Anyone tried Windows 8 yet?

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:21 am

And if so, how long did it take you to find the "Start" button equivalent?

How did you fare against this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4boTbv9_nU

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 9:33 am

I'll take that as a no. We have it on a desktop here. Bit weird to get used to. I'd like to try it on a tablet as I think that is where it will make sense. I don't think the metro interface makes sense on a desktop, and while you can switch to the regular desktop it's going to take some time getting used to the fact that there is no start button. I don't really get why they felt the need to get rid of a start button which everyone is used to.

Meryl · Post by **Meryl** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:25 pm

Like to wait for an OS to be out for a while ... get all the kinks out. Like you said -- its focus is for the tablet. I can understand innovating and finding better ways to do things ... but start button really serves its purpose well.

Lorence · Post by **Lorence** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 12:10 pm

I can't seriously see us moving to win8 ever. Our lab is just getting ready to move to win7, and that's only on some machines. We still have software that isn't validated to run on win7 yet, and since it is considered a "Medical Device" every version has to go through FDA approval processing (Food & Drug Admin 510K process), which can take a year! We even have a few instruments that are run by win2K machines! Our hospital IS doesn't like ti, but there's not a lot we can do about it.
Plus, with as cumbersome as we've all heard win8 is on the desktop, well, I just don't see it ever happening!

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 1:23 pm

Many of our clients are also still on XP including some large hospitals in the UK probably for similar reasons to yourself. I guess it "just works" and they're all far too busy to be worrying about what might happen if they allow someone to upgrade.

Windows 7 Pro comes with an XP VM. So one strategy might be to allow some people to go up to Win 7 and if they have problems with any of their apps they can be installed into the XP VM. But ... part of the problem is they just don't have the time to worry about it! Another issue may be cost - I guess they already own a large volume license for XP to cover all desktops. Moving to Windows 7 would involve a fee I guess.

Personally I know there are benefits to upgrading to Windows 7 and IMO Windows 7 is the best Windows OS ever. But I completely understand why many large orgs are still stuck on XP.

Meryl · Post by **Meryl** » Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:05 pm

My main desktop is still on XP. Afraid to upgrade and have to reinstall everything and get my data back on there from the backup.

Phil Pendlebury · Post by **Phil Pendlebury** » Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:56 pm

Sorry Marcus,

Been on Win 8 for a couple of weeks now, loving it.

Start Menu = Start Screen. Organised a clear. I like it a lot.

http://www.pendlebury.biz/learn-windows-8-in-6-steps

Performance - Great.

MSched - Working as expected.

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Sat Nov 10, 2012 8:35 am

Glad it is all working well. Maybe I'm being a stick in the mud regarding the start button. I guess it's a change people will get used to.

DIVINELIVING · Post by **DIVINELIVING** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:54 am

Phil Pendlebury wrote:Sorry Marcus,

Been on Win 8 for a couple of weeks now, loving it.

Start Menu = Start Screen. Organised a clear. I like it a lot.

Performance - Great.

MSched - Working as expected.

I agree with Phil.. it is by far the best operating system I have worked with along with Windows Server 2012 ( amazing RDS functionality).

The windows key is simply the 'start' key and rather than a small little area, I can click on the windows key and my entire screen is short cuts organized as I wish and I can simply type the name of a program/file and vuala... beautiful! I don't use any of the 'windows 8 features'... no need.. I very much prefer the desktop, but the large icons in the 'start' screen are awesome... super easy, and intuitive once you learn the basics ... 1. click on start icon (key next to the ALT key), 2. type what you want, and 3. Ok.. a little harder.. learn how to shut down the computer...

But wow.. on the sleep factor and not having to reboot your computer each time. It is like a tablet..program the power button to sleep, and then in seconds you are back up the next day... and if you need to boot.. likewise..super fast... all benefits in exchange of just a little learning curve... not sure what all the bad rap is.. but humans simply don't like change... it is just the way it is.. I remember going to Netscape to IE and hating it.. but realized it was simply because I did not know how to use it.. once I did.. I never went back... and I would never go back to Windows 7 or XP... assuming the computer has plenty of memory and power of course...

BTW.. just bought Macro Scheduler.. and I can't sleep.. so excited! I have been scouring the forum, blogs and reading the manual... what a treat of a program and I will probably only be using one 5th of it's functionality and yet be totally delighted! Dreaming of the possibilities...

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:05 am

2. type what you want, and

Yeh I do that in Windows 7. Click Start, type, bingo. I NEVER Use shortcuts. What I don't like in Windows 8 is I don't know where to click - I kinda have to hover somewhere hoping I've got the right place. In Windows 7 it's obvious, and definite.

A screenful of shortcuts? Yuk. No thanks.

But, I'm not using Win8 as my main day to day machine so maybe I am just not using it enough for it to become natural yet.