Good, someone who isnt being a little douche about it and simply saying it how it is, it isnt finished but it is at the stage to be released and MS are right on the money, since its so easy to update the system then I can see SP1 being released 3 - 4months down the line and it will be a massive one.

I am using Windows 8 Release (acquired through MSDNAA) on my HTPC and haven't come across any issues yet! The only problem is that my house mates do not know how to use the new UI!

Badbonji
I am using Windows 8 Release (acquired through MSDNAA) on my HTPC and haven't come across any issues yet! The only problem is that my house mates do not know how to use the new UI!

Thats a pretty big deal for windows IMO. ‘Idiots’ (and this isnt directly projected at your housemates of course, its just a general term) should be able to pick it up and just use it without much thinking. I cant help feeling the move is being thrust upon us

The news headline ‘Windows 8 launched before its ready’ is not news. I think most software is generally released nowa days not 100% finished.

I remember Elite 2 on the PC, first game that I owned that had to be patched.

Brewster0101
I remember Elite 2 on the PC, first game that I owned that had to be patched.

There are plenty of old games that are known for being unwinnable due to a bug. Most people don't remember the bad old days now, but patching was a huge step forward.

Biscuit
I cant help feeling the move is being thrust upon us

Oh it is - very much so. MS' agenda is to bring together tablet, desktop and phone and in the short term there are definite downsides to that. Longer term is a complete unknown (although some will tell you they absolutely know it seems obvious to me that without insight into MS' roadmap we can't possibly draw such a conclusion). The question is, are the current issues a blocker for you (as in absolutely) with no possible workaround? If yes, then avoid 8 - but at least try it for yourself (in released form) rather than relying on opinion (including mine), rumour and misinformation.
That said I agree with you - i'm pretty happy with it overall now.

I have a suspicion that MS is aiming for a much wider change - i.e. in how Windows is updated and released - and that we could see much more rapidity in updating it's feature set that the traditional 3 year cycle.

BTW seen this?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lor0j473grm27gz/Logitech%20TouchPad%20Win8.jpg

I'll ask work to buy me one if it's real..

These notions fly in the face of Microsoft spokesman Mark Martin’s statement that “With over 16 million active preview participants, Windows 8 is the most tested, reviewed and ready operating system in Microsoft’s history”.

No it doesn't. You are assuming that "most tested, reviewed and ready" means completely finished, all it means is that this release is better than previous ones. If you look back I'm sure you'll find that their previous releases had far more compatibility issues which indicates their OS releases are getting better just as they are claiming in that quote; of course Windows 8 is going to come with usability issues due to the new User Interface but as far as I could tell all my hardware worked properly with it still in beta stage which is more than I could say for XP or Vista.

Both statements are correct and are not mutually exclusive as you make them seem.

Biscuit
Thats a pretty big deal for windows IMO. ‘Idiots’ (and this isnt directly projected at your housemates of course, its just a general term) should be able to pick it up and just use it without much thinking. I cant help feeling the move is being thrust upon us

Yeah they are far from being competent with computers, although they do either have degrees or are in their final year of study! It only took me a little while to find anything that had moved as the majority had remained the same. I feel it is much slower than Windows 7 that is on my desktop, the main factor being a 64GB vs 256GB M4 Crucial SSD in Sata 2.0 and Sata 3.0 ports respectively.

dangel
Oh it is - very much so. MS' agenda is to bring together tablet, desktop and phone and in the short term there are definite downsides to that. Longer term is a complete unknown (although some will tell you they absolutely know it seems obvious to me that without insight into MS' roadmap we can't possibly draw such a conclusion). The question is, are the current issues a blocker for you (as in absolutely) with no possible workaround? If yes, then avoid 8 - but at least try it for yourself (in released form) rather than relying on opinion (including mine), rumour and misinformation.
That said I agree with you - i'm pretty happy with it overall now.

I have a suspicion that MS is aiming for a much wider change - i.e. in how Windows is updated and released - and that we could see much more rapidity in updating it's feature set that the traditional 3 year cycle.

BTW seen this?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lor0j473grm27gz/Logitech%20TouchPad%20Win8.jpg

I'll ask work to buy me one if it's real..

Ill try it, but il be completely honest… not legitimately at first. I dont want to give any money to microsoft if i dont like the product.

I have seen that before yeah, not sure where. Also not sure why you would want one over a good quality mouse.

Biscuit
Ill try it, but il be completely honest… not legitimately at first. I dont want to give any money to microsoft if i dont like the product.

I have seen that before yeah, not sure where. Also not sure why you would want one over a good quality mouse.

I wouldn't want to exclusively use that - i'd use it in addition. As for trying it MS do provide a trial version - although it will expire:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

dangel
I wouldn't want to exclusively use that - i'd use it in addition. As for trying it MS do provide a trial version - although it will expire:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx

Still not entirely legitimate as im neither a developer or an IT professional trying it on behalf of my company. If they had a ‘like it or your money back’ i would definately do it… but that would never work.

Biscuit
Still not entirely legitimate as im neither a developer or an IT professional trying it on behalf of my company. If they had a ‘like it or your money back’ i would definately do it… but that would never work.

I'd be in favour of that - I really think it's a good idea actually but the truth is MS will sell the OS as OEM copies with PCs for the main. As for the legal side - I don't think there's anything there explicitly saying you can't use it (it's just that they're telling you who it's ‘aimed at’). As they also say the majority of those two groups probably already have access the full version.

It is possible to install the full monty as a trial - if you hack the ISO slightly then you don't need a key to install it. AFAIK there is no working crack for it thusfar (which is surprising they've had long enough) and the only workaround is nicking someone's activation server (and I wouldn't want to submit my IP address to one).

Personally I think Windows 7 is a really nice operating system and I just cannot see a reason to upgrade to Windows 8. As a developer I will have to use it at some point and test on it, but I don't plan to switch my home machines over.

I haven't seen one person so far who actually wants to upgrade to Windows 8. I know you could beg the question of ‘everyone’s afraid of something new', but from what I've seen, Windows 7 is perfectly adequate for now

I'm actually a bit excited about Win8 since I've heard that it consumes less memory and it's just leaner and more optimised regarding performance than Win7. The fact that you can just disable “metro” and use taskbar for pinning and starting your apps contributed a lot, too. Wading through that stupid start menu in Win7 just to start an app is completely ridiculous. Btw. I still use XP, so this can be considered quite a positive comment about Win8… I don't usually do that. ;)

Oh but this is no good, if it's true: “I feel it is much slower than Windows 7 that is on my desktop”. Badbonji can you confirm this? Is that your subjective feeling when you work with Win8 in comparison to Win7?

It seems like I have decided to rejoice about new and better, faster, leaner than XP OS from MS too early. LOL

The main difference in speed seems to be initially booting and also logging into users. With Windows 7 as soon as I click to login it takes 2 seconds or less, whereas it can take up to 10 seconds with Windows 8 and the initial boot seems to take forever. This normally isn't a problem for my as the HTPC is on 24/7, I mainly noticed it during installation of updates and programs/drivers which required a reboot.

Within the OS, the difference in speed is much less, I think the main slowdown might actually be having to go into the start menu and finding the application if it isn't pinned to the taskbar. The built-in mail application is very nice, however, and runs a lot more smoothly than Outlook ever has for me (which is what I am using on my desktop). The actual loading times of applications is just as nippy as in Windows 7 though, so once logged in the speed is fine. It is just the initial delay when logging in irritating.

hmm sounds rather odd Badbonji, my Windows 8 on both the laptop and my desktop perform better than with windows 7, startmenu is blazing fast and the boot up is only slowed down by my motherboards stupidly long post and other things, the actual windows 8 loads in seconds. I have found one annoying issue with Windows 8, when logging in if you have it set to your actual live account and havent stopped it from asking for password coming out of standby its pretty aggravating, you try to login and it checks but then realises there isnt a wifi connection so then asks for the last password used which is fine but it makes you type in the same password TWICE and it takes 2 prompts, it should check all in one go and if the password is incorrect let them do it again.

Apart from that I really cant fault Windows 8 after a couple months with it, organise metro and its a joy to use, much more efficient than windows 7 etc.

I'm really shocked by that comment Badbonji too.

On my main rig, the BIOS POST n RAID bit takes longer than it does to get to the desktop from cold start.

Most apps fly, and explorer feels punchier.

Can't say the same about office 2013 thou.

yeah same Animus, office 2013 seems pretty slow and i think i know why, Microsoft in all their wisdom thought it would be good to sync any documents you open to skydrive then open from there instead of opening the direct local copy you tell it to, they need to sort that out and as soon as they do that it will be much faster than 2010 as all the other areas seem it.

Just needs polish :(.