
   YES!
   
   We are hitting the ground hard with a full on Windows 8 program at Trinet Computer Repair / Network Management. I expect big things.
6. 
   19 Jul 2012 ~ 2:32am CrazyJoe I agree with Cliff. For $40 they are definitely trying to get just about everyone (Except maybe Tim) to upgrade to Windows 8.
7. 
   19 Jul 2012 ~ 2:29pm Soda @Thrax: I believe it still does, but it soon won't. Someone from microsoft had some interview or something and explained that every start bar app that worked in the consumer preview didn't work in the upcoming release preview build, since it damaged the intended user experience. I don't know...something stupid like that. Anyway, microsoft is trying its hardest to kill third party start bars, just hoping they fail.
8. 
   19 Jul 2012 ~ 4:55pm ardichoke Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng, if I wanted a gorram tablet interface, I'd buy a gorram tablet. Filing this one under "Won't Buy"
9. 
   14 Aug 2012 ~ 9:26pm CrazyJoe So out with the old and in with the new. Going offline to install Windows 8 on my new OCZ SSD. See you all on the flipside!!
10. 
    14 Aug 2012 ~ 9:29pm primesuspect I like Windows 8. Been using it for a bit now.
11. 
    14 Aug 2012 ~ 9:32pm Thrax Used it a lot a work. Still can't stand it. Oh well, maybe Windows 9!
12. 
    14 Aug 2012 ~ 9:39pm CB I've been on it for a few weeks, It just feels like Win7 with a few different looking menus. Some of my software hasn't been compatable, but that should start to fix up after official release.
13. 
    14 Aug 2012 ~ 9:52pm primesuspect

    I've been on it for a few weeks, It just feels like Win7 with a few different looking menus. Some of my software hasn't been compatable, but that should start to fix up after official release.

    That's mostly my feeling too. Once you get past the few minor interface differences, it's essentially the same as Windows 7. I can do all the same things, it's just slightly different mouse motions and clicking in different places. No big deal, really.
    
    
14. 
    14 Aug 2012 ~ 10:39pm fatcat Win2K for life!!!
    
    ...wait
15. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 1:40am Canti Just one very important question about Win 8. Open paint, draw a circle and fill in everything around the circle with a color. Is it 2 solid colors or do you get this bullshit?
    
16. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 2:59am primesuspect Oh man... If Canti cannot into MS Paint 8, it is the end.
17. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 8:39am CB
    
    It's just you.
18. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:15am ardichoke Minor change is not the phrase I'd use to describe Win8. Major paradigm shift away from mouse/trackpad usability is what I'd go with. Microsofts commitment to every other release of Windows being a complete clusterfuck continues (IMO)
19. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:29am CB No really... Other than differently configured Start menu (which I rarely use anyway), nothing about my daily use of the PC changed between win7 and win8. It's not a major shift, it's just a UI tweak. Where are you guys seeing these huge changes?
20. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:35am Thrax Let's start with the interface with icons that are so big I could hit them with a baseball from 30 feet. What an utterly obnoxious waste of space.
21. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:39am ardichoke How about the fact that they've forced the Metro UI that was designed specifically for tablets and touch to be default, whether you want it or not. There's a reason I don't use Gadgets anymore, because I don't want them. I don't want obnoxiously large icons, I don't want widgety things running in the background wasting resources and I definitely don't want a tablet UI thrust upon my desktop.
    
    This is the exact reason I stopped using Gnome in Linux... they're trying to force a touch UI onto controls that are very non-touch.
22. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:42am Thrax By removing Aero and the Aero assets necessary to use the traditional desktop full-time, Microsoft has tacitly acknowledged that developers are unlikely to program for Metro if they had the option not to. But Metro applications and the associated API are designed for touchscreen devices. Therefore, the only plausible explanation is that the PC is being subverted as a trojan horse to deliver Microsoft a seat at the tablet table. And Microsoft will use the multi-million sellthrough of OEM PCs to ram this paradigm down the throat of the buying public, and to drown the dissent from the people who realize what's actually going on.
    
    No, I don't think Windows 8 is a minor difference. It's a half-assed lapdog that refuses to acknowledge its own shortcomings to help its master undo a horrifyingly bungled market entrance. And that, my friends, is bullshit.
    
23. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 11:56am CB The metro interface only showed up for 3 seconds upon my first day of use, and has since disappeared unless requested. It doesn't even boot up to it then have to be closed (though that wouldn't bug me).
    
    This is what my desktop looks like right now:
    
    
    
    No giant football icons, no tablet features. It looks exactly like it did on Win7 (minus start button). All my software from browsers to games to apps look identical to the way they looked in Win7 also. I forget I'm even on a new OS most of the time.
24. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 12:05pm Thrax Metro is forced full time on the RTM version of Windows 8. You always have to return to Metro after any desktop activity, and you cannot pin apps as you have done in your taskbar.
25. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 12:16pm MAGIC No thanks. MS continues their trend of every other release being shit.
26. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 12:23pm CB

    Metro is forced full time on the RTM version of Windows 8. You always have to return to Metro after any desktop activity, and you cannot pin apps as you have done in your taskbar.

    As far as I can tell this is only a rumor started by people who claim to have taken apart the code of a leaked release. All we have to really go on is what we have in the preview release.
    
27. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 12:51pm Thrax The RTM is widely available to industry partners, and those with MSDN and TechNet accounts.
28. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 12:55pm ardichoke

    Metro is forced full time on the RTM version of Windows 8. You always have to return to Metro after any desktop activity, and you cannot pin apps as you have done in your taskbar.

    As far as I can tell this is only a rumor started by people who claim to have taken apart the code of a leaked release. All we have to really go on is what we have in the preview release.
    

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Windows-8-Metro-RTM-Server-2012-Release-Preview,16666.html
    
    It has nothing to do with people who claim to have taken apart code, the RTM was leaked (as they always are) and people have installed and run it. People that have done so have confirmed that the ability to bypass Metro no longer exists.
    
29. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 1:13pm GHoosdum I have a feeling that unless every new PC and monitor released begins to have touchscreen capabilities within the next year, Microsoft will have to reverse the decision to disallow Metro being bypassed before SP1 drops, otherwise Windows 8 will experience the same kind of backlash among end users as Vista.
30. 
    15 Aug 2012 ~ 1:16pm ardichoke I have yet to see Microsoft admit that Vista was a half-baked mistake. I wouldn't put it past them to deny forcing Metro on people is a bad idea as well. If anything, I think Thrax's analysis is spot-on, they don't care about making desktop users happy (as they already have a virtual stranglehold on that market), they just want to use that market to wedge themselves into the mobile space.
31. 
    17 Aug 2012 ~ 12:16pm Zuntar

    .......
    No, I don't think Windows 8 is a minor difference. It's a half-assed lapdog that refuses to acknowledge its own shortcomings to help its master undo a horrifyingly bungled market entrance. And that, my friends, is bullshit.
    

    Sad but true!
    
32. 
    18 Aug 2012 ~ 11:52pm CrazyJoe So I gave the Release Preview a try and played with it for about a week. I just couldn't get over the lack of a start menu and the fact that I had to look up how to turn the PC off was another major failing for me. I have formatted my SSD and am now back to Windows 7,
33. 
    19 Aug 2012 ~ 1:40pm mertesn For those wanting to try Windows 8 in a non-destructive manner, download a free copy of VMWare Player (here) and install Win8 to a virtual machine. If you're using a CPU that supports hardware virtualization you'll be able to see near-native speed performance and get a good feel for how the new OS works without having to wipe your system.
34. 
    20 Aug 2012 ~ 12:52pm ardichoke You could also grab the full version of VirtualBox for free instead of using a gimped VMWare that is designed to encourage you to buy their full product.
    
    Does VMWare player even let you create new VMs? I thought, last time I used it, you had to create the VM in one of the paid versions of VMWare in order to run it in VMWare Player.
35. 
    20 Aug 2012 ~ 4:39pm mertesn

    You could also grab the full version of VirtualBox for free instead of using a gimped VMWare that is designed to encourage you to buy their full product.
    
    Does VMWare player even let you create new VMs? I thought, last time I used it, you had to create the VM in one of the paid versions of VMWare in order to run it in VMWare Player.

    Actually, it does allow you to create new VMs and even supports the hardware virtualization built into AMD and Intel CPUs.
36. 
    22 Aug 2012 ~ 6:26pm ardichoke Eh... just goes to show how much I've kept up with changes to VMWare player. Last time I used it was 5 years ago... switched to VirtualBox because of the restrictions back then and haven't looked back.
37. 
    22 Aug 2012 ~ 9:52pm BobbyDigi Admittedly I have minimal daily use of it but I've used it to test software and I would currently say I like the metro interface. I'm in the market for a netbook and I'll definitely be considering Win8.
    
    
38. 
    22 Aug 2012 ~ 10:00pm midga

    Admittedly I have minimal daily use of it but I've used it to test software and I would currently say I like the metro interface. I'm in the market for a netbook and I'll definitely be considering Win8.
    
    

    Why get a netbook when you could get a tablet with a fold-out bluetooth keyboard?
39. 
    23 Aug 2012 ~ 12:45am BobbyDigi

    Admittedly I have minimal daily use of it but I've used it to test software and I would currently say I like the metro interface. I'm in the market for a netbook and I'll definitely be considering Win8.
    
    

    Why get a netbook when you could get a tablet with a fold-out bluetooth keyboard?

    My first thought would be price but I will definitely look into this as it does sound more versatile. If the price is negotiable I may just go that route.
    
    
    
40. 
    23 Aug 2012 ~ 4:16pm GHoosdum Digi, I second the idea of using a tablet instead of a netbook. I had Win8 on my netbook for a while and I found Metro to be a very frustrating experience without a touchscreen.