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Windows 8 preview
Oscar Giner
Member #2,207
April 2002
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I tried it on a VM and... wow, what a big piece of shit :-/.

Removing the start menu and forcing you into that icon based UI to launch apps (which apparently you cannot modify manually to add or remove things) is very stupid.

An important things I still haven't figured out how to do: how to close "metro" based apps (without having to kill them through the task manager)?

After some investigation, I found it's possible to recover the start menu, you need to edit the registry key named RPEnabled in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer and change it to 0 (no need to restart, the change takes effect immediately). The problem is that if you move the mouse to the bottom left corner (like I guess most people do to click the start menu) that weird pop-up menu still appears and clicking then takes you to the metro UI again :P

Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
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An important things I still haven't figured out how to do: how to close "metro" based apps

Short version: you're not supposed to be able to. They run forever.

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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jmasterx said:

I had to install a non Microsoft patch to get the start menu to be normal, I hate the metro apps screen.

Removing the start menu and forcing you into that icon based UI to launch apps (which apparently you cannot modify manually to add or remove things) is very stupid.

Guys, they disabled the start menu for a reason. ::)

If you want to find out how Windows 8 works, then quit trying to turn it into Windows 7.

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Oscar Giner
Member #2,207
April 2002
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I tried it and it's horrible. Different doesn't mean better :P.

And as soon as you start installing apps and games, it gets cluttered with tons of icons very easily. A start menu, where everything is organized in a tree, is just plain better.

Append:
Not all things are worse, the new task manager is in general quite better (although it looks a bit ugly).

Dario ff
Member #10,065
August 2008
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And as soon as you start installing apps and games, it gets cluttered with tons of icons very easily.

Then I hope applications won't be as happy to install all the stuff there like the start menu. I haven't checked the start menu in Win XP for ages since I rarely use it...

{"name":"605073","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/4\/34945b1748d72efa562f3d84b1ec286d.jpg","w":1600,"h":900,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/4\/34945b1748d72efa562f3d84b1ec286d"}605073

Not like I even know what's half of the stuff in there. :-/

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Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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One of my favorite parts about the start menu is when companies put their software under folders of their company's name, making everything easy to find. (not)

Just installed Win8 ... Now where is that start menu! I need to turn that thing back on 'cause it's so ideal.

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Dario ff
Member #10,065
August 2008
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One of my favorite parts about the start menu is when companies put their software under folders of their company's name, making everything easy to find. (not)

Even Peitz is guilty of this. >:(
{"name":"605074","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/5\/d5a8822dcfaf1ed24c6fb56007e432f9.jpg","w":715,"h":73,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/d\/5\/d5a8822dcfaf1ed24c6fb56007e432f9"}605074

TranslatorHack 2010, a human translation chain in a.cc.
My games: [GiftCraft] - [Blocky Rhythm[SH2011]] - [Elven Revolution] - [Dune Smasher!]

BAF
Member #2,981
December 2002
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I realize it's just a preview and I'm using a VM, but the entire thing seems completely directionless, particularly as a desktop OS. RIP, Microsoft.

Now imagine the crap Apple will be pumping out once Steve-o's plans run out.

bamccaig said:

I gave in and bought Windows Seven for PC gaming, but I vowed to never buy another Microsoft product again. In fact, after VMware Workstation, I vowed to never buy another proprietary product again. GNU FTW.

Boy, it must be really boring gaming then.

Why did you have to buy VMWare? IMO, VirtualBox is one of the best/most successful open source projects out there...

At any rate, isn't Windows 8 like pre-alpha? Is it any surprise that it is crappy so far?

Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
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BAF said:

Is it any surprise that it is crappy so far?

It's not the technical glitches that concern me. It's the entire concept of stuffing an embedded OS on top of a Windows desktop but pretending that it's the foundation.

Trent Gamblin
Member #261
April 2000
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I'm reserving judgement until I try it. Which may be a long time because I don't want to buy another license, then reinstall it over again. Windows 7 works fine for me. Hopefully they don't do something stupid like break compatibility of old apps. If Windows does anything well, it's backwards compatibility.

MiquelFire
Member #3,110
January 2003
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The way Windows 8 works to an end user, a pre-8 desktop area is just another app, and non-metro apps run in that app. Hitting the start button returns to the Metro screen.

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torhu
Member #2,727
September 2002
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One of my favorite parts about the start menu is when companies put their software under folders of their company's name, making everything easy to find. (not)

I think M$ actually recommends this, it's in case two companies release an app with the same name. Or maybe that's just for the installation folder, appdata folder, etc. But anyway...

verthex
Member #11,340
September 2009
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2012 will be the end of Microsoft!

Peter Wang
Member #23
April 2000

{"name":"34945b1748d72efa562f3d84b1ec286d-1024.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/b\/abc8e41c4ec33f0551201bc4d5642f9c.jpg","w":1024,"h":576,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/b\/abc8e41c4ec33f0551201bc4d5642f9c"}34945b1748d72efa562f3d84b1ec286d-1024.jpg

:o Is this typical?

edit: fixed link to Dario's image

verthex
Member #11,340
September 2009
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The image is tiny?

Tobias Dammers
Member #2,604
August 2002
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You silly GUI addicts... here's my start menu:

{"name":"605075","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/f\/3fe2dd9fcd6bc3662063a1be0c25b606.png","w":1280,"h":800,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/f\/3fe2dd9fcd6bc3662063a1be0c25b606"}605075

Pretty clean, isn't it?

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Dario ff
Member #10,065
August 2008
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Is this typical?

If you never organize the start menu and just let apps install their default "start menu" option... :-/

I never considered the start menu useful anyway, other than making any fullscreen application I got glitch the fuck out because of an accidental "windows key" press.

I just use two folders(games and tools) on the task bar below. Keeps the desktop clean from icon hell, and it's quicker IMO.

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Tobias Dammers
Member #2,604
August 2002
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Dario ff said:

If you never organize the start menu and just let apps install their default "start menu" option...

...then you'll get your start menu neatly arranged by vendor, to provide extra incentive for you to memorize their names.

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BAF
Member #2,981
December 2002
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People still use the programs folder on the start menu? I haven't touched it since Vista.

Johan Halmén
Member #1,550
September 2001

Windows 7 is very nice, in my opinion.

I believe W7 is very nice if you had Vista, which was said to be crap. I still use XP on most machines and I'm doing fine. On one machine I have W7 and I hate it with a passion. Mind that my relation to any Windows is strictly on the GUI level.

I go Alt+Tab on XP and what do I get? A clear popup window with icons of each window that is open. I tap on Tab to pick one of them. Each gets highlighted with a blue frame. I can't miss.

I go Alt+Tab on W7 and what do I get? A fuzzy semi-transparent popup window with miniatures of each window that I have open. I don't recognise a single one of them. I tap on Tab to pick one of them. I can't see any of them being highlighted because of the transparency, because meanwhile the windows change all the time in behind and everything seems semi-transparent.

I have a small window in focus but I want to reveal parts of an underlying window. I grab the small window and move it away. But while I drag the window to the edge of the screen, W7 thinks this means I want to maximise the window. Thanks alot[1]! Now I can't see anything but the window I wanted to move aside. I know this is all about settings here and there, but if this is the standard behaviour of Windows 7, I'm really screwed the day W7 becomes the standard OS at all computers at work. I'm supposed to help out people having problems with the computers and I can't just change everything on all computers and tell everyone it's for their own best.

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james_lohr
Member #1,947
February 2002

Windows 7 is by far the best OS I've ever used. I'm yet to have either my work or home PC crash in the last year. Pretty much everything has worked first time without hassle, and I personally prefer it's look and feel to any other OS I have used.

But while I drag the window to the edge of the screen, W7 thinks this means I want to maximise the window.

Yeah, admittedly getting used to that annoyed me for a week or two.

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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I'm yet to have either my work or home PC crash in the last year.

I haven't had Windows (XP+) or Linux crash since I can remember (except for a broken video driver in XP many years ago). My previous computer had a hardware reset button which was handy when I was still using DOS occasionally.

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

Oscar Giner
Member #2,207
April 2002
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Those are small annoyances that can be configured. OTOH, now I can't live without the search box in W7 start menu. I rarely navigate the programs menu any more: open start menu, type the first(s) letter(s) (actually they can be the first letters of any word in the application's name) and hit enter to launch it.

The task bar is also way better. Being able to reorder items (yeah, it took MS 15 years to add that...), no cluttering with quick launch icons (you click an pinned icon, the icon is now the application running), being able to hide tray icons in a submenu, the show desktop button...

I've been using XP for years (skipped Vista), and I definitely think W7 is way better overall.

_Kronk_
Member #12,347
November 2010

You silly GUI addicts... here's my start menu:

What is that? I'm assuming Linux right? What distro?

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Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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_Kronk_ said:

What is that? I'm assuming Linux right? What distro?

Isn't that Programs | Run?

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.



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