Can You Use Windows 8 as Your Primary OS?
Can You Use Windows 8 as Your Primary OS?
Posted 09/22/2011 at 12:44pm
| by Loyd Case
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I’m writing this right now using Microsoft Word on the recently released Windows 8 Developer’s Build. I’m using a real PC, not a tablet, and it’s a system any Maximum PC user would be proud of: a Core i7 990X system running 12 GB of RAM plus an eVGA GeForce GTX 580SC. The system also has a pair of 1080p monitors attached. The goal was to live with the OS for a few days as my primary operating system and see just how usable it is in its current state.
The bottomline: not ready yet.
That’s not a criticism. After all, the Windows 8 Developer’s Build released during last week’s Microsoft Build conference was labeled pre-beta. The OS itself seems pretty solid. Installation was similar to installing Windows 7, though you do need to be careful, or you’ll end up with a login that requires an active Windows Live account. While having a Windows Live account is optional, I prefer to have my system login be local and private. Note that if you eventually want access to Metro UI apps and the Windows 8 app store, you’ll need a Windows Live account, though.
It took a little time to adjust to the new user interface. When you first fire the system up in single display mode, you’re presented with the new Metro UI. Calling it a user interface is a bit of a misnomer. What you’re actually seeing is the replacement for the start menu, which has been ubiquitous since Windows 95. The Start menu has really only seen evolutionary change since Windows 95, incrementally improving over the different Windows versions. You can click on the desktop tile if you want to be delivered to the more familiar Windows desktop.
The problem is that most PCs aren’t touch enabled, so the Metro UI isn’t an efficient use of space for mouse-and-keyboard users. Metro start is scrollable with the mouse wheel at least. But would you prefer Metro?
Metro is the replacement for the old start menu. It may be great for tablets, but is space-inefficient.
Or if you’re a keyboard and mouse power user, would you rather have the option of using the Windows 7 style start menu?
The Windows 7 Start menu is more space efficient, but apps aren’t as easily visible.
I could probably adjust to Metro, since the apps are much more easily visible. But allocating all that space just to tiles also strikes me as being wasted space.
Once in the desktop, you’ll find the start menu button is gone, replaced by a Windows icon that responds with a pop-up menu when you hover your mouse cursor over it. This behavior is a little inconsistent – sometimes the pop-up fails to actually pop up, which sounds like a bug more than a feature. Clicking on the icon delivers you back to the Start Menu…er, Metro UI.
Multimonitor
I use multiple displays, so attaching a second monitor and bringing it up was important if I was going to use this build as a working environment. Windows 8 detected the second display, but I still had to configure it in the resolution control panel. There are some nifty new features in how Windows 8 handles multiple displays. You can allocate the taskbar to individual monitors, or spread it out over the two displays. This includes placing the taskbar icons where you want them. Background images can tile or be stretched out over two displays now.
More importantly from an actual usage point of view, you can still pin icons to the task bar, and Aero peek still works as expected. You can also have Metro up on one screen and the normal desktop on another. Clicking on an app in the task bar hides Metro and the app appears on the second monitor, if you’ve previously dragged the app window to that display.
Dual monitor support in the current Windows 8 preview is flexible and improved over Windows 7.
There’s also a button that swaps itself with the default start menu icon from one display to another. This feels like a feature that’s not yet fully fleshed out, however, as it’s more quirky than actually useful.
Using Applications
After configuring dual monitors, it was time to install applications. I installed Microsoft Office 2010 Standard, Google Chrome and Adobe Master Suite CS5. This gave me most of my main productivity apps. I also installed Steam and transferred over a number of games, just to give them a whirl. All work and no play, as they say.
Office applications mostly work well. There are occasional glitches, however. Every few times I’d exit word, I would get an error dialog indicating that Word might be experiencing a compatibility mode error. Note that I never lost any data when saving and exiting, but it’s still a little disconcerting that Microsoft’s latest Office apps would have issues with Windows 8, even at its early stage.
I encountered more substantial issues with Adobe apps – specifically, the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS 5.1.
When I initially installed the Adobe Master Suite CS 5.5, the installer generated an error most of the way through the second DVD. Note that the installer didn’t crash, and continued after the error. After installation, I ran Photoshop CS5.1 and attempted to load a Nikon RAW image. Here’s what happened.
Uh-oh. But wait, this is a 64-bit app on a 64-bit OS!
Oops. No 64-bit Photoshop for me. Note that this is the 64-bit version of the Windows 8 Developer Preview I’m running. Also note that the 32-bit version of Photoshop CS5.1 runs with no problems. I’m able to use filters, load raw files, edit, and convert photos. But 64-bit Photoshop crashes without fail when trying to load a RAW file.
The other Adobe accessory apps—Camera Raw and Bridge—also seem to run flawlessly.
Managing apps as you install more and more software, can be problematic, though search works as well as it did with Windows 7. After loading up a bunch of applications and games, Metro starts to look a little cluttered. Even when you do the search for apps, you get a list that’s less than ideal. I can imagine this list becoming practically unusable for power users.
Search generates this screen. It’s pretty damned cluttered.
Games
Windows 8 pre-beta ships with some built-in games, but I was more interested in how major titles ran. First, I installed Steam. After installing Steam, Windows 8 popped up a message telling me that Steam may not have installed properly. But Steam seemed to work just fine.
I tried out two different games: Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dead Island.
DX: HR proved unplayable. The mouse sensitivity was off the charts, and no amount of changing the sensitivity in-game or with the Windows control panel had any effect. Just touching the mouse would send the scene wildly panning.
Dead Island, on the other hand, worked flawlessly. In fact, I blame Dead Island for the fact that I didn’t play anything else, since I ended up sucked into the game for several hours. Frame rates at 1920x1080 seemed a little chunky with detail levels pumped up, but I hadn’t played it on Windows 7, so have no way of comparing it.
I did attempt to run benchmarks. I quickly discovered that none of the Futuremark benchmarks: PC Mark 7, 3DMark Vantage and 3DMark 2011 – would run. PCMark 2011 would run, but hang at the first test. Both 3DMarks hung at the loading screen; I suspect that Futuremark’s Sysinfo system status checker didn’t know how to handle Windows 8.
I also booted up Just Cause 2, so I could run the built-in Concrete Jungle benchmark. At this point, I had attached a 30-inch display running at 2560x1600, so I could run our standard benchmark resolution of 1920x1200 with 4x AA. Here’s where I ran into another glitch. At 1920x1200, Just Cause 2 ran in a window, even if it was set to run full screen mode. There was no way to force full screen mode. The game ran, and so did the benchmark – but in a window. The benchmark result was just under 50fps (49.99), which is about right for a single GTX 580 with all the detail levels cranked.
It's a Developer Preview
In the end, I’d avoid trying to run this as a working OS, unless you’re really trying to test compatibility. Microsoft has noted that will update the Developer Preview on a regular basis, rather than rolling out an entire new beta code base after a few months, unlike the Windows 7 process. So maybe Windows 8 will stabilize over time. Until then, feel free to play with it, but don’t rely on it to actually get any work done if you’re not a developer.
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sahilgarg
December 16, 2011 at 1:35am
Good article on window8 has been shared with all of us!!I am using this OS and find lots of features.
sahilgarg
December 03, 2011 at 2:15am
Nice information has been shared with all of us.It includes deep information about the subject has been taken.Thanks a lot!!Dui lawyer
Baer
October 13, 2011 at 2:22pm
I have no intention of going to a touch screen for desktop or workstation use. I hate the thought of reaching out to one of my monitors and then having fingerprints on my screen(s). It seems like MS really screws up every other OS so it looks like win 8 is the next Me or Win Vista.
I can see Win 8 as it presently looks as a tablet or phone OS but not as a replacement for Win 7
keyzs
October 02, 2011 at 8:28am
It just saddens me to see Microsoft going the way of the rotten half eaten fruit!! Tablets, different UIs, different interactive input structures and layout crap!!
My concern is how do developers get any work done on Win8 when there is so much going on? I cant imagine flipping my monitor on my lap to start typing and also how do designers draw vector images using the finger?????? Try working with 3DS MAX or AutoCad using a touch screen monitor!!! Or something closer to home, an Excel Spreadsheet….
I’ve got a touch screen monitor since my Vista days, thinking that it would double as a DJ Console…. So please trust me when I say… how dead wrong was I!!! There is absolutely no precision moving the knobs and sliders even on 800 x 600 @ 23”. Sure it did look cool but that’s it!!!!
Portable touch UI devices are great for information consumption on the go like reading the news, watching a movie, games etc… however, if all hard devices are to be translated to tablets and small screen mobile devices, who in the right mind is going to develop applications on those things???? Imagine using your thumbs to write 10 lines of code!!! And manZ… scrolling up and down countless times to check your mistakes…. Consumers will stop buying such devices when no developer is able to put content out because there isn’t a viable way to do this anymore.
The plea to Microsoft is not to change a good thing. Win7 is already very stable, keep working with manufacturers at developing stable drivers for all interchangeable devices available now and those in development. Trying to squeeze a new UI over and on top of an already reliable product just seems like a short cut to proper development. Wouldn’t it be better to develop something called Windows Touch or something while carrying on to improve the Windows family…
Desktop computers, the physical keyboard and the mouse are here to stay for the longest run. Content in king when it comes to information dissemination and entertainment purposes. If there is no way to provide for this, even the desktop will soon end up the way of the dinosaurs!!
Modified from my other post at http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/general/windows-8-preview-a-developer-reflects/comment-page-1/#comment-380301
maxeeemum
September 25, 2011 at 4:25pm
After some use as is this Win8 Dev. Preview is for tablets only. After installing a gadget that allows you to switch between Metro and a Win7 start menu I realize that Win8 is an extremely stripped down Win7 with a new GUI. Just like Win7 is a stripped down Vista with a new GUI. As is it should be called "Windows Tablet Edition".
NUCLEARWARFAIRY
September 23, 2011 at 6:27am
Seriously, try it with the same working 7 hacks. It looks and feels like destiny.
Orlbuckeye
September 23, 2011 at 3:40am
Windows 8 developers Preview in a Oracle VirtualBox virtaul machine and I couldn't connect to the internet. I tried to force a connect and it said the driver for my wireless card was missing. I have an Artheros wireless card. I then tried to install the WIndows 7 32 bit driver but it wouldn't recognise my USB device.
publicimage
September 22, 2011 at 11:14pm
I replaced my Win7 HDD with a new SSD for the sole purpose of installing Win8 64-bit on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T (like strykyr). The touch speed, graphics and interface improvements are notably faster than the original 32-bit Win7 install. Almost to the point where I can't believe it's the same Atom N450 chip. It won't run the Metro apps because the screen res isn't high enough, but just using the new desktop is much better than Win 7's touch abilities. Much better. A few of the HTML5 demos I've found online are quite responsive. Flicking through Word docs and marking them up with the Pen and Ink tools is terrific, if you have the need for that sort of thing (I do). The Microsoft Touch Pack, featuring Microsoft Surface Globe and a few others, also seems a bit snappier than it was.
I think this dev build is clearly aimed at developing for the new touch interface, and I'm rather impressed by it. I imagine the first general release beta will include an easier way to switch to the classic start menu for non-touch users, which would definitely be a necessity for my workstation as well. And in the meantime, I still have my original Win7 HDD ready to pop back into this thing, you know, just in case.
strykyr
September 23, 2011 at 6:30am
I got the metro aps working. There is a regedit hack that gets u up to 1152x864.
http://www.lenovos103t.com/2010/05/change-resolutions.html
Looking for the MS Touch Pack. Any info on it?
publicimage
September 24, 2011 at 9:41am
Thanks, I'll check out the regedit hack.
The MS Touch Pack is on the Microsoft Download Center if you're still looking for it. I've notived load times are a little slow, but the interface seems more responsive than under Win 7. http://is.gd/BEsOi3
Mighty BOB!
September 22, 2011 at 8:07pm
Or if you’re a keyboard and mouse power user, would you rather have the option of using the Windows 7 style start menu?
I would rather have the option of a start menu that actually expands to use my 1920*1200 monitor (everything from win95-vista) instead of hugging a tiny corner in the bottom left like Windows 7. What a waste of space.
DoctorX
September 22, 2011 at 6:30pm
Windows 8 sucks. I can understand using it for tablets, but for power users like me, it blows. There are a couple hacks floating around to get around it, but I think Microsoft needs to rethink the desktop part. Keep metro for tablets and novices, but allow us power user to use a normal desktop without resorting to hacks. There are several that let you disable metro. I also hate the fact that running more than one program is almost impossible. I have a hexacore and i am running 20 or more progs at a time.
Danthrax66
September 22, 2011 at 6:10pm
Can't wait for Windows 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Windows 8 is a steaming pile of shit.
grayscale00
September 22, 2011 at 5:00pm
The reason why hovering on the windows icon on desktop mode is failing is because it is supposed to activate only when you hover on the lower right corner, not the windows icon itself.
Nimrod
September 22, 2011 at 4:06pm
im still trying to figure out how to get it to work on my Aplle Newton with boot camp can some one help please?!??
rorrr
September 22, 2011 at 3:27pm
you get that screen when you do ctrl+f and click on "Apps" before typing in anything.
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6169/6173755344_de0cb827a4_b.jpg
the above is what I get after navigating to the Start screen and typing "a." the same happens when you click ctrl+f and type "a"
strykyr
September 22, 2011 at 3:09pm
I installed Win8 32 bit in my Lenovo S10-3t. It is a convertible netbook. Flip the screen around and it's a 10.1" tablet. It came with Win7 Home Premium on it. For the most part it worked fine in tablet ode. Could be a little laggy at times with multitasking. A memory upgrade from 1 gig to 2 gigs solves this. Had a gard time using the scroll bar on the side in IE and windows explorer due to the size of the bar and the size of my fingers. Win8 solves that at least. It IS more tablet friendly than Win7 is. I prolly won't put this on my tower because I am a gamer. I'm not comfortable cutting off my gaming to play with a new OS. If I have to format soon I may repatition like 60 gigs or so to play with but it won't be my primary OS on my gaming rig until they work out the way the metro UI works with mice AND I see that my hardware vendors are starting to test drivers. Mainly because of my X-Fi Platinum FPS. Creative Labs sucks for new OSes. Not willing to go to EVGA SLI3 onboard sound because I love my 12 year old DTT3500 speakers using the digital out jack on the sound card tan/orange colored 1/8th" jack. I can't even find speakers that use that any more. Sucks cuz I actually get true Dolby 5.1 from DVDs and Blu Rays.
Dexter243
September 22, 2011 at 2:21pm
thats ok i no longer use windows on my pc i am a new Ubuntu fan boy and my old gaming rig with win7 will stay win7 unless some one gives me win8 for free
laptop Ubuntu
every day used pc Ubuntu
kids acer 1 Ubuntu
gaming rig Win7 just because it has to be
media pc Mac
next media build Ubunta
roleki
September 22, 2011 at 2:44pm
Commendable. If I get a free copy of Win8, I'll send it your way.
Zoandar
September 22, 2011 at 1:57pm
Loyd,
Are you using Win8 installed on a HD or SSD, and how does the startup time compare to Win7?
loyd
September 23, 2011 at 9:42am
The system has a 7200RPM Western Digital hard drive. Load times are faster than Win7, but still not as fast as an SSD!
shane
September 22, 2011 at 1:46pm
I tried to load up a VM in VMware Workstation 7.1.4 build-385536 and got no love. Workstation errored before the ISO was fully loaded. I hope to play with it more, but selecting Windows 7 x64 and trying an install was an utter fail.
bloodgain
September 22, 2011 at 1:36pm
1080p monitors, Mr. Case? For shame! Any MaximumPC power user knows that 16:10 is the one ratio to rule them all.
loyd
September 23, 2011 at 9:43am
Well, my main production system has three 2560x1600 30" monitors. So am I redeemed in your eyes? ;-)
theplustwo
September 22, 2011 at 1:16pm
I'm using it on my laptop (my only home computer) and it's been fine. Upon first boot it was pretty buggy and slow, but the updates available via Windows Update (you gotta manually launch it) fixed that.
I'd say it's just as usable as Windows 7. You just have to get used to a couple of the new features. Your screenshots are clearly manufactured to make the new interface look bad, but searching from the start screen is just as effective as searching in the Windows 7 start menu.
If you're at the start screen, just start typing and you'll automatically being seeing apps, files and settings results as you type. Obiously if you only type "e" or something, you're going to see a lot of results, but if you type 4-5 letters you'll start getting more useful results.
I'm also using the 64-bit edition, and have been using Photoshop CS5.5 64-bit with no problems. I haven't tried playing any 3D games, however.
I've heard that the Metro mouse interactions aren't complete yet, and will be getting better with future releases (there will be two more publically available releases before it goes final, one beta and one release candidate).
However, I'd rather get used to the new UI and features as they come rather than running back to the old way of doing things after ten seconds of poking around.
Insula Gilliganis
September 22, 2011 at 1:02pm
Been using Windows 8 x64 dev build on one of my laptops, a 2009 Compaq with a T4200 @ 2.00GHz, 4GB of RAM and 500GB WD Scorpio Blue 7200rpm and, even though I did the "iffy" registry hack (found at http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-enable-start-menu-in-windows-8) which enables the Start menu and gets rid of or hides the tablet features, I have had no problems of any kind although I haven't loaded it with much yet.. stuff like CCleaner, Chrome, SRWare Iron, VLC.. no crashes of any kind yet.
Boot times are around 20 seconds, so much faster than when this same machine had Vista on it, even after a clean, non-Compaq Vista install. I am sure if I had an SSD instead of the Scorpio, boot times might be more like 15 seconds or less. Boot times are so much better that I often now use "shutdown" instead of "sleep".
don2041
September 22, 2011 at 2:56pm
I tried dvdshrink and found the colors all corupted on the finished movie. Im not sure whats causing this, but shrink works fine on this box using xp or vista or 7.
boot time after post 17 sec.
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