# My Windows 8 RTM Review



## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

Everyone's been saying everywhere on the internet that Windows 8 sucks. Everyone's so confident Microsoft's latest OS will be DOA, even Valve has used it as a reason to doubletime on Steam for Linux.

Well I have a very different story to tell about Microsoft's greatest OS to date.

First of all, I've been with Windows 8 since it was mostly Windows 7 with that weird start button, through to the Developer Preview, onward to the Consumer Preview, and just last night, I moved to the RTM (release to manufacturer) version, which is considerably different from all previous versions.

RTM is basically the final build, the finished product so to speak. And I certainly see that with Windows 8 RTM- compared to say, the Consumer Preview, RTM is stable (I had a lot of kernel panics but no BSOD with Consumer Preview..not Dev Preview though), the Metro UI has been streamlined a bit so it looks more visually appealing, and in my opinion, the coolest of all is the new sounds.

Pair that with Microsoft's claimed 400 some odd percent performance boost (in certain areas) over Windows 7, improved driver support (preloaded my laptop's WiFi, graphics and ethernet drivers), and that stability- you have an _arguably _better OS than Windows 7.

And remember, you don't have to use a Microsoft account at setup, you can sign in later as if it was the iTunes Store, as opposed to your Android phone.

So try it out, if only in a virtual machine! I'm guessing you all know where it can be found on the internet....


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## Gman (Sep 4, 2011)

Don't believe the "tech" sites that spew garbage about windows 8. I would venture to say that it shall be more successful than W7. I have been running it in a virtual machine, after getting some great advice here, and can't wait to download it as a tech user on the 15th.


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

I think it's because they want an excuse to move to Linux. We all do, but until my fingerprint reader, SD card slot, beats audio, and touchpad get proper Linux drivers among other things, I'm sticking with Windows.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

Windows 8 is the reason I am a Linux user. That thing was the worst thing I ever used.

I would like to say that I am in love with Linux. I get ten times better performance and my computer stays cooler.

So go try and build android in windoze.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

Hey I want to go to Linux, there's just so much missing in the way of driver and application support.

But what distro do you use? Don't tell me Ubuntu, I've had more kernel panics in a day than Linux should experience in a year with Ubuntu...

And Consumer Preview sucked, no doubt about it, but Windows 8 was an unfinished product then. Now it's finished!


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## sevenstorms (Aug 5, 2012)

The biggest gripe most people have about Windows 8 is the "Metro" UI. (or whatever they have decided to call it now) The fact is for a desktop computer without a multi-touch display it is completely pointless. And users would prefer to turn off the mobile device OS start screen and have a good old fashioned start menu. Which I can fully understand. Forcing the "Metro" UI on customers probably won't pan out the way Mr. Ballmer hopes it will.

That being said, under the hood there are tons of improvements. Not the least of which is the ability to finally mount an ISO disk image without using a third party program like Power ISO or Daemon Tools. The performance increases left it being responsive even on my laptop with a Turion X2 and 4 gigs of DDR2 800.

While I don't think that windows 8 will be a failure of Windows ME or Vista proportions I think it could turn Windows 7 into the next XP. 
With the number of users who are openly complaining about how much they hate the new UI and Microsoft's "Just deal with it!" stance, I won't be suprised to see more people opting out of not only windows 8 but Microsoft products in general.

Overall after spending some time with the Windows 8 Enterprise RTM I can safely say I will not be buying Windows 8 for my personal computers this October, nor will I recommend it to any of my clients who are not using touch screen displays.

I am currently using Windows 7 alongside LinuxMint 13 and I am pretty content with both.

Here's hoping windows 9 is more impressive! Cheers.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

jimmyco2008 said:


> Hey I want to go to Linux, there's just so much missing in the way of driver and application support.
> 
> But what distro do you use? Don't tell me Ubuntu, I've had more kernel panics in a day than Linux should experience in a year with Ubuntu...
> 
> And Consumer Preview sucked, no doubt about it, but Windows 8 was an unfinished product then. Now it's finished!


I've checked out alot of distros. Right now I type you from Ubuntu 12.04 with gnome 3 on linux 3.2.0-27. I have never experienced one kernel panic since windoze 8 developer preview (I switched from windoze to ubuntu in januaruy)

I don't think windoze has any future. Even valve dumped it.


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

I'm thinking maybe the kernel panics were a result of my "necessary" tinkering with Compiz....Either way, I was much happier with Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon Edition.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

jellybellys said:


> I don't think windoze has any future. Even valve dumped it.


Quit skimming headlines. That's totally false. OpenGL runs on any platform and what Valve has been testing over using directx (though they have already been using it for years with OSX and the PS3). Id games (of John Carmack fame) have done this for years and they always open their engine source after so much time (doom 3 just became open). I can't even believe you would think they're really dumping Windows over what is actually true--adding Linux support to their OSX support, which isn't overly hard to do. Valve is just spreading their chips around and not putting their eggs in just one basket, but not because of Windows 8 so much as the Windows Store in Windows 8 being a threat to Steam.
For more information see below:

http://news.ycombina...item?id=4293046

and

http://news.ycombina...item?id=4327908


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

Yes, it is important to realize that Valve didn't "dump" Windows, and going to a new platform doesn't mean such, as they have OSX too.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

> We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space,


According to Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director at Valve, Windows 8 is a "catastrophe."


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## number5toad (Sep 13, 2011)

...the bit you just quoted also makes it perfectly clear that what yarly said was correct. they're not dumping anything, they're adding support for another OS as a hedge against possible consumer revolt against Windows.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

number5toad said:


> ...the bit you just quoted also makes it perfectly clear that what yarly said was correct. they're not dumping anything, they're adding support for another OS as a hedge against possible consumer revolt against Windows.


Sure they aren't dumping support for windows 8, <sarcasm> but I always describe OS's I like with the word "catastrophe." </sarcasm>


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## MissionImprobable (Feb 12, 2012)

Windows 8 makes zero sense for the major players: universities, schools, and corporations who have large numbers of PCs. Why would they switch to a new OS that is optimized for touchscreen displays that almost none of them have? Windows 7 works quite wonderfully and the idea that it will become the new XP is dead-on. I cannont for the life of me figure out why it is that MS has such a penchant for getting every other iteration of Windows wrong. Was it really a good idea to polarize so many potential customers before your new software has even released?

Integration is crap. Macs and iDevices do not have the same UI and yet the people who have bought into that ecosystem survive without issue. The fact that MS can't understand that its customers are capable of the same is part of the reason that the WP has been a flop that almost no one recommends to friends and that Windows 8 is a less than anticipated release. Systems running Windows generally look the same at initial boot from whatever PC company sold them, but you're not stuck in that layout if you choose not to be. The absence of streamlined customization is doing nothing to make their new format appealing. I've hated live tiles from the first time I saw them and have zero desire to deal with them every time I go to my homescreen.

The performance improvements being touted are not enough to make me waver in the least. Microsoft has screwed the pooch on this one.


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## number5toad (Sep 13, 2011)

Macs and iOS devices don't share an OS - the goal with Win8 is actual cross-platform integration, so your tablet and phone are running the same fundamental OS as your home computer. honestly, it's a pretty bold move, and one that I think people would generally embrace if it weren't for the foolishness of eliminating the Start button and forcing you to use the Metro UI (or whatever they're calling it now).


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## TwinShadow (Oct 17, 2011)

I'd be fine with with some cross-level integration between a tablet and a desktop computer (not that I'd use anything but an Android device anyway since W8 is ugly all-in-all), but to make the desktop work like a tablet without a touch screen is a mistake on Microsoft's part.

Bold move? Yes. Smart move? Probably not. I hate the WP7 UI which is the same Metro piece of crap and is just big and bulky. Its also part of the XBox 360 dashboard, so looks like they just had to make W8 the same way. I don't believe this will kill their business as much as I'd like it to so they can realize their mistake, but like Apple drones, you have Microsoft drones who swear by their Windows products regardless of looks or functionality and will buy tons and tons of copies anyway. Just won't sell as much considering it doesn't look like it'll fair well with your typical gamer.


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## MissionImprobable (Feb 12, 2012)

number5toad said:


> Macs and iOS devices don't share an OS - the goal with Win8 is actual cross-platform integration, so your tablet and phone are running the same fundamental OS as your home computer. honestly, it's a pretty bold move, and one that I think people would generally embrace if it weren't for the foolishness of eliminating the Start button and forcing you to use the Metro UI (or whatever they're calling it now).


That is exactly what I stated, that despite Macs and iDevices not having the same interface the users support the combined ecosystem.


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## Brad92 (Nov 22, 2011)

Well, for $15 I can upgrade to Windows 8 when it comes out, so I'll do it anyway...

Windows 7 to me is just a more polished Vista.


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## number5toad (Sep 13, 2011)

MissionImprobable said:


> That is exactly what I stated, that despite Macs and iDevices not having the same interface the users support the combined ecosystem.


I did read that wrong, sorry - but I think it's a stretch to assume that users invested in one platform are necessarily invested in the other. I'm a Mac user, but not an iOS user, and I know plenty of people who favor one and don't use the other.


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## number5toad (Sep 13, 2011)

as for tablet UI on a desktop....it may not seem this way at the consumer level, but at the enterprise level, a lot of bigger businesses and universities are moving towards touchscreen controls. of my three biggest clients, two are universities and one is a law firm, and the only screens I've installed for any of them in the last year were touch panels (either natively, or after I installed the digitizer). in most cases they're using the mouse and keyboard as sort of a secondary interface, or for more fine manipulation, but they're definitely taking a backseat.

between the approaching ubiquity of touchscreen devices and neat projects like the Leap it's not that far fetched to say that Microsoft is pushing in the right direction, albeit very prematurely, and probably a bit too hard.


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Brad92 said:


> Well, for $15 I can upgrade to Windows 8 when it comes out, so I'll do it anyway...
> 
> Windows 7 to me is just a more polished Vista.


I get it free via MSDN. Still won't even download the image as it I consider it taking up hard drive space as much of a waste as actually using it.


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## MissionImprobable (Feb 12, 2012)




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## SkullOne (Jul 9, 2011)

I'm with everybody else. I will not use Windows 8 without a touch device and I don't mean a monitor. Sorry I have a mouse and KB shortcuts for that crap. Kills me to say it but Apple is doing it right. Mobile devices have a specific OS. Desktop OS starts integrating with mobile OS. There's no good reason why the Windows 8 desktop needs that god forsaken interface.


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

But hey, it could jumpstart Linux!


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## yarly (Jun 22, 2011)

Average person will never install an OS that does not come with their device. Well, unless you believe the idiots on slashdot that have been proclaiming every year since 1999 as "The year of the linux desktop."


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## jimmyco2008 (Apr 5, 2012)

As per Murphy's Law, they'll be right one of these years.

But man, the way Microsoft lobbies hardware manufacturers, I don't know if dominance will ever change. And we all know people aren't going to get smart and start installing Linux over Windows POS Edition or whatever they're on in the next few decades.


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