Windows 8

[oscillik]

I've been reading up on Windows 8 the past few days, and there are lots of improvements under the hood which are a massive benefit to every computer user that is wanting to squeeze more performance out of their machine and be more efficient about it.

Such as?

 

Browsing through the feature lists the only thing I found that is of some remote interest to me is the revamped task manager. I doubt it'll match the features of Process Explorer though.

 

get educated

[GORDO]

and suddenly oscillik is windows 8's number 1 advocate, who knew?

[oscillik]

and suddenly oscillik is windows 8's number 1 advocate, who knew?

 

not number 1 advocate, just taking the facts over the FUD.

 

and there's a lot of FUD going around, and from surprising sectors. it seems that Gabe Newell's comments around it were completely unfounded in facts and were knee jerk reactionary to confusion over WinRT based apps and Windows apps as we know them today, and a sense of apprehension towards an app store that isn't Valves.

 

I've made comments about Windows 8 in the past, and it looks like I've been drinking from the FUD kool-aid like the majority of people.

 

I still think the Metro-styled Start screen is naff though, and it's something I'm going to just live with. But I'm prepared to live with it for the other improvements.

[Silent Member]

$15!

http://updates.lifehacker.com/post/34652948747/buy-windows-8-for-15-by-telling-microsoft-you-just

[oscillik]

$15!

http://updates.lifeh...rosoft-you-just

 

yeah I tried this, but it wouldn't accept either my legit Windows 7 MSDN key, or my brother's legit Windows 7 OEM key :-\

[Joyrex]

Engadget gave it a surprisingly optimistic review...

[TRiP]

I think windows 8 is just the new XP - i'll happily stick with windows 7 (or 2000 as it was back in the day) until the next BIG improvement version is released (not to say XP wasn't hugely improved, but rather the difference wasnt extreme and one could easily keep using)

 

hope she goes well for you tho

[mcbpete]

I've been reading up on Windows 8 the past few days, and there are lots of improvements under the hood which are a massive benefit to every computer user that is wanting to squeeze more performance out of their machine and be more efficient about it.

Such as?

Such as lots of things - http://www.techspot.com/review/561-windows8-vs-windows7/page2.html

[eugene]

i don't really understand the point of desktop monitors with touch, you generally sit like 3 feet away from the monitor, if not more.

 

are you even using any metro features oscillik ?

[eugene]

there's also this thing that looks fun: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/p/touch-mouse

 

it seems kinda inevitable that win8 will hit hard with all the tablets and ultrabooks and other hardware that's coming out.

[baph]

i don't really understand the point of desktop monitors with touch, you generally sit like 3 feet away from the monitor, if not more.

 

probably a design decision pushed for by the insidious chiropractor and carpal tunnel specialist lobby

[Ego]

I've been reading up on Windows 8 the past few days, and there are lots of improvements under the hood which are a massive benefit to every computer user that is wanting to squeeze more performance out of their machine and be more efficient about it.

Such as?

Such as lots of things - http://www.techspot....ows7/page2.html

Looks pretty negligible unless you have a low powered device that has trouble with media decoding.

 

Some of the new security features are welcome. I doubt many non metro 3rd party software will use AppContainers correctly though. Just look at how many modern Windows software still tries to touch system files needlessly, triggering UAC prompts in the process. The dynamic tickrate looks like a good power saving measure.

 

For desktop use I still don't see much benefit in biting the Metro bullet. I'm only using Windows for gaming anyway.

[oscillik]

i don't really understand the point of desktop monitors with touch, you generally sit like 3 feet away from the monitor, if not more.

 

are you even using any metro features oscillik ?

 

No I'm not using Metro features, as I don't like Metro and think it's pointless on a keyboard+mouse driven desktop machine.

 

I also won't ever have a touchscreen monitor on my desktop.

 

I've been reading up on Windows 8 the past few days, and there are lots of improvements under the hood which are a massive benefit to every computer user that is wanting to squeeze more performance out of their machine and be more efficient about it.

Such as?

Such as lots of things - http://www.techspot....ows7/page2.html

Looks pretty negligible unless you have a low powered device that has trouble with media decoding.

 

Some of the new security features are welcome. I doubt many non metro 3rd party desktop software will use AppContainers correctly though. Just look at how many modern Windows 7 software still tries to touch system files needlessly and triggering UAC prompts in the process. The dynamic tickrate looks like a good power saving measure.

 

For desktop use I still don't see much benefit in biting the Metro bullet. I'm only using Windows for gaming anyway.

 

I guess you either didn't read either of the articles we posted, or you have no idea about what these improvements mean.

 

the RAM optimizations alone are a fucking godsend.

[Ego]

I have read and understand both articles.

 

Maybe a benchmark can prove me wrong, but I doubt the raw page level memory deduplication they implemented will make much of a difference in most use cases. The Linux kernel has a similar feature with KSM and it's pretty much only useful for virtualisation with many instances because it adds significant CPU overhead. I can't imagine it being effective if you run a bunch of different software. In fact, I'd rather have it off and not take the CPU hit.

[oscillik]

I have read and understand both articles.

 

Maybe a benchmark can prove me wrong, but I doubt the raw page level memory deduplication they implemented will make much of a difference in most use cases. The Linux kernel has a similar feature with KSM and it's pretty much only useful for virtualisation with many instances because it adds significant CPU overhead. I can't imagine it being effective if you run a bunch of different software. In fact, I'd rather have it off and not take the CPU hit.

 

Ok. Don't use Windows 8 then.

[oscillik]

further update - have installed the £24.99 upgrade edtion onto a blank drive (without a prior version of Windows installed) and it works

did it activate without issues ?

 

Yes. Fully activated

[Joyrex]

further update - have installed the £24.99 upgrade edtion onto a blank drive (without a prior version of Windows installed) and it works

did it activate without issues ?

 

Yes. Fully activated

 

Aw, no system rating? I would think you'd like to show that off

[oscillik]

further update - have installed the £24.99 upgrade edtion onto a blank drive (without a prior version of Windows installed) and it works

did it activate without issues ?

 

Yes. Fully activated

 

Aw, no system rating? I would think you'd like to show that off

 

To be honest, I hadn't even remembered to go through that. I personally think it's irrelevant most of the time. And the main reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm still installing stuff back on the machine.

 

Also, this isn't my new build yet :p it's still my current machine that is pretty ancient now.

[eugene]

nice, but still, it is possible that the win8 installation pulled the activation info from your win7 when you made that image

[oscillik]

nice, but still, it is possible that the win8 installation pulled the activation info from your win7 when you made that image

 

no it didn't, because I was using a disc image I had gotten from rutracker, which itself is sourced from MSDN.

 

used the key provided when I purchased.

[eugene]

cool, i'll install it the same way then.

[Joyrex]

further update - have installed the £24.99 upgrade edtion onto a blank drive (without a prior version of Windows installed) and it works

did it activate without issues ?

 

Yes. Fully activated

 

Aw, no system rating? I would think you'd like to show that off

 

To be honest, I hadn't even remembered to go through that. I personally think it's irrelevant most of the time. And the main reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm still installing stuff back on the machine.

 

Also, this isn't my new build yet :p it's still my current machine that is pretty ancient now.

 

8GB RAM and 3Gzh Quad CPU is ancient to you? Try a dual quad core i5 with 4GB RAM... that's my work machine! To me, that's sufficient, but granted I'm not gaming on it.

[oscillik]

further update - have installed the £24.99 upgrade edtion onto a blank drive (without a prior version of Windows installed) and it works

did it activate without issues ?

 

Yes. Fully activated

 

Aw, no system rating? I would think you'd like to show that off

 

To be honest, I hadn't even remembered to go through that. I personally think it's irrelevant most of the time. And the main reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm still installing stuff back on the machine.

 

Also, this isn't my new build yet :p it's still my current machine that is pretty ancient now.

 

8GB RAM and 3Gzh Quad CPU is ancient to you? Try a dual quad core i5 with 4GB RAM... that's my work machine! To me, that's sufficient, but granted I'm not gaming on it.

 

your Quad core i5 kicks the shit out of my Core-2 Quad

[baph]

Most desktop class Quad i5s are basically just as/nearly as good as Quad i7s if you don't need hyperthreading, right? Or is that only true for the latest generation of i5s/i7s/ivy bridge whatever?

 

The Core 2s are getting pretty ancient, on the other hand.

 

Intel's naming conventions are getting fucking unwieldy.

[oscillik]

Most desktop class Quad i5s are basically just as/nearly as good as Quad i7s if you don't need hyperthreading, right? Or is that only true for the latest generation of i5s/i7s/ivy bridge whatever?

 

The Core 2s are getting pretty ancient, on the other hand.

 

Intel's naming conventions are getting fucking unwieldy.

 

No, that's true. i5s are basically i7s without hyperthreading (very basically).

 

Yes, the Core 2 architecture is definitely ancient. Which is why I can't wait to build my i7 up