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Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview download available

by Alistair Lowe on 29 February 2012, 15:00

Tags: Windows 8, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qabddj

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It's here, folks, the Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview, get your ISOs from the following link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

Or a user friendly install + DVD/USB imaging tools from here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

Currently Microsoft is delivering a press conference as MWC comes to a close, detailing all of the new goodies and changes to be found in the overhauled OS. We hope to have more details with you soon and to provide an in-depth look into Windows 8 over the coming weeks.

For those who aren't prepared to format or dual-boot, give VMware Player a try, it's a free product that will allow you to safely install a virtual copy of Windows 8 on-top of your current operating system.

EDIT: Reports of VMware not updating its free player to support Windows 8, however the trial of VM Workstation 8 does indeed work.

So hurry on over, give it a try and let us know what you think.

Microsoft Windows 8

EDIT: Fully functional Office 15 for ARM!

HEXUS Forums :: 12 Comments

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Posted by miniyazz - Thu 01 Mar 2012 01:39
Looks like my phone internet's gonna be getting a hammering :p

Currently d/ling at 405KB/s - a mere 3.5x faster than my Wifi could handle. Lol, again.
Posted by Spud1 - Thu 01 Mar 2012 13:15
Got it installed last night..some big improvements (2 taskbars now when you have 2 monitors! no more ultramon..) but some major issues from my pov - all of these “edge buttons” where you just move your mouse to a corner of the screen to trigger something (eg the start menu) are just awful. Apple tried it with OSX and it was a terrible feature that no one ever used, but at least you had alternatives..microsoft seem to have forced it on us with no option to remove/disable.

It took me 10 minutes to work out how to shut the thing down..not intuitive at all for a mouse user.

I can see this being a great system/UI on a tablet, but us desktop users have been forgotten about at the moment..the new “start menu” is simply awful and confusing when you are not using a touch screen..I don't know it just seems that all everyday tasks have become more complicated at the moment.

Still it's a preview/beta version and lots can change - plus i've not had much time to tinker yet so I am sure that like with all other versions of windows, we will be able to disable these gimmicky features that don't work very well.
Posted by TheBuZZard - Thu 01 Mar 2012 14:00
I installed it last night since Im upgrading my PC at the weekend anyway (so if I hate it then doesnt matter for 2 days). I agree the UI seems terrible for a desktop PC, touch screen Im sure it works but cant see me rushing to upgrade, Ill stick with 7 on my new build PC.
Posted by miniyazz - Thu 01 Mar 2012 18:10
Not a big fan of Metro here either. I'm sure it's great for using your PC one app at a time but if you want to do any proper multitasking you need to do it in the desktop, which is horribly unintuitive now they got rid of the Start Menu. Overall, not a fan.. yet.
Posted by alpha channel - Thu 01 Mar 2012 21:07
Installed it this morning at college (being a part time lecturer in, proper, IT has some perks) and… well… no, nope ain't going to happen. No way in hell will I put this on a PC (not even if some poor deluded fool comes along with a wad of cash and pleads for it to be installed). Can't stand the bloody thing, that metro interface sucks like a rotten tooth (at least on a desktop).

I'm techie enough to get to grips with most things but this… :puke:

I can't see it being adopted by many, certainly not businesses (time costs money and trying to use this on a desktop is going to suck huge amounts of this). All those people that've become used to what has become the well known desktop interface are simply going to get frustrated by this, hell I have after an hours worth of play (I can just see it now, thousands of people across the country screaming at their monitors in frustration as they try and do the simplest of things, never mind more demanding multitasking).

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