Are you upgrading to Windows 8? - Page 4

"The program scans everything you download and install, and reports it back to Microsoft in order to verify that the app has a legitimate certificate. This is a slightly worrisome revelation on its own — especially since the feature is enabled automatically and isn't exactly easy to turn off — but it gets even worse.
It turns out that the protocol Microsoft uses to communicate this information is widely known to be extremely vulnerable to interception. This means that it may not just be Microsoft that will end up scanning your list of installed software. Identity thieves could conceivably use this information to profile their victims, which can lead to myriad headaches for the unfortunate Windows 8 user."

^ No thanks.

Interesting I found this thread. I am looking into building my first HTPC and just assumed Windows 8 would be an upgrade over Windows 7, especially on the media side of things. I was even wondering if waiting til Windows 8 release for my build might be worth it, instead of having to pay for an upgrade later. I guess not.

This I do agree with. MS are really testing the waters with Windows 8, likely knowing fully well businesses will stick with 7 for the next few years. Let the consumers do the testing, listen to the feedback, and make whatever changes are necessary in Win9. I still think that the uptake on 8 is going to be poor though, but if this is the direction MS are heading in, then they have to know whether it's going to be difficult to achieve. The legacy of 8 will likely be felt for many years, but as a product it will not be successful.

One, that feature can easily be turned off. In fact, it's an option in the out-of-box-experience. Two, Microsoft has already commented that the researcher falsely claimed that they were using a protocol for transmitting the information that they are not.

^^^
STEPS
Open up the "classic" control panel
Select the System and Security link
Select the Action Center option
Expand the security list
Scroll down, looking for the Windows SmartScreen option
Click the change settings link
Enter password at the UAC Prompt popup
Select radio button "Turn off Windows SmartScreen"

---

IMO finding out about and getting to this setting is not so easy for your average non-power user, especially considering the default for this is on.
After Win 7 I'm thinking it may be Linux for me. Or maybe I should look for my old OS/2 Warp discs!
Edited by Sherbona - 8/28/12 at 6:05pm

Well there is something for those you that really want the start menu back to win7 and other options like disabling the hot spots, etc.

Anyone wanting the win 7 experience back needs to look at Start8 by Stardock. Its looks very full featured and I believe its going to be a free app even when its out of beta. You get tons of control over how the desktop behaves and how you can interact with the Metro side. I'm definitely going to give it a try when its out of beta.

I think that it will be 3rd party apps like this that will ultimately satisfy most, if not all, power users. That could save Win 8 in their eyes.
Edited by trooper11 - 8/29/12 at 1:54pm

Just remembered something that bugged me when trialing W8 a few months ago. I often RDP into my PC from my laptop and noticed there was no easy way to restart the PC (i.e. update, install that required a restart, etc.) The only way to do so was to bring up a DOS window and use 'shutdown /s" Not really a big deal, but just couldn't figure why it is so much easier to do this in W7. Course this was a beta so I'm not sure the RTM is the same.

T

As I expected..

Thinix retroui lets windows 8 users step off the metro

I loaded the RTM version on my laptop. I was happy with its overall snappiness, but it didn't feel any snappier than W7. I thought people were just complaining for the sake of complaining, but Metro is truly a mistake. Navigating the tile screen in place of the Start Menu is the seriously the Achilles’ heel of W8. Even after getting used to the interface, it simply takes MORE TIME with more mouse movements and clicks to get to stuff I want to use compared to W7. This is a deal breaker. You can forget about old people, they're screwed. May as well just buy them a Mac now and get it over with. Who cares if the file transfers are 1.2X faster if it takes 10X longer to access the files you want to transfer? Making a shortcut for everything I want on the desktop is like a timewarp back to W95.

I fully expect that I will be upgrading to W8 at some point at home, but it will be post-SP1 and also after Microsoft or the hax crowd creates a rock-solid "classic" desktop/start menu override/fix. Until then, I've got a couple unused copies of W7 to hold me over until W9.

When you say old people, are you talking about the existing, older, power users or the existing, older, average pc users?

The older power user certainly makes use of the start menu in some form or fashion.

If your talking the average user, I wonder how many even used the old start menu. I've seen my share of pcs used by older people, and younger for that matter, and a lot of them have one thing in common: tons of desktop icons

Most have no idea how to navigate the start menu. Most rely on having desktop icons for everything they want to get to. If they don't have an icon for it, they don't know it exists. Windows 7 offered the pinning feature, which works great, but I'm not sure even it is used a lot by average pc owners. Heck, most are unaware that you can search from the start menu to find applications or files. This is why I keep going back and forth on whether it will be a disaster for most users. Since the metro start screen has a clear link to the desktop and the desktop still works the same way minus the start menu, it might not be as hard as we think.

Ok, I'll bite.

I get it. The start screen is new/different and the 'modern' apps don't work as well with a KB/Mouse. That said, after using it for a few months I just don't understand why all the 'hard core' (seems they are always in IT) users seem to hate it. I hit start, I type what I'm looking for, and hit enter. It's the same exact thing I do in 7, except now I have a full screen start menu instead of an out of control cascading menu.

If you can get past that one (admittedly large) change, 8 is better in every other way. It boots faster, has a far more efficient kernel, and has tons of other core OS improvements that I'm rather happy about. Which brings me to my next point.

I'm building a new HTPC specifically with Windows 8 in mind.

That's right. You heard me!

The Problem:

My Home Server V1 is dying. She won't boot, I think my board is fried. My HTPC is also very old. She runs well, but it's time for an upgrade.

The Plan:

I intend to build a Windows 8 Media Center Server using Storage Spaces under the covers. I will boot the OS off an SSD and take all my existing Home Server drives and add them to one storage space. The other PC's in my house are already running Windows 8 Release Preview and will get RTM when available. Having everything in my house on Windows 8 has advantages over what I have today making this seemingly crazy idea a potentially good one.

The Justification:

I will lose image based backup, but thanks to Windows 8 I don't care. After using Windows 8 for several months now I've realized how well the built in cloud backup works. It backs up favorites/settings/passwords/backgrounds etc etc. Paired with SkyDrive for my roaming/important stuff takes care of 99% of my backup needs.

Storage Spaces seems to be an improvement over WHS V1 Drive Extender in nearly every way. I've read that the perf isn't amazing, but it really doesn't need to be. If I need to, I'll carve out a separate partition for my Recorded TV and other media that doesn't require duplication.

I realize Windows 8 isn't for everyone, and I too wasn't a fan of the start screen at first. Then I realized I just don't care. On my desktops, I hardly ever see the start screen, and when I need to use it, it is no worse off than the old start screen was (subjective).

Windows 8 with Storage Spaces opens up new capabilities for me and should allow me to save some real $$$ by letting me combine my server with my HTPC. The IT guys may hate it because it is different, but not me. I appreciate the new features and more efficient kernel far more than the perceived regression of the start menu.

Resume Windows 8 hate in 3....2....

Just out of curiosity / clarification, are you replacing your HTPC with W8 also acting as a server, or are you replacing your WHS v1 with a W8 server and building a W8 HTPC? I too plan on giving W8 a try as a replacement for my WHS v2 so the interface won't much matter to me. But I'll still have a separate HTPC. I miss DE from v1 and v2 just doesn't shine like v1 did in it's prime once most of the bugs got worked out.

Tony

I will wait for the next Windows. The parttern is going every other one they get right.

Windows 98 was good.
Windows Me was bad
Windows XP good.
Windows Vista bad
Windows 7 good
Windows 8 must be bad then.

-Raymond Day

Interesting feedback here, I wanted to install it for the clean start menu and how accessible icons were especially when managing everything wirelessly with a tablet. Guess I need to rethink my options.

I plan on building just one Windows 8 PC. It will be a large case'd HTPC with enough room for about 6 drives inside. That should be more than enough for Windows 8's storage spaces feature to act as my WHS V1 replacement. I think this will work out great, but there's yet one more awesome new feature built into Windows 8. It has Hyper-V included!!!! Seriously, this is very cool. This means if all else fails, my HTPC can serve up a virtual server inside of it. I can always create a virtual WHS 2011 or even server 2012 if I need.

One combined box to rule them all!!!!

Everyone else here won't touch Windows 8 with a 10 foot pole. I just don't understand the fear. I can't wait!

Yep, they are using the Metro trash on the server OS as well. I am NOT looking forward to working on it at all.

Yep, they are using the Metro trash on the server OS as well. I am NOT looking forward to working on it at all.

OMFG, it's there alright. Bold as you like. Metro on a server! What the hell are MS thinking? I can safely say I wont be installing Server 2012 on any production servers with *that* interface. We'll stick with Server 2008 R2, which does the job perfectly well. Also reading between the lines, it appears MS may be removing a whole lot of interface functionality, and replacing it with PowerShell scripts!! Now, I know PS is very capable and 'powerful', but I just don't have time to fiddle with PS commands and option switches when I need to get something done quickly.

A huge step backwards in my opinion. The next round of MS operating systems are really shaping up to be a disaster. I don't care what improvements are under the hood, many just won't install it because you can't turn off that awful new start screen.

I was thinking the same thing. OS/2 ran windows apps and Dos apps better than Win 95 did.