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toblix

Windows 8

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Hilarious «Windows 8 is coming» Game of Thrones meme image.

I just ran the Win8 upgrade assistant thing on my computer, and it let me buy a Pro license key for almost nothing (It's 25 dollars, and, amazingly, it's almost exactly that in my Norwegian socialist kroners, which, when you're used to Steam, feels pretty sweet.) After receiving the key, I interrupted the process and ran it again, and it let me buy another one. It never told me the type of license it was (full, PC builder's thing, non-working and invalid), and I guess I could run it a couple more times if I needed additional licenses, though the offer expires January 31st. It appears to phone home a whole lot, so I'm trusting Microsoft not to let me do something wrong here with regard to my current license.

You can buy the license(s) by heading to http://windows.micro...-US/windows/buy, downloading and running the assistant.

I don't think I'll actually use the license until I get a new PC next year (for SimCity) so I guess I'll find out if I made a fool of myself then. If it sounds like I've been a secret Microsoft Windows 8 sleeper spam bot all this time, just remember: Microsoft would never say piss fuck shit.

edit: Oh, and I guess I should say I would be pretty excited for Windows 8 if it hadn't been for what seems like a transition to this new touch interface performed with a thoroughness and confidence that probably isn't warranted. I really like what they did with Windows 7, and I'm looking forward to them taking a lot of that stuff even further (like the new file operation dialogs, etc.) and I think the idea of building proper touch support into the core of the OS is a smart move and a no-brainer. I'm not convinced ripping out the start menu at this point is the best move, though. It's cool to, for once, see Microsoft being really confident about a big change, all Apple-like, tearing out old stuff and saying «all right, this is the way it's gonna be,» but I'm afraid they're introducing some serious annoyances to me, the regular, non-touch PC user.

I'm guessing a lot of you have played around with, or used in anger, Windows 8 on your home/work computer. What do you think? Is the Metro a pain in the ass?

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I don't really see why I would upgrade to Windows 8. Granted I haven't paid much attention but my computer is a keyboard and a mouse and a monitor, not a repository for Cheeto dust.

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I am surprised by your enthusiasm, Toblix. Most of what I've heard about Windows 8 is doomsaying and the lamentation of their women.

I'm quite neutral on the whole thing: I used Windows XP a preposterous amount of years after it was long abandoned, and don't see why I shouldn't use my perfectly fine copy of 7 for another sweet decade before making the switch. You can probably guess I'm no early adopter when it comes to operating systems.

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Well, if I'm lot lying, it's pretty cheap and it has a bunch of optimisations and improvements. I'm really looking forward to it, with the single exception of this UI thing, which I'm still not sure if is an actual thing or just noise and bullshit.

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What are the optimisations and improvements? Windows 7 works pretty well. Feel free to tell me to fuck off and figure it out myself - I'm basically being super duper lazy and not even bothering to Google it. I used to work tech support and thus kept up on all this shit, but after that I've sort of stopped staying on top of tech news. Gaming news is more than enough to deal with on a daily basis when it comes to nerd stuff.

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I don't know exactly what they've changed or improved, but I know it boots up faster and uses less system resources than 7. I also assume they've been working on a lot more than just this horrible new interface, and if the change from Vista to 7 is anything to go by, I think it's fair to expect things to be generally better. I got the impression reviewers were getting equal and sometimes better performance out of the same hardware when running on beta drivers, so I assume they've made some improvements to whatever systems are involved in video games too, such as sweet graphics, kick-ass sound and triple-A playability for maximum game points.

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If the change from XP to Vista is anything to go by, or if the change from 98 to ME is anything to go by, I think it's fair to expect things to be generally worse. And I don't really need more performance on my computer: an i3 murders anything Windows 7 needs to do.

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Apparently they've gotten rid of alt+tab and the start menu and replaced it with a very rigid file launcher that seems designed mostly for multi-touch displays and trackpads. So yeah, Windows 7 it's going to be for the time being.

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I used a Windows 8 pc at work last week and I'm pretty sure I used Alt+Tab a billion times.

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Yeah, my main concern is that they'll try to force me into Metro in some annoying way. I don't use the start menu enough for its disappearance to be big problem for me. I sometimes hit the win-key, type something and hit enter to quickly launch stuff or open files, and I'm slightly worried that I'll be annoyed by the whole screen changing whenever I do that. Also, I'll probably be a little annoyed by the OS loading into the "start screen" (what is that called?) rather than the desktop. My impression is that, other than the start menu missing (which is a huge change,) everything else is still there, some of it greatly improved (like File Explorer.) If I can still have Firefox and uTorrent open, and launch Steam games and play media files when I want without having to go through some weird touch ritual, I'll probably switch over as soon as driver stability is there (which I have the impression may already be the case)

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This review on Ars allays my biggest fears; the desktop experience is not ruined by the Metro one, and the start screen can be quite useful.

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Huh, good to know alt+tab is still alive and well. I use start menu a lot but I'm sure I could learn to love metro. Still, I'm in no rush to update as 7 more than suits my needs which are 2: launch steam or launch chrome.

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I'll be updating to Windows 8 alongside my next hardware upgrade (probably video card) mostly because of the performance upgrades Toblix mentioned. From what I've heard, it's mostly stuff like using Direct X to drive the UI and junk like that which just makes everything more fluid.

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Windows has gotten worse since Windows 95

Except for the fact that that statement is wrong, it's completely correct!

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Windows has gotten worse since Windows 95

Care to elaborate, or did something just fly over my head?

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The jump of usability from Windows 3.11 to Windows 95 was huge. Every release after that had some usability improvements in some places, removed a bunch of useability features else were. The main focus of the releases was put on the graphics. Windows 8 is probably the worst step so far. They ruined the start menu in various ways, they enforced the mistake called "ribbon" to the rest of the UI. "Explorer" has never been as bad as this.

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Nah, that was nothing. I mean, the jump from command line to WIMP was huge. Every release after that had some usability improvements in some places, removed a bunch of useability features else were.

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Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway....

I've been using Windows 8 every day for a few weeks now. I was pretty scared, to be honest, because I loved Windows 7 so much and that Metro screen looked particularly daunting. I have to say, though, that I've totally gotten used to it. Everyone should upgrade, if you ask me. I just see the start screen as being an improved Start menu (as Peter Bright says in his Ars Technica review). I'm hardly ever in it.

It zips out of sleep SUPER fast, too.

Very happy with it, in all.

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XP/Vista -> 7 is worth it for Aero Snap alone.

And the better graphics driver support. (basically, the thing that lets you alt-tab out of games without everything going to shit)

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But does it come with Weezer?

Ooo ooo! But ya know I'm yours, ooo ooo! And I know you're mine, ooo ooo! And that's why-i-i-i!

OOO WEE OOO, I look just like Buddy Holly, OH OH, and you're Mary Tyler Moore. I don't care what they say bout s anyway. I don't care 'bout that. I don't care bout that!

Now let's play psychedelic bumper cars.

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