News Windows 8 cut-price offers coming to a close

And I presume you are either kidding, trolling, or have been living under a rock for quite some time.

Seriously, though, yes, you can. Ars Technica had an article up the other day about alternative Win8 file managers.

Too bad to see MS is raising the price, but let's see if they stick to it when sales tank. I thought they were wising up and following Apple's lead. Like a few others here, I might have shelled out for it when it was cheap. There's not a chance in hell I'll buy a license when it jumps to $200

 

I thought it kept jumping back to Metro when you use files that happen to have an "App"...

Like watching a PDF.
Or a Picture.
Or writing Email.

 

You can change the default programs just like in win7.

Pdf: desktop version of acrobat reader
Picutre: desktop version of Microsoft photo viewer (built in)
Email: I use outlook.com

The only time I ever notice metro is when I accidentally move my mouse to the edge of the screen.

 

Ah, I thought it insisted on using the "App" and therefore reverting to Metro as long as it's installed.

 

I have had Windows 8 on my laptop since launch and I must say - I love it. I hardly use the Metro interface and just spend all my time on the dekstop view. None of the apps are to my taste and I just like the extra oomph it gives my measly 1,2ghz ULV processor. As it is a laptop I hardly have to shut it down.

 

Overreacting much?

Yes it's flawed. No, I'm not a huge fan. Yes, I bought the upgrade.

As I have previously mentioned, it is a flawed concept but essentially a re-skinned Win7. Calm down.

 

Just a shame they haven't added the possibility to shut down the touchy part for those on non-touchy devices.
I suppose they'll earn, heck even Vista functioned.......ok at the end of it's lifetime.

 

Sorry, I must have missed the above topic asking us for a negative opinion of Microsoft and it's excellent release of Windows 8.

You either buy the £25 upgrade or you don't. Simple? or do you need to get your tinfoil hat on first?

 

I think i'll stick with win7 the benefits for gaming and general purpose computing whether or not I have an overclocked custompc is exactly the same as far as im concerned; the layout of which is more customisable than windows 8. Id rather be using a PC than thinking im on a nokia lumia phone.

 

What's wrong with the Nokia Lumia Phone?

 

Nothing at all.

There is nothing wrong with the Surface RT either. I have one, and I love it. Some people just hate because it's trendy to, not because they have actually used the product.

 

Never tried one, myself, but a driver and a weighbridge clerk at work both have them - he is on his second replacement handset, and she is on her third.

 

They should be more careful Dave. Tell them I said that. Go on, tell them.

W8. Not my cup of tea. I would perhaps consider it on a tablet though.

 

after so much negative reaction on forums, i expected to hate win8... but after using it..What the hell? is that what everyone was complaining about?
I don't even notice that metro is there! do people realize that they can chose to practically never interact with it? if all the complaining is because of that micro second it takes to go from metro to desktop on startup, then i'm surprised some of you did not commit suicide after using vista.

 

So if you don't use the Metro UI, what's the point of upgrading? I really don't see an advantage of going from 7 to 8. Supposed faster boot time doesn't matter since the only time my PC is rebooted is due to software upgrades that require it, or a power outage. Faster boot times on a laptop would be nice, but I could live without that. If I owned a touch screen tablet, 8 would make sense, but then again who does major work or gaming on a tablet? Try editing a word document on a tablet. Tablets are little more than big screen phones. They are not comfortable enough to use for any lengthy time to do real work. They are good for playing Angry Birds though.

 

I took advantage of the offer last night. I was quite impressed how smoothly the upgrade went.
So far, I quite like it. It does run quicker than 7 I think.

 

Pretty much summed it up right there.

I'm not going to say that Windows 8 is perfect, it is a new product after all. I find it irritating however that people are slating the OS purely based on the opinion of others, in an attempt to sound vaguely intelligent. I keep seeing the word 'touch-centric' in forums and article comments (including this article in fact), but I don't see how this has offended so many people.

"THEY'VE REMOVED THE DESKTOP AND REPLACED IT WITH TILES"
...Wrong. The desktop is still there, nothing has changed in that respect. I can still see desktop icons (though I hide mine), and I can still right-click and see options, just like I did in older versions. They haven't removed the Start menu either, they've just removed the Start menu as we know it. As soon as you get your head around that fact that the Modern UI thing is just a full-screen start menu, the sooner you can get on with using it. I think the fact that it appears as soon as you log on is what stumps people. Just hit the Windows key or escape... no big deal.

"MICRO$OFT ARE FORCING US TO DOWNLOAD APPS FROM THEIR MARKET. I FEEL SO VIOLATED"
...Wrong again. As mentioned in the previous point, the desktop is still there. Therefore, there is no reason why desktop programs shouldn't work right? The 'apps' in the MS store are totally optional. The selection is pretty bad at the moment, granted, but we are in a chicken and egg situation here: Devs wont build because people won't use. People don't use because Devs aren't building. Like most people on Windows 8, I mostly use my desktop programs, and I have not come across a single program that does not work in Windows 8 so far. An exception is my Corsair headset drivers, where I had to run the installer in W7 compatibility mode to install the utility. Drivers installed fine without this however. If I want to get to a traditional desktop program, say for example Sketchup, I go to the Start menu and click on the Sketchup tile. The Start menu disappears and Sketchup opens.

"THE UI IS UGLY AND UNINTUITIVE"
...Well that's just a matter of opinion really. Unintuitive is a bit dismissive, though I agree that the shutdown process is more hassle that it should be. I fixed that in about 2 minutes with a shortcut to the shutdown command and pinned that to the Start menu. Honestly though, I don't see what is so difficult to comprehend when you are presented with a screen with squares which you click to open programs. Also, whilst I agree that the UI is good for tablets, I don't believe for a second that it is only good for tablets and other touch devices. My Windows 8 installation is on a home theater system, connected to a 42" screen. The start menu is perfect because I can see things easily without having to squint, or change the text sizes in accessibility settings. Before that I was also using this on a standard 19" monitor, and again I had no difficulties getting around.

 

I wasn't going to get W8 for gaming anyway but this massive price hike is truly bizarre. I would be waiting for W9 anyway but hopefully by then Google might have an OS, I'd take anything remotely user-friendly over Windows, Linux is too much for me, although Valve seem to be trying to help in that regard. Time will tell.

 

Ordered my copy... will have to wait until I've finished my new build to know how much I like it, but I'm cautiously hopeful - basically not using the Start Menu except to shut down, so no great loss there, and I can't say any of the other differences to Win7 offend/delight me.

Anyway, I'm too much of a neophile for my own good - must buy shiny!

 

They can keep it