Release date on Oct 26th.

Nope. I'll probably upgrade to Windows 7 soon though. Windows 8 looks very 'tablet'.

I converted the entire household and my office platform to Mac a few years ago. Life is so much better.

I get a spinning rainbow wheel once in a while - but the O/S is solid, boots up quickly, and I don't have a thousand upgrade pop-ups for all my different s/w programs every day.

Needless to say, I'm pretty confident I don't have a million trackers and shitware bombs going off in the background bringing my machine to a crawl.

And it is all integrated pretty seamlessly with my IPhone and IPad.

Life outside the Microsoft bubble is really, really nice.

idontlikebeingrightaboutshitlikethisbutiam



Edited 21 time(s). Last edit at 5/31/1967 05:57AM by WingNut.

Last edit at 11/30/2015 01:37PM Last edit at 5/14/2015 03:52PM Last edit at 1/28/2014 05:57AM Last edit at 11/29/2015 01:10PM Last edit at 3/14/2011 11:52PM Last edit at 7/20/2012 04:07AM
Last edit at 6/29/2013 11:18PM Last edit at 3/19/2011 01:02PM Last edit at 3/26/2012 09:07PM



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2015 07:35AM by WingNut.

Use Windows 8 at your own risk. It monitors all software that you download/install and reports back to MicroSoft (and perhaps others):

http://gizmodo.com/5937649/windows-8-tells-microsoft-about-everything-you-install-not-very-securely

WingNut - I can't stand fucking stand your politics.

And, I make a ridiculous shit load of money off the Government maintaining their Windows and Microsoft crapware. Own a company that is a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner.

Went to my brother-in-laws house for the holidays one year and he had bought his kids a couple MACs but had not set them up. He is a Heart Surgeon and always on call, so I was bored waiting around the house while he had to do an emergency surgery. So, I decided to set up those MACs.

I was absolutely blown away by the packaging, the simplicity, the ease of setting them up, the intuitive interfaces, everything. It really flipped me out.

I got a MAC for one of my kids. Blown away.
Did a second kid. Blown away.
Did the wife. Blown away.

Finally I bit the bullet myself. Blown away.

Like I said - I make a lot of money because Windows and Microsoft sucks so bad. Make a lot of money of the stuff they do well too - like SharePoint.

I'm sold on MAC and ain't going back. And now that they have Government approved platforms I'm moving one of my companies to position that play in the Federal space.

You may hate my politics as much as I can't stand yours, but I know technology and understand all its nuances. This is a new devil that you want to know intimately. It rocks!

Hell No! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WingNut - I can't stand fucking stand your
> politics.
>
> And, I make a ridiculous shit load of money off
> the Government....

You make a "shitload of money" from the TAXPAYER douchebag...

I stopped reading right there.

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Release date on Oct 26th.

I =was= planning to "upgrade" 32-bit XP Pro to 64 bit Win 8 but am REAL hesitant because my family has a boatload of applications and data (files) that absolutely need to be accessible essentially immediately. The cost would have been, I believe, about $40 if I just download an ISO and burn a CD - that's a LOT cheaper than installing, say, Windows 7 though the difficulty of the upgrade is, I think, about the same with the two.

Right now I'm rearranging my speghetti disk to be a little more organized - and a little more organized to allow simple backup and reinstall in the "appropriate places" should I actually do the upgrade.

Still contemplating my navel about it, though.

The last windows machine I had was windows NT.

Macs FTW. Fuck Microsoft.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

I make a shitload of money from the taxpayer because idiots like you WingNut - vote for stupid people, like Romney, who make stupid decisions, based on fake patriotism and fake facts.

George Bush invading Iraq for 9-11 and fictional WMD is a perfect example.

Voting for Romney and his mathematical farce of a budget that increases deficit spending on Defense while reducing taxes on the highest income brackets is another example.

Endorsing a Romney Foreign Policy that has Syria as Iran's path to the sea, is another example.

If the Government switched from Microsoft to GMail and Google Apps in the cloud we could save several Billion tax payer dollars. But you like Windows and Microsoft Office - even though it sucks!
Attachments:

Hell No! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I make a shitload of money from the taxpayer
> because idiots like you WingNut - vote for stupid
> people, like Romney, who make stupid decisions,
> based on fake patriotism and fake facts.
>
> George Bush invading Iraq for 9-11 and fictional
> WMD is a perfect example.
>
> Voting for Romney and his mathematical farce of a
> budget that increases deficit spending on Defense
> while reducing taxes on the highest income
> brackets is another example.
>
> Endorsing a Romney Foreign Policy that has Syria
> as Iran's path to the sea, is another example.
>
> If the Government switched from Microsoft to GMail
> and Google Apps in the cloud we could save several
> Billion tax payer dollars. But you like Windows
> and Microsoft Office - even though it sucks!


Blah blah blah blah.....

Jesus Fucking Christ don't you idiots ever get tired of the same fucking talking point bullshit? lmao

Syria is in Israel's path to Turkey and the oil pipeline from Central Asia.

-
Attachments:

@hell no-

Look fagstick, I spare getting political in threads that don't have anything to do with politics, apparently you can't leave the two alone.

I use Open Office and other open source programs, always have.

George Bush isn't running, it's 2012 and Biden and Hillary were down with the WMD thing too.

Any moron could have understood Romney was referring to access to the Mediterranean. Maybe your brain damaged VP saying Syria was five times larger geographically than Libya didn't make the rounds at Kos, your loss.

You're a taxpayer dependent maggot, hopefully you'll be some of the fat that gets trimmed.

Your wife's twat probably really smells.


Thnaks!

idontlikebeingrightaboutshitlikethisbutiam



Edited 21 time(s). Last edit at 5/31/1967 05:57AM by WingNut.

Last edit at 11/30/2015 01:37PM Last edit at 5/14/2015 03:52PM Last edit at 1/28/2014 05:57AM Last edit at 11/29/2015 01:10PM Last edit at 3/14/2011 11:52PM Last edit at 7/20/2012 04:07AM
Last edit at 6/29/2013 11:18PM Last edit at 3/19/2011 01:02PM Last edit at 3/26/2012 09:07PM

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> -


Geez.......I hope she has one of these somewhere on her body.
Attachments:

Now now boys, calm down. WTF does politics have to do with updating an OS?

There's enough room for both Macs and Windows in the world. Although I prefer Apple's OS by a mile, I still use Windows quite a bit for programming and some other work related stuff. Having all my IOS devices sync up is a great + for Apple though.

I haven't had too many problems with Windows 7 and will probably update to Windows 8,but not until Microsoft irons out all the usual wrinkles and the software makers update as well. Since I just can't trust Microsoft to not get virus's and other morbidities, I rarely go online on my Windows machines.

Wingnut, don't be in the least bit afraid to get a Mac. They are extremely easy to understand and you'll be up and going in no time. The main thing that happens to people making the switch is overthinking the OS. There are way less steps to do stuff on Macs and you really can't screw anything up on your settings because its so simple.

How hard is it to migrate your iTunes library from a Windows 7 computer to a Mac? Is it as simple as turning on Home Sharing?

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How hard is it to migrate your iTunes library from
> a Windows 7 computer to a Mac? Is it as simple as
> turning on Home Sharing?


I think Home Sharing is done from the cloud. If you have 10 gazillion songs, sound effects, mp4's, etc... it won't work. That's not to mention the other programs the also share the cloud (iPhoto, Aperture, Numbers, Pages and Keynote)
Not sure how much Apple gives you for free, but I don't think it's much.

I split my stuff between iCloud and Dropbox.

What's up Mr.Numbers, long time no see.

JESUS LOVES YOU BUDDY !

WingNut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I wish I was so brave to try Linux or get Macs,
> but I've been using Windows for years, kind of
> scared of the change.

Trying Linux is easy and safe, just download a live CD image ( http://distrowatch.com/ ) , burn the image to a CD and boot off of it. Nothing changes on your PC. As soon as you shut down, you're back to normal.

I've used many of the distributions, but have stuck pretty much to Ubuntu and Mint. Mint seems pretty intuitive for the Windows user. Ubuntu is going the way of the tablet too, like Windows 8 with it's new Unity launcher. The only downside to Linux is the software, and particularly gaming. If you play games, you're kind of screwed. But for normal Office work and internet type activities, it's on par with the competition. And it's free, and probably more virus resistant than even a Mac which is nice.

http://linuxmint.com/

trogdor! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Trying Linux is easy and safe, just download a
> live CD image ( http://distrowatch.com/ ) , burn
> the image to a CD and boot off of it. Nothing
> changes on your PC. As soon as you shut down,
> you're back to normal.
>
> I've used many of the distributions, but have
> stuck pretty much to Ubuntu and Mint. Mint seems
> pretty intuitive for the Windows user. Ubuntu is
> going the way of the tablet too, like Windows 8
> with it's new Unity launcher. The only downside
> to Linux is the software, and particularly gaming.
> If you play games, you're kind of screwed. But
> for normal Office work and internet type
> activities, it's on par with the competition. And
> it's free, and probably more virus resistant than
> even a Mac which is nice.
>
> http://linuxmint.com/

I use Linux (of various types), too, on the "older machines" however there is more to the negatives of Linux than just lack of games (which, IMHO, IS a major negative!) - the device drivers are often less than excellent, especially the all-important graphics devices. Though manufacturers ARE a LOT more amenable to the idea of Linux drivers now-a-days there are some, NVidia in particular, who are less-than-enthusiastic to releasing any information about their devices (to allow robust driver design, etc).

[I recently installed "Puppy Linux" (!) on an old partially-broken laptop a bro-in-law gave me - that thing had, like, no memory worth mentioning - but Puppy came up and even accessed the internet via a wireless-N card!

Couldn't do much more with the laptop since it IS literally broken so it's sitting "downstairs" (sorta like "out in the cornfield") waiting to be reduced to parts...

The exercise of FINDING a Linux that would fit was fun]

WingNut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I wish I was so brave to try Linux or get Macs,
> but I've been using Windows for years, kind of
> scared of the change.
>
> I'll probably do the Windows 8 update in about a
> year. I "upgraded" to Vista when it first came out
> and I regretted the move completely.

I disagree with your politics, too. But I'm not like Hell No! -- this thread is about Windows 8, not politics. ;)

trogdor! has a good suggestion. You can create a bootable CD that has linux and X windows all set up. Boot to the CD and try it out. Remove the CD and reboot, and you're back to whatever you have installed on your boot drive.

As for upgrading to windows 8, I think it's a sucker's game. People feel the need to have the latest and greatest. But the only reason you should ever upgrade anything is if you need functionality that only that more recent version has. Otherwise, the only benefit is for telling your friends and coworkers what version you have.

It's not worth the time, expense and risks. Upgrading sets you up for more upgrades of any apps that might not be compatible with the new OS.

The "newest" OS in my house is XP SP3. I have a box that still runs 95. It makes no sense to upgrade from 95, it's only a seedbox anyway.

I get that upgrade-for-the-sake-upgrading crap from consultants all the time. Some employees seem to want to do it just so they can brag at happy hour, and don't consider if our database servers or other applications will run into compatibility issues, and the ones that go ahead without my permission end up having to upgrade 20 more things before everything works exactly the way it did before they went and upgraded the first thing. It's annoying.

The reason I would upgrade to Win 8 isn't a need to upgrade and OS, but because Win XP has limited lifetime and MY installation of XP is 32 it even though my hardware is 64 bit; the cost to upgrade 32 bit to 64 bit XP is MORE than the cost to upgrade to Win 8, plus to do so would be to install an already-discontinued OS.

[I recently upped my memory to 4 GBytes and hit the 32 bit hard ceiling with it - to the point that a Gbyte or so is inaccessible - that is the main incentive to get into 64 bit mode]

Olde Farte, II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The reason I would upgrade to Win 8 isn't a need
> to upgrade and OS, but because Win XP has limited
> lifetime and MY installation of XP is 32 it even
> though my hardware is 64 bit; the cost to upgrade
> 32 bit to 64 bit XP is MORE than the cost to
> upgrade to Win 8, plus to do so would be to
> install an already-discontinued OS.
>
> [I recently upped my memory to 4 GBytes and hit
> the 32 bit hard ceiling with it - to the point
> that a Gbyte or so is inaccessible - that is the
> main incentive to get into 64 bit mode]


That is the reason to upgrade.

Absent a need, it is just falling prey to marketing. Nobody gets rid of their car when the new model year comes out (well, some do, but they must have money to burn.)

BTW, you should be able to find a copy of XP 64 bit either on a torrent site or by borrowing a CD/DVD from a friend. Operating systems are never really "discontinued". Microsoft just wants you to buy their new OS. If it works with your hardware and apps, it cannot be "discontinued". In fact, if that's what Microsoft claims, more reason to "borrow" a copy from someone and not feel guilty about "stealing".

eesh - To answer your question, I found the best way to export iTunes from device to device, whether it be Windows or Mac-based, was to export to an external hard drive first, then upload to whatever. I believe Homeshare will only transfer items "purchased" from iTunes and not if you have a ton of ripped CDs uploaded to iTunes. There's simple instructions out there on various Apple support forums to do this and also on how to import your playlists, which take FOREVER to re-create.

must be that copyright thing Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eesh - To answer your question, I found the best
> way to export iTunes from device to device,
> whether it be Windows or Mac-based, was to export
> to an external hard drive first, then upload to
> whatever. I believe Homeshare will only transfer
> items "purchased" from iTunes and not if you have
> a ton of ripped CDs uploaded to iTunes. There's
> simple instructions out there on various Apple
> support forums to do this and also on how to
> import your playlists, which take FOREVER to
> re-create.

That's the problem with "walled gardens". They like to make it difficult to move your stuff to a competitor.

WingNut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hell No! Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I converted the entire household and my office
> > platform to Mac a few years ago. Life is so
> much
> > better.
> >
> > I get a spinning rainbow wheel once in a while
> -
> > but the O/S is solid, boots up quickly, and I
> > don't have a thousand upgrade pop-ups for all
> my
> > different s/w programs every day.
> >
> > Needless to say, I'm pretty confident I don't
> have
> > a million trackers and shitware bombs going off
> in
> > the background bringing my machine to a crawl.
> >
> > And it is all integrated pretty seamlessly with
> my
> > IPhone and IPad.
> >
> > Life outside the Microsoft bubble is really,
> > really nice.
>
> I wish I was so brave to try Linux or get Macs,
> but I've been using Windows for years, kind of
> scared of the change.
>
> I'll probably do the Windows 8 update in about a
> year. I "upgraded" to Vista when it first came out
> and I regretted the move completely.

Wingnut;

Vista sucks big time, you should see improvements by going to W7 or W8. Also try to migrate to 64bit if you can, helps a lot too.

Btw, I just checked out the Mac prices at the apple store. Setting aside a Mac Mini, which looks like its made for lighter tasks, the starting price of an iMac is $1299! This is what drove me away from Apple years ago. Literally today, I am building a new pc for less than $500 that has the same or better hardware than an iMac. Only difference is I'm not buying a monitor and the iMac comes with one.

But still, thats a huge difference in price. Sure maybe the Mac OS is cleaner and more refined, but at some point you have to say at what price.

Back to the OPs question, I guess I'll wait till Friday to buy the Windows 8 upgrade for $39. The upgrade to Windows 7 is actually more.

Never jump into Microsoft's first release of a "new" OS. Always wait for the SECOND service pack (patches and fixes).

Wait for the 2nd Service Pack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Never jump into Microsoft's first release of a
> "new" OS. Always wait for the SECOND service pack
> (patches and fixes).


+1

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> -


I'll go with 2005, Alex

Anyone?

Everybody knows every other Windows OS sucks dick. Let's see:

Windows 98 - Win
Windows 2000 - Gay
Windows XP - Win
Windows Vista - Gay
Windows 7 - Win
Windows 8 - Gay

I'd say windows 95 was a win... Kinda throws off your pattern...

and what about Windows ME?

DON'T DO IT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Everybody knows every other Windows OS sucks dick.
> Let's see:
>
> Windows 98 - Win
> Windows 2000 - Gay
> Windows XP - Win
> Windows Vista - Gay
> Windows 7 - Win
> Windows 8 - Gay

Signatures are for fags

Sooner or later, everyone gets the new version of Windows.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sooner or later, everyone gets the new version of
> Windows.


The last two computers I've bought were immediately wiped clean and I installed XP SP3 on them.

Downgrade Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The last two computers I've bought were
> immediately wiped clean and I installed XP SP3 on
> them.

Depending on what you use your computer for, that's not an option. The latest version of DirectX (11) is only available for Windows 7. They still support XP because of how many companies and government organizations are still using it. In another 10 years, though, it will be discontinued and you'll have to use a newer version.

On a long enough timeline, everyone's ability to avoid the new Windows drops to zero. Fight Club reference.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

Windows 8 is a fail. It's not the consumer that matters, it's corporate. They are not interested in spending the IT resources on new licenses, labor to install the new OS and drop in worker productivity as they get familiar with the OS.

Windows 8 is dead on arrival.

IT dude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Windows 8 is a fail. It's not the consumer that
> matters, it's corporate. They are not interested
> in spending the IT resources on new licenses,
> labor to install the new OS and drop in worker
> productivity as they get familiar with the OS.
>
> Windows 8 is dead on arrival.

I guess that's why you're an IT "dude" instead of an IT "professional." By your logic, corporations would still be using Windows 3.1. Everyone upgrades eventually. Yes, the consumers are going to be the bulk of the initial buyers, but everyone upgrades eventually.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I guess that's why you're an IT "dude" instead of
> an IT "professional." By your logic, corporations
> would still be using Windows 3.1. Everyone
> upgrades eventually. Yes, the consumers are going
> to be the bulk of the initial buyers, but everyone
> upgrades eventually.


The consumer market is the backdoor into the corporate market. mid-level employees and small business owners will get used to the newer OS at home and then they will demand it in their offices.

Well... as things like 64 bit systems become the norm, they're not going to keep making 32 bit systems and software.

People may skip the jump from Windows XP or 7 to Windows 8 like they skipped Vista or ME, but eventually... you know.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

Harry Tuttle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd say windows 95 was a win... Kinda throws off
> your pattern...
>
> and what about Windows ME?
>
> DON'T DO IT Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Everybody knows every other Windows OS sucks
> dick.
> > Let's see:
> >
> > Windows 98 - Win
> > Windows 2000 - Gay
> > Windows XP - Win
> > Windows Vista - Gay
> > Windows 7 - Win
> > Windows 8 - Gay





95 - Win

98 - Win

ME - Fail

2000- Win

XP - Win

Vista - Fail

7 - Win

8 - ???

Windows 8 is a polished turd

Just bought a cheap HP desktop this evening.....Windows 8 installed. Not bad, the Start up menu is retarded though, definitely just for tablets and not desktops.

Why do people not like vista?

I used it for 3 years without any problems. Win7 isn't that much different from what I remember of vista.

Was it UAC? Windows 7 also has a similar feature which is just as annoying. I have ended up disabling both.

Is it because everyone else says vista is bad?

I don't get it.

Now, I have my desktop with win7 and linux ubuntu and my macbook pro with OSX lion and win7. I only ever use OSX when I'm not plugged in because it seems to get slightly better battery life. Talking 3hr15m compared to 3hr or so.

I'd have to agree that the mousepad is better in OSX because of the awesome gestures that I hardly use because I prefer a real mouse.

The physical quality of the laptop is better too. Nice look and solid case.

But I mean, if you're going to spend 1,500 on a laptop, you might as well shell out another 99 bucks to upgrade to win7. If OSX was so great, they wouldn't have developed a program that helps you install win7 along side it. nuff said

Is this shit free?

Kittens Having Mittens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is this shit free?




Yes, Microsoft is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the world a better place through free software.

They also bake cookies.

meh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why do people not like vista?
>
> Is it because everyone else says vista is bad?
>
> I don't get it.
>
> But I mean, if you're going to spend 1,500 on a
> laptop, you might as well shell out another 99
> bucks to upgrade to win7. If OSX was so great,
> they wouldn't have developed a program that helps
> you install win7 along side it. nuff said

Microsoft got scared by all the fanboys fawning over OSX, and they rushed Vista out trying to "keep up" with Apple, for some silly reason.

The drastic UI changes from Luna to Aero and changing a lot of the basic things made it too confusing for people. The control panel icons and other changes to where things were or how they were named made it hard to move from XP to Vista.

It created a great deal of application compatibility issues -- Applications that were developed before Vista would often not run at all under Vista because of new "rules" (UAC, for example) or other issues. Or they'd crash and lose data. The native VPN client didn't work with Cisco and some other common VPN servers

It was also very unstable in the early releases. It was a resource hog. Networking was buggy and inefficient.

It also just sucked because XP had matured to the point where it was good enough for enough people and Vista wasn't really seen as a necessary upgrade.

There are some issues with iTunes on Windows 8.

Kittens Having Mittens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is this shit free?

It is in China.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The three enemies of the people are hegemony, monogamy, and monotony."-Terence McKenna

Olde Farte, II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eesh Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Release date on Oct 26th.
>
> I =was= planning to "upgrade" 32-bit XP Pro to 64
> bit Win 8 but am REAL hesitant because my family
> has a boatload of applications and data (files)
> that absolutely need to be accessible essentially
> immediately. The cost would have been, I believe,
> about $40 if I just download an ISO and burn a CD
> - that's a LOT cheaper than installing, say,
> Windows 7 though the difficulty of the upgrade is,
> I think, about the same with the two.
>
> Right now I'm rearranging my speghetti disk to be
> a little more organized - and a little more
> organized to allow simple backup and reinstall in
> the "appropriate places" should I actually do the
> upgrade.
>
> Still contemplating my navel about it, though.

Well, I'm beginning the REAL throes of installing Windows 8 and it really is going to be a royal pain to do properly and as unobtrusively to the OTHER users of this machine as possible.

I'm moving from 32 bit XP to 64 bit Windows 8 so, how about that!?, the cheap online method DOES NOT WORK because Microsoft did not give the option of selecting the memory width - it MATCHES what you already have and that's that. So I had to buy the disk set (costco - $67) and will be installing "clean" from the 64 bit DVD. And THAT means NOTHING gets ported across - this is a fresh wipe-the-disk install of Windows 8 64 bit.

It's gonna be fun making sure all data and programs and device drivers and and and and are ready to go.

Fortunately, I just installed Thunderbird (email) and IT ported my entire Outlook Express set of data painlessly, so when the time comes that will be our new home-based email program.

I believe we'll be losing a significant number of our installed programs (e.g. Photoshop Elements 5) so we'll have to replace those. $$$$$...

I'll have complete image backups of the disks so could always just swap backup for others and get right back to XP, but really do NOT want to have to follow that route.

I have yet to look into the problems with iTunes porting...dread seeing what has to be done with that one...

Olde Farte, II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, I'm beginning the REAL throes of installing
> Windows 8 and it really is going to be a royal
> pain to do properly and as unobtrusively to the
> OTHER users of this machine as possible.
>
> I'm moving from 32 bit XP to 64 bit Windows 8 so,
> how about that!?, the cheap online method DOES NOT
> WORK because Microsoft did not give the option of
> selecting the memory width - it MATCHES what you
> already have and that's that. So I had to buy the
> disk set (costco - $67) and will be installing
> "clean" from the 64 bit DVD. And THAT means
> NOTHING gets ported across - this is a fresh
> wipe-the-disk install of Windows 8 64 bit.
>
> It's gonna be fun making sure all data and
> programs and device drivers and and and and are
> ready to go.
>
> Fortunately, I just installed Thunderbird (email)
> and IT ported my entire Outlook Express set of
> data painlessly, so when the time comes that will
> be our new home-based email program.
>
> I believe we'll be losing a significant number of
> our installed programs (e.g. Photoshop Elements 5)
> so we'll have to replace those. $$$$$...
>
> I'll have complete image backups of the disks so
> could always just swap backup for others and get
> right back to XP, but really do NOT want to have
> to follow that route.
>
> I have yet to look into the problems with iTunes
> porting...dread seeing what has to be done with
> that one...

I have jumped off the cliff...now to see just how well I packed that parachute.

After having the guts to actually say "Go!" the install of 64 bit Windows 8 over top of 32 bit Windows XP Pro went remarkably smoothly. There was a disconcerting strange multi-minute "quiet" from the machine while the install was progressing; disconcerting because this is the FIRST time this particular machine has run anything in 64 bit mode so I didn't know if it was progressing fine or had gone catatonic - turns out that's just the way the install process works.

All went fine except for lack of networking - that was expected, however, since I am not currently using the wireless part of the machine but hardwired instead, and that has a hard (nonDHCP) IP address as well. But after twiddling those parts the whole shebang came up and, as this post attests via Firefox, browsing (and more) is there just fine.

Windows 8 itself appears to be a win though I'm a little concerned about the sheer number of things running on the box that access the internet; over time I'll probably be turning off a lot of those. It's pretty cool, though, to see headlines, financial data, and weather show up and be right there on the main display on login (just not sure I'll want all that stuff until I say so).

I still have to restore prior firefox and thunderbird personalizations for all the users and see about recovering all the various files, etc, from the (not connected at the moment) backup C: hard drive (things like photos, email, itunes junk, etc etc etc) but that's pretty straight forward grind-it-out-type labor.

The speed of the new setup is shockingly faster than under 32 bit XP Pro - the machine now has 8 GBytes of memory visible and, of course, is a 64 bit machine instead of a 32 bit machine - just that would probably cause a noticeable speedup but I've read that Windows 8 itself has some speed enhancements that themselves provide noticeable speed increase. After I deinstall some of the stuff uSoft thinks should be running and accessing the network I'd bet the speed will improve more still.

At this early time post-install, though, I'm an optimistic Happy Camper.

You can't simply upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit. You have to wipe clean the old OS from your computer, and then install the 64 bit Windows.

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You can't simply upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit.
> You have to wipe clean the old OS from your
> computer, and then install the 64 bit Windows.

Yup - that's what I did - back up C: to spare hard drive, boot install program from 64 bit DVD (both that and a 32 bit DVD come in the then-$67 Costco box), allow it to overwrite C: drive completely.

When the install was done the machine was in 64 bit mode and, for example, all the memory (8 Gbytes) was now visible (meaning more than 32 bit addressing thus proof of 64 bit mode).

All user files on the old C: drive are available to be copied across to the now-being-used replacement C: drive when I get around to it. This machine has two disk drives normally; the 2nd drive (could be called "D:") I left untouched for right now - it has a few files that I want to port over to users before I do anything to it - if ever. But there is also the capability of temporarily mounting a THIRD hard drive via an external SATA dock - that's where I'll stick the original C: hard drive when I get serious about restoring all users' needs (MORE than just firefox and thunderbird and itunes) - the external dock is how I back up the hard drives of this machine to removable hard drives - powerdown, insert drive into dock, boot Clonezilla from DVD, clone internal to external, power down, remove external, done.

But, yes, the original main hard drive was indeed completely wiped to move from 32 bit XP Pro to 64 bit Windows 8.

Olde Farte, II Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At this early time post-install, though, I'm an
> optimistic Happy Camper.

Things are still going smashingly, though I'm a wee bit disappointed at the LACK of 64 bit programs running around out here in The Real World.

Firefox and Thunderbird, for example, are 32 bit still.

Surprisingly, the "advertised as being compatible with 64 bit" Photoshop Elements 11 is itself only 32 bit. This is problematic only due to maximum memory size limited to 3-ish GBytes as far as I can see.

One thing about Windows 8 is the sheer number of things running on install - the effect isn't noticeable if you're just sitting there surfing, etc, but using the above Photoshop application showed WAY too much lag between tablet pen movement and effect drawn on Photoshop display. By turning off all automatic network accessing (like, say, the dynamic stuff that shows up on the Metro display) the lag was reduced to quite tolerable. Of course the obvious side effect of THAT is the Metro display is a bunch of uninteresting colored rectangles rather than this fascinating scrolling/updating/gee-whiz display of dynamic INFORMATION like weather and news and photos and and and...

The Anim8or application, while also "just" 32 bit, failed to run until I right-clicked the executable and forced it to run in "XP compatible" mode - it runs fine now though may have to-be-revealed problems. The companion program to that, makehuman, seems to work fine with minimal testing.

We'll see how this flies still - so far, still a Happy Camper though the $67 up-front cost is beginning to bloom into something significantly more (like buying Elements 11 because I thought it was necessary for 64 bit though Elements 8 probably would have been fine still - or the cost of a new printer because my ancient Lexmark has no Windows 8 support - or the two disk drives I have coming in the mail to replace the ones I had XP on because I want to save THOSE for emergency replacement should something critically bad be discovered about Windows 8 on this absolutely-necessary machine (I am using my backup larger drives right now as the main drives for Windows 8 - will back up Windows 8 to the drives coming in mail as soon as they get here)).

Anywho, more later if anything interesting turns up.

I'm done with Windows 8, and I'm definitely done with HP. There is a huge difference in the quality of vendors/components between HP and Dell.



Fortunately there are still plenty of new computers still being packaged with Windows 7.

Whatever you do..don't tell Vexxxed that HP makes MAC!

Windows 8 is ok. Just...ok.

I'm seeing nothing importantly negative with Windows 8 as compared to our previous Windows XP install, same machine. The boot speed is MUCH faster mostly because, I believe, uSoft has changed startup to start ONLY those things necessary to get the OS up, leaving other things to start up "eventually" - so you don't have to wait to login until that stupid Steam process starts, you can go ahead and login and, within a minute or so, the rest of the "startup" programs actually launch.

I've disabled all the neato Metro stuff so we now really do have some totally-uninteresting colored rectangles on the default Metro display - not a problem since all the users just click over to the desktop after logging in anyway. Because all the dynamic Metro stuff isn't dynamic anymore, the impact on programs like Photoshop isn't noticeable.

Because my "computer experience" dates back to homebuilt 8-bit machines with minimal memory and microsecond clock times it has become part of my being to minimize the number of things running on our home computers over the decades - this one is no exception; I've turned off numerous services that automatically start and probably have plenty more to still turn off.

W.r.t. negatives there really haven't been any game-stoppers at all - the Metro interface is useless for us, the nutty automatic install of a touch keyboard was ... well ... nutty for this desktop hardware, and some of the stuff that is normally hidden from endusers was a distraction until I figured out to unhide them, but all-in-all I have no complaints about the OS that I wouldn't have about ANY OS, including Ubuntu Linux, for example.

[I understand uSoft is going to be doing a major update "soon" - hope that doesn't break some of the fixes I've made.]

I'm ordering a Mythbuntu CD and deleting this Windows 8.

I just got used to 7!

So on Windows 8, you can't access the BIOS just by restarting the computer and hitting an F key. BIOS is located through Windows Settings......


Now, Windows has some sort of secure boot that doesn't allow my Ubuntu CD to install from Boot from Disc. Windows has really ensured that you can't get rid of Windows and start with a new OS.

Looks like they're going to pull Windows 8 GUI this fall.

Just updated to 8.1

A LOT better, and it has 3D printer support!

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just updated to 8.1
>
> A LOT better, and it has 3D printer support!


I kept getting prompted for that, but I had the fear.

Does... Does the old start menu come back?

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eesh Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just updated to 8.1
> >
> > A LOT better, and it has 3D printer support!
>
>
> I kept getting prompted for that, but I had the
> fear.
>
> Does... Does the old start menu come back?


http://www.classicshell.net/

It's STILL working just fine.

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So on Windows 8, you can't access the BIOS just by
> restarting the computer and hitting an F key. BIOS
> is located through Windows Settings......
>
>
> Now, Windows has some sort of secure boot that
> doesn't allow my Ubuntu CD to install from Boot
> from Disc. Windows has really ensured that you
> can't get rid of Windows and start with a new OS.

Ubuntu and its shitty Unity sux. Arch Linux is the way to go.

MrMephisto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> eesh Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Just updated to 8.1
> >
> > A LOT better, and it has 3D printer support!
>
>
> I kept getting prompted for that, but I had the
> fear.
>
> Does... Does the old start menu come back?


I believe it's supposed to, but in limited form.

If you really want that Windows 7 feel (IMHO the best OS they've ever developed) get Start is Back. It's an app that fully restores Windows 7 Start menu functionality. And it's dirt cheap, something like $5 for two licenses. I've been running it on my laptop for four or so months now with no issues.

http://startisback.com

Gentoo and Arch Linux are the two best OS distros on the planet. Windows 7 & OS X (ML) is awesome. Windows 8.1 is retarded. Ubuntu is for Wintard converts who can't navigate without a pretty UI.

Yes, the start menu is back.

Windows 8 is confusing as fuck...still can't find my damn calculator

eesh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, the start menu is back.

Hooray!

The Dark Passenger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Windows 8 is confusing as fuck...still can't find
> my damn calculator

Click the bottom left to go to the stupid new start tile bullshit, then just type calc. It should come up as a stupid tile you can click on.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

LOL! Fuck, I didn't even get a chance to do that, my fucking Chrome decided it wants to open up in it's own like..desktop window thing..man what the fuck uck ck k!

But thank you, I'll check that out as soon as I figure out....something

Ah, how stupid. I figured it out. And ew, wow, I found the calculator. That's so dumb, lol! Who the fuck designed this shit?!?!? I wish it'd stop updating..

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/01/17/what-windows-9-must-do-to-avoid-flopping-like-windows-8/


Already talk of a Windows 9 to be released in 2015.

Brett Davenport's Dick Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MrMephisto Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > eesh Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Just updated to 8.1
> > >
> > > A LOT better, and it has 3D printer support!
> >
> >
> > I kept getting prompted for that, but I had the
> > fear.
> >
> > Does... Does the old start menu come back?
>
>
> I believe it's supposed to, but in limited form.
>
> If you really want that Windows 7 feel (IMHO the
> best OS they've ever developed) get Start is Back.
> It's an app that fully restores Windows 7 Start
> menu functionality. And it's dirt cheap, something
> like $5 for two licenses. I've been running it on
> my laptop for four or so months now with no
> issues.
>
> http://startisback.com

yes.....I bought a new laptop in June and specifically ordered it with Win 7. That Win 8 is shit.

Win9? Man..fuck that shit!

if they got it, they got it good

know what i mean?