Well either way, it's a non-issue. If you use your pc anyway like I do, you'll never see it unless you actually press the start key. I'm in desktop mode 99% of the time. I see it even less now that I put my computer to sleep rather than shut down. I never used the start button in windows 7 unless I wanted to shut down. All of my commonly used applications were pinned to the taskbar.
My housemate has Win8 installed and is liking it a lot. I'm thinking I'll get it when I finally get a new PC. I don't see the big deal about the tiles not being best for a mouse. You hit the windows key and start typing for the program/app/setting you want. It actually arranges things better than the start menu did - just more spread out. Everything you use all the time should be pinned to the taskbar. I think this unified interface is going to really help MS going forward. Google and Apple taking the fragmented approach between platforms will just cause trouble in the future.
I would be more enthusiastic if I could envision a Microsoft based mobile device ever being successful. Their track record is disastrous, and I just don't see people dumping their iPhones, iPads, and Android devices for W8. It seems to me like MS trashed a perfectly good traditional desktop/laptop OS to try to leverage some mobile devices that are never going to sell. I don't see the Google/Apple approach as "fragmented" so much as "specialized." A one size fits all approach does not work. You can't try to ram a desktop OS into a mobile device or vice versa. The OS needs to be tailored for the specific type of device. It's like MS learned nothing from the success of iOS and Android.
Well you can bring up the modern (metro) ui onto just one monitor rather than it popping up on both. The other can stay in desktop mode. Also, you can bring up the modern ui multitasking up in either monitor, not just the primary. It also allows a taskbar on both monitors rather than just one monitor. And you can have separate wallpapers per monitor.
Installed it last night. I only played with it for about 30 minutes and came across 2 annoying issues. Right clicking on the desk top takes several seconds to pop up a menu and my Adobe plugin for Chrome no longer works although it still works for Firefox.
Hmm, sounds like isolated issues. The what adobe plugin are you having issues with? Seems more like a Chrome issue rather than windows 8. And right-clicking on my desktop has been instantaneous on my laptop with consumer preview and my pc with win8 retail.
Well those problems seemed to have resolved themselves. Now how do I use a different wall paper on each screen? So far my opinion is that it's not much different than 7.
Not sure. I didn't really do anything. My desktop personalization is just set to a photo folder. http://i.imgur.com/H0eX8.jpg
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/16/3655882/windows-8-pc-sales-reportedly-well-below-microsofts-internal-projections Looks like Windows 8 flopped hard. Probably explains why the head of the windows division was let go.
Keep in mind that if you buy a consumer level PC now, you're going to get Windows 8. I'm betting those 4 million had no say in the matter.
Well I've been using it long enough now to have a legitimate opinion. First off Windows 8 is a lot more like 7 than I would have thought. It's not the total paradigm shift that seems to be advertised. The tiles are there if you want them and gone if you don't want them. The 8 desktop is very similar to the 7 desktop. On my PC the 8 start up is about 20% faster than 7 and the shut down is about 90% faster. This actually annoys me because it takes about 6 seconds to cross my office at night and I used to use the monitors light to show the way. Now when I power off it's sudden darkness. So I've spent years with 7 but only weeks with 8. Based on what I've experienced I still have to give the nod to 7. 7 was near perfection from a PC standpoint and 8 just wasn't necessary. However if you find yourself forced to go with 8 it isn't that bad and if you are like me you will soon be supporting all those family members who get new PCs running Windows 8. It wouldn't hurt to have a little experience with the OS.
I'd only played with Win8 CP that one time for a few days and I've always loved it. especially since it's only 30 bucks to upgrade. Basically I wouldn't call Win8 a whole new OS, I'd call it Win7 with MetroUI, Dx12 or w/e # their on now, and Xbox Glass... PLUS the whole RTM (ARM compatibility) stuff. I'd call it a minor upgrade that should only cost 30 bucks what the Hell?? @bfun is this on mechanical HD or SSD?
you see a massive increase in speed booting up and shutting down whether you're on a mechanical hdd or ssd. it also sleeps properly now too.
all of my games runs with no problems as well with my devices. if your device didn't get updated with a win8 driver yet, the win7 drivers still work fine.
No problem with games but I've had a few Chrome issues. Lately my audio randomly cuts out and I have to close and reopen the browser to get it back.