Windows 8

[Common Sense Al]

So you are the one who actually watched "next generation". Not me, buddy. No James T. Kirk, no Star Trek. Piccard is no James T. Kirk. What an abortion of the original, "Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine", "Frontiers" was. Feel free to roll.

Jean-Luc Picard was the best (but Commander Data was probably my favorite character being the geek that I am)! Didn't care much for Deep Space Nine or Voyager but Enterprise wasn't that bad... there were a couple of really good seasons especially.

OK, back on topic... just got my SSD drive for my Windows 8 machine.

[admin]

Will Windows 8 Be the Next Vista?

[Common Sense Al]

I got it installed and played with it a little. It definitely "craves" for a touch screen, at least the Metro GUI does.

I don't like the missing "Start" button and have to figure out how to get around it to do what I want, like a simple search. Don't know how to do that yet except in Metro GUI where you can just start typing. I also got some weird download problems when I was trying to download Firefox onto a network drive.

Running it on my TV with HDMI on my TV has black borders around the screen and it looks crappy, but this is an AMD thing I think. I know how to set overscan in Windows 7 to fix this but I haven't figured it out in Windows 8. I tried installing the AMD drivers but can't run Catalyst (maybe it's not supported with the onboard AMD graphics I have).

Some things are the same or very similar (the Desktop view - but with the missing "Start" button) and some things are very new and different - the Metro GUI. The Windows button switches between the two. I'm use to it opening the Start menu so I find it annoying but might get use to it.

I need to find a "quick start" primer for Windows 8 that shows you how to do stuff in Windows 8 that you can do in Windows 7... and I really want the touchscreen monitor!

[JKTex]

Techno geeks, I say. I still use windows 3.1. Thinking about upgrading to '95, though.

I can help you with that. I was in the support industry at the time and was part of the Win95 launch with a major hardware manufacture, that stumbled out of the block. But we got deeper than we ever needed training on Win95, then loaned agents to Microsoft because out client had fallen and couldn't get up. It was a trip!

So, step #1 - format and reinstall. I think I still have resource manuals, training manuals never opened etc.

You're welcome.

I may have a copy of Win95 still. I do still have a copy of Wordperfect. You'll need a 5.25" floppy drive though. I figure it'll be collectable, like my iOmega Zip Drive and disks.

[Pipeline]

Techno geeks, I say. I still use windows 3.1. Thinking about upgrading to '95, though.

I can help you with that. I was in the support industry at the time and was part of the Win95 launch with a major hardware manufacture, that stumbled out of the block. But we got deeper than we ever needed training on Win95, then loaned agents to Microsoft because out client had fallen and couldn't get up. It was a trip!

So, step #1 - format and reinstall. I think I still have resource manuals, training manuals never opened etc.

You're welcome.

I may have a copy of Win95 still. I do still have a copy of Wordperfect. You'll need a 5.25" floppy drive though. I figure it'll be collectable, like my iOmega Zip Drive and disks.

My Wordperfect is still good, and I think it will work with Win95, but my concern is my XT with its 20 Mg hard drive that Lotus 123 might not be compatible or have the space. The 5.25 floppy is still going strong. The 8 track player I installed under the floppy still works too. Maybe I should undo the bailing wire from around the case and install another 256K memory chip. Now that would be a solid upgrade.

[Uther]

Pipeline, you're right up there with all the retro gamers. I myself run a pure DOS 3.3 game machine for some games that run only on DOS. That abortion of Windows that Gates stuck on top of DOS is for wussies. Now if only I can lay my hands on a 8-inch floppy drive (and a way to interface it) I might be able to run some of my precious saved games.

[Common Sense Al]

Here you go all you retro gamers... good documentary on text adventure games and Infocom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRhbcDzbGSU

I never really played text adventures. It was little before my time (at least the early stuff).

[Common Sense Al]

I installed Windows 8 on my notebook so it's now a "tri-boot" machine. I probably should have done that to begin with instead of installing on the machine I originally did... no big deal because installs are pretty painless.

I am starting to like it more and more as I get use to it.

I also watched the 1 hour 30 minute video here... some pretty cool demos on Windows 8 and the upcoming hardware. Ultrabook II's should have touchscreens. My next notebook computer will have to have a touchscreen. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of that now with Windows 8.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/pres ... lery2.aspx

[weim_09]

correction vmware player does work, just installed Windows 8 64 bit

[Common Sense Al]

correction vmware player does work, just installed Windows 8 64 bit

Can you run the Windows Experience Index and let me know what you get?

On my notebook (2008 model), after installing the proper video drivers, I get:

Processor: 6.2
RAM: 6.2
Graphics: 5.6
Gaming graphics: 5.9
Primary HD: 7.6

I am wondering if it is possible to get the 'full' experience with Windows 8 in a VM, particularly when it comes to graphics.

[weim_09]

untweaked some stuff running in background, darn vid card dragging me down


might have to right click and view image to see the numbers

[Common Sense Al]

untweaked some stuff running in background, darn vid card dragging me down

Thanks!

I think I got very similar results for graphics until I installed the nVidia driver. Games (the pinball game) and animations were much better (or actually worked) after doing so. Because you are in a VM, I don't know if you can "fix" this?

[weim_09]

much better, upgraded the vm tools party!

[Common Sense Al]

much better, upgraded the vm tools party!

Yep, that looks pretty good!

[Common Sense Al]

The release preview is out... guess I'll have to upgrade.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... se-preview