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Switching to Windows 8


NicVerAZ

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Well, I have to do that, it's my job. I have an MSDN subscription, which means I get all of the Microsoft software free, of course essential all the technical and software engineering stuff.

For those in the know, I am upgrading to Visual Studio 2012 and SQL Server 2012. Have to learn it, and fast. It is a competitive market, out there (IT still pays well and there are still a lot of jobs, especially when you know your stuff -pass the word to the kids around you).

I have to admit that I like Windows 8 so far. It is a pretty slick and fast OS. It is disconcerting at first. The installer asks you to drag your mouse to a corner of your choice during install. It's a bizarre request, but that's where your "hot spot" will be, translate where the task bar with the Start button will appear when you drag your mouse there.

You close an app in the opposite corner, or switch app in the same manner... Bizarre but you get used to it.

Of course if you know all the regular keyboard shortcuts (alt-tab, alt-F4, Windows key-E, etc...) you will survive.

It has a few goodies. For instance the messenger will take the entire screen, as an app, and marry Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Chat, email, etc... into one screen. It even plays well with Google Calendar. It does not play at all with Yahoo (but who cares, Yahoo is almost dead).

I found out I could burn an image direct to DVD without having to use Nero or equivalent.

I like it so far but I guess that's also because I had a very cluttered Windows 7 OS with 3 different versions of each production platform as I upgraded over the years.

If you consider upgrading to Window 8 from 7, it is not a necessity, but a good thing to do if you have a few bucks. It should take, as usual, 2 to 3 years before 90% of Windows users have moved to 8 one way or another, unless they switch to a Google or Apple gizmo (I have to admit: the Nexus 7 is a very good deal these days).

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Thanks for that. All of us in data processing (IT) who manage fleets of computers for their companies will need to look at this, if for no other reason than new computers they acquire will come with it already installed. I'll probably try it through my technet subscription as a new guest machine running under vmware fusion. From a shooting standpoint, the first thing I'll have to see is if it will run ezwinscore as is.

One thing about it: they took a hint from Apple. $40 to upgrade from XP/Vista/7 is cheap!

Later... oh man, GAG ME! But at least it let me install ezws 4.10 and look at a match.

post-2179-0-69651700-1345500036_thumb.pn

Edited by wgnoyes
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We've been testing it for a while now but decided to forgo it and stick with Win7. I've got 43k workstations/laptops and there are still serious compatibility issues with I.E.9 for major apps and some of our major app vendors have no plans to certify their apps on it at this time. Another issue is driver stability issues across our standard devices especially with some of our mobile carts as well as a handful of security issues. Another big issue is training. Since the interface is so different, training for our 75k clinical users is huge. Maybe one day. A few pretty cool new features though.

Edited by Dirty Rod
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Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Microsoft fan, but I have not drank the kool-aid. Just some general comments below.

Yahoo almost dead??? Maybe from a portal standpoint, but they have a lot of $$$ customers that may not be clear to the general public: Example: AT&T.

I am using Windows 8 also and found it a little of a struggle to change the way I think. If you look back at the history of MS, they have always done this pretty well ( I know there are some flops). I expect this from MS. I know with each OS release there will be a learning curve, however, it does seem to come quicker with each change. Have you played with Windows 3.1 lately??? Could you image going back to that hot mess?

My big challenge in my career is the new OSs and device driver support. My group supports all of the R&D environment for my company, so we have a LOT of strange things. Moving to XP was a challenge, our move to Windows 7 64bit is even more of a challenge. Then Windows 8? The R&D equipment manufactures just do not move that fast and will be a huge blocker for my group. When I have a manufacture tell me they are working on a XP driver (Now) for a 500K piece of equipment, thoughts of Windows 8 deployment become dim.

Now to tell you how much a hypocrite I am, I have been running a MacBook Pro since december 2011 and have never looked back. The MAC OS, Lion and now Mountain Lion, is very fast and with VMs I am able to test a ton of applications/OS combinations. Does not do much for device drivers and I know I can do the same on Windows platform, but the simplistic approach Apple has taken is just so elegant. With Windows 8, is MS moving this direction? Less is More?

Kind Regards,

RT

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...Now to tell you how much a hypocrite I am, I have been running a MacBook Pro since december 2011 and have never looked back. The MAC OS, Lion and now Mountain Lion, is very fast and with VMs I am able to test a ton of applications/OS combinations. Does not do much for device drivers and I know I can do the same on Windows platform, but the simplistic approach Apple has taken is just so elegant. With Windows 8, is MS moving this direction? Less is More?

Hypocrite? Nope, just intelligent. If you look at screen print above, you'll see win8 running as a guest machine under vmware fusion on ML. I went apple because I got tired of all the hassles inherent with windows. They didn't lie: "It just works", and simplicity appeals to me now. And as drivers go, I've never seen windows run better or install more smoothly than when it's a guest under vmware. I don't know what they did for "device" drivers, but I've never had to chase the first driver hassle under vmware fusion.

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