Windows 8 Consumer Preview: How do You Like It Thus Far?

[Digilodger]

Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released on February 29, 2012. The EXE file is available here and the ISO file is available here.
And the product key is DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J.

Watch the official demo here: youtube.com/watch?v=jGbaAQyz8Q0


Note #1: This is still a beta; this is NOT a finished product. It's still rough around the edges. Do NOT install this on your main PC or partition. If you wish to try, install it on a virtual machine or a separate partition (and dual-boot) instead.

Note #2: You would want to watch the official demo before using it to avoid confusion and to take advantage of all the features. Also, if you're a heavy keyboard-shortcut abuser like me, then you probably want to take a look at PC World's list of Windows 8 Consumer Preview keyboard shortcuts.

Note #3: Mac users, you probably shouldn't bother trying to Boot Camp this thing yet. Half of everything won't work.


So how do you like the Windows 8 so far?


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After about 2 sleepless nights of trying to adjust myself to everything, I finally came to like Windows 8. (Yeah, it was kind of annoying at first; I mean, I had to familiarize myself with the new metro interface, learn over 20 new shortcuts, etc. Heck, for the first 30 minutes, I didn't even know how to close a program. )

Microsoft isn't shy about flooding its users with new concepts. It was like this with the transition from XP to Vista, and now it's even worse with Windows 8. But hey, I really like Windows 8 now--even more than Windows 7. And I'm planning to upgrade the primary OS of both my desktop and laptop to Windows 8 as soon as the final version come out. (And no, money is not a problem because since I'm an IT student, I will be able to obtain a legal copy of Windows 8 for free and usually we can get it about one or two months before the official release date. So yay! I can't wait for the release of the final product! )


These are a few things I liked and dislike about Windows 8 Consumer Preview thus far (click on spoiler to view):

Spoiler:

Backward Compatibility: Nothing Seems Broken Thus far

Microsoft seems to have learned its lesson from the Vista days. So far, whatever works on Windows 7 still works on Windows 8, from software and hardware to peripherals, without any need for new drivers. Unfortunately this applies for malware (virus, trojan, spyware, etc.) as well.

And of course, for those who dislike the metro UI, Win+D will bring back the Windows 7 UI. In fact, currently it's impossible to use Windows 8 without switching back to the desktop UI. The metro UI just isn't perfected yet. So we would have to either stick to the desktop UI 100% or keep switching back-and-forth between the Metro UI and Desktop UI.

All ribbons can also be toggle off.

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Task Manager Now Included Startup Manager

This. Should. Have. Been. Included. In. Windows. 7!!!

You want to know why your PC takes forever to prepare the desktop when booted and why it used up so much RAM even though you're not running anything? Well, that's usually because you never manage your startup programs--programs that automatically run when the PC started up.

The old method with msconfig is both confusing and too technical for the average users. Not anymore! The new one included with Task Manager is both nice and simple.

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Metro Internet Explorer 10 is Actually Good!

IE10 comes with a metro version and a desktop version. While the desktop version is still crap, I find the metro version both annoying and fun at the same time. I'm typing this post from Windows 8's IE10 right now.

By default, metro IE10 runs in full screen. We can right-click to bring back the address bar and tab previews. It is fast and fluid; in terms of speed, it's actually faster than Firefox (but in terms of customization, Firefox still win all the way).

Unfortunately no add-on works in metro IE10, including Flash. This isn't a huge problem because we easily switch back to the desktop UI when necessary with 2 clicks; plus, YouTube has the HTML5 option, which doesn't requires Flash. Adobe is also planning to deliver Flash via Adobe AIR so that it would work with metro IE10 in the near future.

A weird bug also seems to infect IE10's download manager. Normally it works fine, but occasionally the download won't start until several minutes later. I've no idea what's causing the weird bug.

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Uninstall Apps in 2 Clicks

Right-click on the app and choose Uninstall = Done! It's that easy now. What can I say?

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Media, Games, App Store, and Everything Else

Everyone seems to follow Apple's App Store concept these days. Linux and Google, then Microsoft; Mozilla is on its way to create an app store, too. Wow!

The video and music are just plain weird as of now. The next button won't work half of the times. I can click next and nothing would happen. (The previous button works fine.) Also, I couldn't locate the volume control anywhere.

Even weirder is sometimes when I try to open the video app, the message app launches instead. It doesn't make any sense.

I still trying to learn my way around the message app. It seems simple and we can use snap-left or snap-right to "dock" it there, but constantly switching between the desktop UI and metro UI while trying to interact with 4 to 6 programs at once AND hold a conversation can be quite confusing. I'm a male, damn it; multitask isn't my specialty

[ilovecountrymusic]

After watching the video, I'm looking forward to it. Seems a lot more user friendly.

[craz33me]

I'm going to try it on my other computer, I'll post back when I do.

[Kakorrhaphiophobia]

That seems really interesting.
I just got windows 7 though so I will not be switching over for a while probably.
When is the finished product going to be available?

[Penultimate]

I don't like the look of windows 8 at all. I'm happy with windows 7.

[Digilodger]

Originally Posted by Total Light Storm

That seems really interesting.
I just got windows 7 though so I will not be switching over for a while probably.
When is the finished product going to be available?

Some time at the end of this year, but Microsoft usually has a few months gap between the RTM version and retail version so the retail version might get push over to next year.


And if you already have Windows 7, then you probably have no need to spend all the money on upgrading to Windows 8. As things are now, I don't think it's worth it. Metro is incomplete.

Currently it's possible go 100% Aero, but it's impossible to do the same with metro. We just have to switch back to aero from time to time; it's like metro is only half complete. Plus, the Microsoft app store is pretty much vacant right now. Quite a disappointment, in my opinion.

It probably would take a few years (probably until Windows 9 come out) for metro to mature.


The only reason I choose to upgrade is because IT students get it for free (if the school is part of MSDNAA). And currently, even in Consumer Preview release, I haven't run into any problem while running my daily software like Google Chrome, Aurora, Foobar2000, MS Visual Studio 6.0 and Visual Studio 2010, MS Office 2010, Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 and Illustrator CS5.1, Notepad++, etc.

So, you know, why not?