Well that article actually doesn't say that. It says they might do it insecurely, but the author wasn't sure. It says the default is to check if applications are safe or not. You know what I would certainly approve of that for the majority of users. I have to spend time helping family who install stupid things on a semi regular basis. Though lots of it would probably get through the smart screening process anyway since it is BS like 49 different toolbars etc...
Windows 8 Dev build
- Thread starter deeFive
- Start date
Well that article actually doesn't say that. It says they might do it insecurely, but the author wasn't sure. It says the default is to check if applications are safe or not. You know what I would certainly approve of that for the majority of users. I have to spend time helping family who install stupid things on a semi regular basis. Though lots of it would probably get through the smart screening process anyway since it is BS like 49 different toolbars etc...
Blazkowicz
Legend
it's like they want to scare the users into using the app store.
this security measure isn't really wrong per se but if it's about warning on running unsigned app then the message should just tell that. they thought the user was smart enough to understand signed/unsigned when it was about drivers.
as windows is the OS of choice for running thousands of freeware, old games etc. you might see this warning a lot if you don't disable the thing. even legit, open source software may not be signed (how much does it cost?)
this security measure isn't really wrong per se but if it's about warning on running unsigned app then the message should just tell that. they thought the user was smart enough to understand signed/unsigned when it was about drivers.
as windows is the OS of choice for running thousands of freeware, old games etc. you might see this warning a lot if you don't disable the thing. even legit, open source software may not be signed (how much does it cost?)
Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.
Legend
I've just spent a couple of days playing with Windows 8, and I can't really see the point. Metro is constantly pushed into your face in a most annoying way. So you spend a lot of time in the desktop anyway. I just wanted to be able to disable Metro (or make it completely secondary), and get the start button back.
There's a reason it's been a staple in Windows for the last 17 years - it's one place you can go to and find whatever you want from the beginning. Instead, Win 8 there's constant messing about to find what you're after. It's just quicker to use the explorer to go through the file system to find what you want, if you can remember what it's called.
I found things like searching for the apps you want in Metro is clunky, with stuff not being found, but with duplicates of stuff all over. It's like someone opened everything on the start menu/program files and then listed it all out at once. Nested and collapsible program groups have been abandoned in favour of just throwing everything at the screen at once, and then removing that functionality from the desktop view.
The upgrade install doesn't really work. It takes hours (more than four, instead of about 20-30 mins for a fresh install), and stuff that is supposed to work, then doesn't, and needs re-installing anyway. Some stuff still has compatibility issues. After the upgrade, stuff that was working after a clean install (like the weather widget or online music shopping portal) isn't working after an upgrade. Yes, upgrading a Win 7 installation successfully seems to have broken Microsoft's own Win 8 online shop/metro apps.
It makes no sense to me to force a tablet/smartphone GUI onto a desktop where it's not needed and doesn't work that well, and then remove the start menu to force people into Metro. Really, they need to put that start menu back, unless MS are expecting us to make all our own shortcuts and program groups for everything and put it on metro where it will just drop us back into the desktop.
I'd be happy with Windows 8 as an incremental upgrade at a reasonable price, if MS reinstated the start button/menu and if it didn't have Metro/appstore constantly getting in the way, but I'm not interested in an OS that makes things harder to use than the one before it.
There's a reason it's been a staple in Windows for the last 17 years - it's one place you can go to and find whatever you want from the beginning. Instead, Win 8 there's constant messing about to find what you're after. It's just quicker to use the explorer to go through the file system to find what you want, if you can remember what it's called.
I found things like searching for the apps you want in Metro is clunky, with stuff not being found, but with duplicates of stuff all over. It's like someone opened everything on the start menu/program files and then listed it all out at once. Nested and collapsible program groups have been abandoned in favour of just throwing everything at the screen at once, and then removing that functionality from the desktop view.
The upgrade install doesn't really work. It takes hours (more than four, instead of about 20-30 mins for a fresh install), and stuff that is supposed to work, then doesn't, and needs re-installing anyway. Some stuff still has compatibility issues. After the upgrade, stuff that was working after a clean install (like the weather widget or online music shopping portal) isn't working after an upgrade. Yes, upgrading a Win 7 installation successfully seems to have broken Microsoft's own Win 8 online shop/metro apps.
It makes no sense to me to force a tablet/smartphone GUI onto a desktop where it's not needed and doesn't work that well, and then remove the start menu to force people into Metro. Really, they need to put that start menu back, unless MS are expecting us to make all our own shortcuts and program groups for everything and put it on metro where it will just drop us back into the desktop.
I'd be happy with Windows 8 as an incremental upgrade at a reasonable price, if MS reinstated the start button/menu and if it didn't have Metro/appstore constantly getting in the way, but I'm not interested in an OS that makes things harder to use than the one before it.
UniversalTruth
Veteran
Guys, do we know when to expect Windows 7 Service Pack 2 and what to expect with it? Will it coincide with w8 launch?
Blazkowicz
Legend
no, it's NT4 Service Pack 17 
I got to use NT4 for a few hour-long sessions a decade ago, it's awesome how much it was tight. running on 32MB ram.
I got to use NT4 for a few hour-long sessions a decade ago, it's awesome how much it was tight. running on 32MB ram.
Blazkowicz
Legend
ugh, you would end up running a 3rd party launcher (maybe a metro app even, or just a start menu replacement for the desktop)
I didn't dare try windows 8 (I could, if I could be arsed plugging an old stray IDE drive and doing the dance) but if I understand how it works you will end up with a Metro screen with over one thousand items, a lot of them being Readme.txt and Uninstall XYZ for all your stuff (add "set up max payne", "wolfenstein multiplayer", "visit our crappy website" as many times as needed)
it's a big non-issue, either you use Metro and like it enough and get over it, either you use a 3rd party program that allows you to stay in desktop permanently, or you do a mix of both.
XP was a big issue for me back then, but you could disable the crap and so entirely ignore it (fisher price, "smart" menu that hides your programs, crippled search with dog assistant, system restore, hibernation file eating 2GB on your C:\ : all of that goes away once you figure it out)
I didn't dare try windows 8 (I could, if I could be arsed plugging an old stray IDE drive and doing the dance) but if I understand how it works you will end up with a Metro screen with over one thousand items, a lot of them being Readme.txt and Uninstall XYZ for all your stuff (add "set up max payne", "wolfenstein multiplayer", "visit our crappy website" as many times as needed)
it's a big non-issue, either you use Metro and like it enough and get over it, either you use a 3rd party program that allows you to stay in desktop permanently, or you do a mix of both.
XP was a big issue for me back then, but you could disable the crap and so entirely ignore it (fisher price, "smart" menu that hides your programs, crippled search with dog assistant, system restore, hibernation file eating 2GB on your C:\ : all of that goes away once you figure it out)
Last edited by a moderator:
UniversalTruth
Veteran
Windows 7 Service Pack 2 is Win8
Very "funny", indeed.
Let GOD be with us and save us from this misapprehension called w8. Amen.
I have a "c:\Stuff\startmenu\shortcuts" folder where all that crap goes
Blazkowicz
Legend
an XP to 8 upgrade is interesting. there are many hold outs esp. people who build their own PC, or just using their six year old computer.
I know I want to, part of me wants to stay under linux, part of me knows I'm missing out so much on freeware and games.
windows 8 has good apects : the desktop seems very blank, and the flat window dressings remind of windows classic. Metro is bold, but I think the vista/7 start menu was flawed anyway. Windows 8 looks "lightweight", and it is. it's five years into the Vista line, so it feels like when XP was the perfect OS with tight drivers and many years of patches.
I know I want to, part of me wants to stay under linux, part of me knows I'm missing out so much on freeware and games.
windows 8 has good apects : the desktop seems very blank, and the flat window dressings remind of windows classic. Metro is bold, but I think the vista/7 start menu was flawed anyway. Windows 8 looks "lightweight", and it is. it's five years into the Vista line, so it feels like when XP was the perfect OS with tight drivers and many years of patches.
Babel-17
Veteran
I'm hoping that SP1 for Windows 8 will offer the option to bypass Metro.
I can even see the logic of waiting, from MS's viewpoint.
What MS really wants is to get a lot of potential customers familiar with the UI of their phones/mobile devices.
After that is accomplished, once Windows phones look familiar and easy to use, MS can then start luring in power users who've been hanging on to their perfectly fine Vista and 7 installs.
And corporate customers usually wait for a service pack or two before buying a new OS so MS has lost nothing there.
My theory presupposes that MS will put a lot of effort into ensuring that SP1 will allow one to scrape Metro off and still have the OS be stable. Metro is not just a wallpaper.
I can even see the logic of waiting, from MS's viewpoint.
What MS really wants is to get a lot of potential customers familiar with the UI of their phones/mobile devices.
After that is accomplished, once Windows phones look familiar and easy to use, MS can then start luring in power users who've been hanging on to their perfectly fine Vista and 7 installs.
And corporate customers usually wait for a service pack or two before buying a new OS so MS has lost nothing there.
My theory presupposes that MS will put a lot of effort into ensuring that SP1 will allow one to scrape Metro off and still have the OS be stable. Metro is not just a wallpaper.
Blazkowicz
Legend
it's easy to run the OS with one thing less, you don't even need explorer.exe
even on XP you can change the registry setting that launches it and end up with cmd.exe for example, you only have a terminal window above a blue background and can probably launch a browser and stuff from there.
even on XP you can change the registry setting that launches it and end up with cmd.exe for example, you only have a terminal window above a blue background and can probably launch a browser and stuff from there.
I think the biggest draw of Windows 8 will be the 'App Store'. I think when the consumer version is out I'll go for it and use my $15 upgrade option, get an SSD (postponed that just for this) on my new PC and see where I end up.
Is it possible to change the boot setting so that if I boot from SSD, I get Windows 8, and if I boot from my main drive, I get my current Windows 7 setup?
Is it possible to change the boot setting so that if I boot from SSD, I get Windows 8, and if I boot from my main drive, I get my current Windows 7 setup?
In most BIOSes you can press F8 to get a boot menu, pick a drive and have it boot using the MBR on that particular drive.
I have a Win 7 on SSD, Ubuntu 12 on an old 400GB HDD and Win Vista on a 1TB HDD, all bootable.
Cheers
Cool, that was just what I was wondering - if the MBR depends on the startup drive, or it just searches for a drive with an MBR regardless of your startup drive. Now I realise that wouldn't make any sense, because then you couldn't boot from USB or DVD, but hey, I'm tired.
