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Post by Dan @ 11:51am 26/10/12 | 151 Comments
 Link to Windows8 Upgrade Assistant that will check to see if your machine is worthy of the 39$ deal and if anything may cause you issues hardware/software wise. Windows 8 will be available for download to upgrade existing qualifying Windows PCs in more than 140 markets worldwide and 37 languages at www.microsoft.com including Australia. More than 200 devices, including Surface, will be available to Australian customers.More Australian-specific details on the launch can be found in this press release, and previous Windows users looking to take advantage of the cheap $39 upgrade offer can start that process over here, or this $15 upgrade offer for those that have purchased a Windows 7 PC after June 2012. (thanks ara). 
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Posted 01:40pm 26/10/12
Posted 01:51pm 26/10/12
Cool thing I like with dual monitors is that the start screen can be brought up on one without putting the other on a blank screen or something. Also handy when you have something important on screen one so you bring it up on screen two for ease of access.
Posted 02:07pm 26/10/12
You get that perception with any freshly installed OS.
With significant limitations/gotchas.
Infrequent auto-configuration of basic settings is not exactly wow-worthy.
I already use the taskbar heavily in Win7. The only thing Win8 does is clutter the fuck out of the screen with oversized tablet-friendly icons and take away the regular start-menu option. So it takes away, rather than gives.
All I got was that the file-copy feature is good. The rest comes across as MSDN-subscriber bias.
Posted 02:14pm 26/10/12
Posted 02:26pm 26/10/12
There are changes to boot behaviour affecting performance. UEFI integration and hibernating the kernel are new Windows 8 OS features that improve boot times and should persist beyond the new OS honeymoon period.
All I got is that you've arbitrarily decided that anyone who likes windows8 is a MS fanboy.
Posted 02:27pm 26/10/12
However the new MSI Ultrabook looks incredible, and like it would work well for Windows 8.
Posted 02:53pm 26/10/12
Posted 02:29pm 26/10/12
You don;t lose your taskbar?
Posted 02:44pm 26/10/12
Posted 03:52pm 26/10/12
Highlights for me
Really good for dual monitors. The sticky corners are a big help.
Startup/shutdown/sleep is definitely much faster.
File copy is finally not useless. No need for Teracopy any more.
I quite like the metro to desktop interface. I never used the start menu so its no loss to me. Hit the win button and type what I want or pin it to the taskbar.
Love how you can have your desktop take 3/4 of screen and on the other 1/4 have an app such as Tweetro.
Lowlights for me
Secondary apps keeps crashing (tried multiple twitter apps including the Official windows one). Its a silent crash though, its simply just closed and thats the end of it. I've only really tried the twitter apps so not sure how common this is.
The power button is a pain to find. Literally had to google search to find out how to shut down.
When searching (win button and type you keywords) items are grouped by type which makes sense but it means you have to navigate to the type apps to find. A little hard to explain.
Edit:
Forgot to mention, we finally can have a taskbar across both screens without needing additional software
Posted 03:47pm 26/10/12
So far I've mostly read apologist and "it's not that bad" comments from people who have some sort of existing investment or interest in Microsoft products (via their MSDN subscription), which is a strong indication of bias. So yes, I will continue to "decide" they are MS fanbois and wait for real reviews to come out.
As I said apart from the file copy feature, I don't see anything to woo me into wanting to upgrade to Win8.
Posted 03:50pm 26/10/12
Totally see where you're coming from. There are no stand out features to make me NEED an update. The boot/file transfer speed improvement is a big help for me but its never been a big enough deal in the first place.
With that said though, its a very fair priced OS so I'm happy to give them my money.
Posted 03:58pm 26/10/12
Like for example I want to start Teamspeak, I bring up the start menu, type "team" and it filters everything and Teamspeak shows up as the top (or only) item then I click it to start it, rather than hunt through the start menu finding where it is.
Fuck pinning things to the taskbar though, I hope thats not the recommended or encouraged way of doing things in Windows 8 because I hate that in Windows 7. First thing I do with a clean install is unpin everything. My taskbar is for tasks, not pinned shit =\
Posted 04:04pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:05pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:12pm 26/10/12
Yes you absolutely can. The only element of it I don't like is everything is split into groups - which makes perfect sense - I just don't like it.
They sure are :D
I'm pretty sure its optional so if you don't like you can turn it off.
Posted 04:16pm 26/10/12
I've always configured desktops/laptops to shutdown upon pressing the physical power button on the computer. This'll be no different.
last edited by koopz at 16:16:23 26/Oct/12
Posted 04:19pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:27pm 26/10/12
So you just outright ignored the bit where I explained why boot is faster and repeated that your opinion was right anyway.
That's so parabol.
Posted 04:27pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:28pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:32pm 26/10/12
At work so don't have my box to test but I'm 95% sure it brings up the good old run box
Posted 04:46pm 26/10/12
Posted 04:49pm 26/10/12
Posted 05:10pm 26/10/12
The question is, do halved boot times affect me when I reboot only once a fortnight/month?
The answer is obvious, hence my continued disinterest.
(it's so Hogfather to miss the big picture, as always)
Posted 05:21pm 26/10/12
What? I don't know what kind of windows you be usin foo' but I can maximize windows explorer or my video player and still be able to get at the start menu without minimizing or alt tabbing anything.
I pity da foo' who uses full screen start menus.
Funny how everyone talks about the Apple Reality Distortion Field and now everyone is jumping on the MS RDF bandwagon about how a shitty tablet interface is best for their PC.
I'd hate to use the interface from my phone on my PC. Windows 8 can go DIAF.
Posted 05:27pm 26/10/12
It's a New Toy(tm) Distortion Field.
Basically early adopters of any technology/product generally:
1. Want to show off their new toy
2. Want to show off the fact that they have early and/or exclusive access to said toy, hence being a trend-setter/VIP.
3. Try to downplay any shortcomings of their toy, as that would indicate a poor judgement of purchase/invested-time on their part. Can't have that.
Posted 05:49pm 26/10/12
Its not all about what you want, or your interest level, lol?
Big picture bullshit aside, I was explaining that (contrary to your statements) in this OS there ARE improvements to boot times, beyond the normal new install honeymoon. The reason they bothered was that most Windows users power off their computer daily, so your personal experience doesn't matter much.
Edit: Back on topic, I'm using it at home and like it, but I'm unsure if other people will get on board quickly.
It took me a while to accept the changes and learn the new UI tricks, and to be honest I'm not really a fan of the ultra-minimalist UI feel MS is going in. The implementation of the new 'screen edge' features is also a bit wonky somehow along the seam between two monitors.
Posted 05:57pm 26/10/12
I actually think the 6px sticky corners work quite well. They do occasionally get stuck but overall I think I prefer having it there.
Posted 06:28pm 26/10/12
Posted 07:42pm 26/10/12
Posted 07:59pm 26/10/12
(desktop editions)
Windows 1 - 1985
2 - 1987
3 - 1990
3.1 - 1992
95 - 1995
98 - 1998
2000 - 2000
ME - 2000
XP - 2001
Vista - 2007
7 - 2009
8 -2012
Aside from the long XP anomaly and turn of the century version shenanigans, its always been every few years.
The XP thing so close to 2000 and ME can really be explained by ME being a pile of shit and people using 2000 server instead, which IIRC prompted the NT kernel's move to the desktop?
Posted 08:52pm 26/10/12
Posted 09:18pm 26/10/12
How do you search the new Microsoft App Store?
Posted 09:24pm 26/10/12
just start typing
Posted 09:25pm 26/10/12
Posted 09:26pm 26/10/12
Doh. A visual clue would have been nice. Just a search icon please? lol
Posted 09:36pm 26/10/12
the settings on the side (move mouse to top right corner) is relative to the program you're using. typing just skips the whole movement to the search ;)
*EDIT* that smile made me seem smug. didn't mean it to be haha.
Posted 10:32pm 26/10/12
carry on
Posted 10:37pm 26/10/12
Posted 10:42pm 26/10/12
Funny story about ME being universally known as rubbish, it was the ONLY version of windows that would run stable on one of my friends PC's. Every other version would crash but ME would run wonderful. None of us knew what the fuck.
Posted 11:07pm 26/10/12
Sorry I brain barfed a little; was having a fucking meltdown at work this afternoon. Never, ever agree to client deadlines ><
Anyway, yeh 2000 pro was only intended for business users who needed AD and super power users. Gaming rigs and home computers were supposed to stick to 98SE and (lol) ME, but 2k (pro and server) was so awesome that everyone went that way. That was the death of the 9x kernel and we got XP a couple years later.
Posted 11:20pm 26/10/12
ME was a lesson in why you don't buy an incremental upgrade (ie from Win 98 SE - which was great) that is much worse than what it is trying to replace.
Still have copies of 98SE, Win 2k and XP laying around heh, getting my money's worth out of those purchases :P
Looking at getting Win 8 to upgrade from an old XP computer, just because really. Should see if XP is an upgrade path for Win 8.
Posted 11:42pm 26/10/12
Posted 11:55pm 26/10/12
1. Dumbest and most useless ISP policy ever
2. Worst software purchase ever
Posted 12:00am 27/10/12
bit to get used to the Metro interface, but starting to enjoy it.
My dads pc with a recently installed windows7 install with no CD key etc, when running the Windows8 upgrade checker was eligible for the $39.99 install =]
Posted 12:18am 27/10/12
Posted 12:21am 27/10/12
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows-8/feature-packs
it says
"Thank you
Your product key will be emailed to you. If the email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, be sure to check your junk email folder."
But yet to arrive (checked junk)
Posted 12:59am 27/10/12
How does the upgrade work? Does it provide you with a full ISO or do you have to install windows 7 and the physically upgrade every time you want to reinstall?
Posted 01:21am 27/10/12
edit: argh, lost all my favorites - why didn't they come across!?
Posted 01:56am 27/10/12
Unsure, win 7? U entered the old key to validate.
windows 8 has the "remove everything and reinstall", so maybe that will carry across.
You can always get the windows8 evaluation version to install, the run the upgrade to pro AFAIK.
Posted 01:59am 27/10/12
Posted 03:14am 27/10/12
Posted 08:36am 27/10/12
Disable avast worked fine.
Did avast program update, all working again.
Posted 08:55am 27/10/12
What the hell? I'd say that would be an individual contractor thing, they never asked for any such thing with me and I had cable since just before they brought in that notorious 3gb quota, years ago. That would have been what, windows 98 era? I had one of those big huge grey modems.
Posted 09:20am 27/10/12
The only thing that really annoys me is the shitty messenger app.
I get my software through my mdsn subscription so it's an easy choice for me.
Posted 09:39am 27/10/12
Tho the new Hyper-V (Virtual PC) software IMO is amazingly better compared to Virtual PC 2007
last edited by 3x0dus at 09:39:44 27/Oct/12
Posted 09:49am 27/10/12
I requested a key yesterday and the email only arrived this morning. So hopefully yours has arrived by now too.
Posted 10:07am 27/10/12
Posted 10:41am 27/10/12
Posted 10:43am 27/10/12
Posted 10:58am 27/10/12
I'm running Win 7 on a MacBook Air (never boot OSX) will it behave if I run an upgrade?
Posted 11:10am 27/10/12
Can we use the full install Iso to upgrade? Probably sounds dumb but I thought I'd ask..
Posted 11:30am 27/10/12
http://rollyperreaux.com/2012/07/windows-8-how-to-safely-delete-windows-bt-and-windows-old-folders/
You can remove "Previous Version of windows" akak windows.old
Netted me 25gb of free space, Which is incredible, what is the footprint of windows8 ?? it would seem tiny in comparison to win7.
last edited by 3x0dus at 11:30:17 27/Oct/12
Posted 11:41am 27/10/12
G15 keyboards for instance can be annoying to get working under Windows 8 at the moment. No Nvello Cache drives (eg. Synapse) work. Loads of drivers for things like sound cards are betas (and are buggy).
imo Buy it now while it's cheap and wait until SP1 :P
Posted 11:54am 27/10/12
Posted 12:03pm 27/10/12
Posted 12:27pm 27/10/12
i think you pay $15 on top to get it sent..
Posted 02:08pm 27/10/12
I'm going to try and exist in metro without having to go to desktop. I'm not much of a power user and most my time is spent in games and chrome. See how I go :S
But it seems ok so far. Very steep learning curve though.
Posted 10:22pm 27/10/12
Posted 12:07am 28/10/12
Posted 12:25am 28/10/12
Never asked for any proof of purchase.
Posted 12:42am 28/10/12
Posted 10:40am 28/10/12
Sounds like its a key series thing?
Posted 10:58am 28/10/12
Posted 11:04am 28/10/12
The key will have been an OEM key activated after June this year.
Posted 11:27am 28/10/12
last edited by HerbalLizard at 11:27:35 28/Oct/12
Posted 11:30am 28/10/12
Posted 12:06pm 28/10/12
Posted 12:48pm 28/10/12
Anyone know how to pin the non metro Chrome to the the start menu and have it stay after you close it?
Posted 12:52pm 28/10/12
Posted 01:00pm 28/10/12
Posted 01:26pm 28/10/12
Posted 02:55pm 28/10/12
for anyone who has issues with windows 7 file copy speeds over network.. did you try and disable IPv6?
I found that W7->W7 or W7->WHS works faster (i.e. 98mb/s instead of 45mb/s on gbit) when IPv6 is disabled and IPv4 is left.
W7 -> W2k3 and W7 -> XP I found didn't have any of the speed issues anyway (don't think W2k3 or XP had ipv6 support which is probably why)
Posted 03:48pm 28/10/12
anyone try this? seems pretty good
Posted 04:38pm 28/10/12
Posted 07:02pm 28/10/12
Posted 09:34pm 28/10/12
it loved Intel chipsets.. didn't like Via so much. Gamers were mostly Via chipset fans back then irc
mine works fine
wait a sec...
hence peeps who install Win7 with the OEM crack after June this year get the $40 version
and then run Malwarebytes and HitmanPro to remove the Spy/Malware
last edited by koopz at 21:33:26 28/Oct/12
last edited by koopz at 21:34:05 28/Oct/12
Posted 10:23pm 28/10/12
Posted 10:30pm 28/10/12
Posted 11:27pm 28/10/12
Posted 11:45pm 28/10/12
I prefer classic shell for that windows 98 (and xp I think?) style fold out menu, not the scrolling bs menu in later versions.
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/
Worse, I'm pretty sure he had a CYRIX! or some other bullshit chipset.
Posted 11:43pm 28/10/12
Posted 11:50pm 28/10/12
But it was all sweet. So far the new interface impresses, will take some getting used to but I have to take my hat off to MS for trying something new.
Posted 12:53am 29/10/12
Posted 01:02am 29/10/12
So if it's the same as XP, Vista, Win7 then yes, but it's not really 'locked'.
Posted 11:38am 29/10/12
First of all it irritates me that using the Upgrade Assistant is the only way to purchase Windows 8 from Microsoft, secondly the address fields don't have a country field, thirdly you can't purchase multiple keys so you have to do a separate transaction for every single key you want to buy, and finally they give you the option to go back and edit the information you entered at any step, but if you do that it forgets everything that was entered after the step you went back to and you need to enter all those things all over again! Oh and the terms and conditions are opened specifically in Internet Explorer even though they are just a shitty PDF.
Seriously Microsoft, what the fuck?
Posted 01:18pm 29/10/12
Today:
Did they fuck with it or something, or are user experiences really that varied? :) NFI personally as I got mine from MSDN a while back.
Posted 01:29pm 29/10/12
Then on the NEXT page there was an option to change the keyboard map.
Posted 02:20pm 29/10/12
Posted 02:35pm 29/10/12
I got that too :D
OH SNAP
Posted 02:52pm 29/10/12
Posted 02:58pm 29/10/12
Posted 03:58pm 29/10/12
On one of the first pages it asks for your language, if you choose english uk I think it defaults the keyboard to UK. I did the same thing the first time but choose the right keyboard layout the next.
Posted 04:55pm 29/10/12
But I have no mouse
:(
Posted 05:29pm 29/10/12
lol.
nothing emailed to me, restarting the upgrade app puts me back at square one.
kind of lol'd
Posted 06:15pm 29/10/12
Logic was right.
Logic 1, Win 8 0
Posted 04:07am 30/10/12
I think the UX would be really smooth and easy if all you wanted to do was install one copy of Win 8 on one PC and were purchasing it on that PC and your billing address was in the same country as the country you were living in and you didn't want to go back and edit any of your details or do anything else at all. In all other cases, however, it seems that the Upgrade Assistant is awful.
From this and the mistake of setting keyboard layout to match language instead of allowing it to be set separately, MS obviously need to work on their use cases.
Posted 04:20am 30/10/12
And on top of all that, once the Upgrade Assistant has finished downloading the installer, you can either create a bootable USB or an ISO but not both, now it seems I have to download it all over again just to create the other type of install media.Scratch that, I found a link to the installer on the Desktop that lets me create media again, would be nice if any of this was made clear in the initial process though. And now, after creating an ISO it gives me a link to "Open DVD Burner" which just brings up command-line instructions from the "Windows Disc Image Burner" and then quits, brilliant.Lastly, at no point in this process has it mentioned anywhere whether this is 32- or 64-bit Windows, maybe the installer is awesome and will let me choose before it starts or something, but the fact that it doesn't say it anywhere is really annoying.
All this lack of information and options, seemingly thinking that it knows what you want better than you do, and the less you know the better stuff is all a bit too Apple for my liking.
Posted 09:19am 30/10/12
Posted 01:27am 30/10/12
Posted 01:28am 30/10/12
You forget to put your link in Erol?
Posted 01:29am 30/10/12
Stupid flat colours are stupid.
Posted 02:34am 30/10/12
Posted 07:52am 30/10/12
Did you pay via PayPal ? whirlpool has users with similar issue when payment made via paypal.
Posted 09:20am 30/10/12
Posted 07:54pm 30/10/12
Yeh this was my biggest WTF about Metro and its taking a long while to get over it tbh. 2012, hundreds of dollars of hardware, and its all so PLAIN
Posted 08:23pm 30/10/12
Not only is it stupid that this information is hidden away (much like any and all information about Windows 8) but why couldn't they just put a simple choice of 32 or 64-bit in the Assistant?
Makes me wish I had an MSDN subscription just so they'd stop doing an Apple and giving me no information or choices.
Posted 10:17am 31/10/12
Not bad, I think they had the right strategy with a low upgrade price. They really need to leverage that desktop install base to provide incentive to develop Metro apps that will magically boost the app count for tablet and phone.
If the Lumia also works out this could be a big win for MS. Windows devs are fucking legion.
Posted 01:22pm 31/10/12
Posted 01:24pm 31/10/12
I get very disturbed when I click something and it TAKES OVER THE WHOLE SCREEN
Posted 09:19pm 01/11/12
Posted 12:26am 02/11/12
Posted 10:12am 10/11/12
First experience using Windows 8 - drunk
Posted 10:22am 10/11/12
Posted 10:51am 10/11/12
"It's like a fucking treasure hunt". :P
Posted 12:26pm 10/11/12
Posted 07:54am 11/11/12
Everything takes longer and is more awkward, and that is definitely not due to me not knowing where everything is because after a week I know where everything is that I need.
I wouldn't have minded the Start Screen/Metro so much if it wasn't so half-arsedly implemented.
Things in Metro like:
- there being no built-in file browser,
- that you can't snap 2 Metro apps to use exactly half each of your big widescreen monitor,
- the fact that you can only use one Metro browser, and to do that the browser has to be set as the default browser for all of Windows,
- that I have 2 completely different versions of programs like Chrome, Skype and IE installed in the same OS but they're totally unrelated and unaware of each other, and
- that there seems to be at least 2 different control panels, if not more.
And this account syncing seemed like a great idea until settings that I actually want to be different on different machines update across all machines as I set them on one locally.
Also I really miss the Aero theme, this totally flat, totally solid colour desktop theme makes windows and their positions and borders so much harder to identify. I realise they removed Aero to save battery life on mobile devices but that's no reason to not allow me to have it on my desktop PC, and they could easily keep Aero and still have sharp edges as they had in the Developer Preview version.
And I still haven't heard a decent reason as to why I can't have both a Start Sceen and a Start Menu.
I could go on (like about how the Desktop is made to seem like another Metro app with the drag to close thing, etc. but doesn't actually close anything) but instead I think I'm just going to go back to Windows 7. Can't say I didn't try!
P.S. Quite liking it on my HTPC though, trying to stay in metro as much as possible but it's a real shame there isn't a Metro version of Windows Media Center (again about the half-arsed implementation of Metro..) if they really want people to embrace their new UI then they could have at least shown some serious commitment to it.
Their Metro Music and Video programs aren't terrible, but they're way too purchase-centric and actual content that you already have almost seems like a second thought, not to mention the fact that there's no way to make the Video app play DVDs or Blu-rays, even if you were prepared to pay extra for that.
Posted 01:14pm 11/11/12
True Transparency which kinda gives you Aero back and Chrome with a nice skin on it. I try and spend no time at all in that shit start menu thing.
Posted 04:49pm 11/11/12
Posted 07:26pm 11/11/12
i find it snappier and generally things seem to run smoother
rarley use metro stuff
Posted 08:54pm 11/11/12
That drunk Win 8 video certainly highlights a few glaring issues with the new UI. Staying on the desktop has been fine though, I haven't lost anything.