Windows 8 Developer Preview now available to download

[starobrno1]

I have Snow Leopard, Lion and Win 8 on one of my hacks (i7 930) and its working. For me Its just I had to re arrange my sata cables till I found the right order for them so the boot up worked again. I did skip my Win 7 install though which might have helped to avoid conflicts between them. I installed Win 8 to a black WD hardrive and its very fast and to be honest to me it looks like its even faster than both Snow Leo and Lion that I have on SSD harddrives. So I like win 8, gonna get it when they release it.

[. noskill!]

May I direct your attention to the numerous threads on dual and tribooting? If I have to work on a complex spread sheet a word processing document and a presentation for work no one can convince me that anything is as good as a Win 7 desktop with a quad core processor, plenty of ram, multiple 24 inch displays, and a SSD running Office 2007 or Office 2010. Besides your choice of monitor(s) all of that can be had for a fraction of the price of a Mac and it will run rock solid. No kernel panics or BSOD.

 

Furthermore as has been stated numerous times Mac is moving more and more to mobile and iOS. I still don't have a good word processing, presentation, or spreadsheet solution on OS X Lion and they are now focusing on turning Lion into iOS. Talk about the wrong move. I am a novice but I like the latest version of Final Cut Pro X. I also like some web development tools on the OS X. But for my day job there is no way I can do without MS Office on Win 7. If Cupertino could just get MS Office to run smoothly and with 100% compatibility on OS X they could start making serious inroads. As it stands all they have is fan boys and dual boot hackintoshers. I don't know of anyone in the business world that has forsaken MS 100% for OS X.

I think most people that dual-boot just do that because they either 1) want to play with OS X next to their Windows environment 2) want to play games on Windows or 3) dont have a system powerful enough to virtualize applications they would normally run under Windows. IMHO every application available on Windows has an OS X equivalent, be it from another developer or under another name. Work your way into the OS and you will learn that you do not NEED Windows for anything (other then unknown/irregular business/sector-specific applications) other than playing games.

 

I ran Office for Mac 2011 on my Hackintosh and theres no chance that anyone is going to tell me that that works less well than its Windows equivalent. Just because its simply the same. Why would it do better on the same system, except with Windows installed? It doesnt. The only thing that differs is the user experience, and this is exactly why noone can convince you that theres anything better than a Windows Office environment. Because you are used to the way that Windows works, you are used to the way that Microsoft Office works (in Windows), and have been using this environment ever since youve first used it. For example, I was born and raised speaking a dialect Dutch. I speak Dutch all the time, but it doesnt compare to speaking the dialect. Noone can convince me either that theres something more beautiful and pure as the dialect I speak, although others will disagree.

 

Funny you say that GV because I haven't used Windows in years since I've joined the hackintosh scene back in 10.5 days. All my 5 hard drives I have in my rig are all OS X journaled formatted and I use it as my daily and only home machine which I do my coding from Xcode to presentations in the Office suite for Mac (which I find perfectly usable for my needs). I have nothing against Windows at all but I've just grown so accustomed to OS X that I began going further than just hackintsohing with it to making apps for OS X and iOS. Had it not been for OS X and hackintoshing, I wouldn't have my job being a programmer right now as I would know nothing about Obj-C. Running on a ep-43-ud3l mobo with an aged q8200 cpu, my rig is pulling along quite fine for the last few years although I'm looking for an overhaul once Ivy Bridge chips float into consumer hands.

Haha yes! I must second this so badly. 2 years ago was the first time I finished a smooth retail installation on my workstation. Its a p5ql-e with q8200 cpu 4850 gpu. The user experience was just so smooth, I fell in love. After that I bought a second hand Macbook Air, reinstalled Windows.... Had to sell the Air again, so Im back with 10.7 retail on the PC once more, and I am 100% sure I will never return to Windows (at home this is, please note!). Everything works like a charm, and its so smooth. I am an IT administrator and I work with Windows XP/7 2003/2008/R2 environments all the time. I have been frustrated so many times coming home after a week of work, starting my (Windows) pc, run something and be prompted to install this, or do that, reminders, popups, UAC. Yes, I know this isnt something that happens all the time. But you see my point, right? I honestly tell you guys its such a relief coming home, turning on my PC, boots for like 20 secs on a 5400 rpm drive, and everything works..... No crazy menus I have to go through all the time, no annoying popups, just a fckkking straightforward operating system that gets me where I want to go every single time. Without annoying me. And I love it for that reason specifically.

 

Thank you insanelymac. For helping me discover one of the more amazing pieces of software on our planet. For helping me setting it up, and keeping it stable.

 

Thank you, for sharing this post regarding the Windows 8 Developer preview, too. It has been out there for a while now and Ive heard lots of positive reactions about it; mostly regarding the work on ARM tabels (and possible x86 atoms too, but I wont see that happen too quickly due to heat etc). Metro looks good, has a intuitive feel to it too. Nevertheless I must agree I cannot see this work at offices or workplaces, simply because it doesnt rely on the Windows Desktop power. This may be something I (or we), have to get used to. For me it might be similar to getting used to OS X's simplicity. But in a messier variant ofcourse.

[Alessandro17]

I work with Windows XP/7 2003/2008/R2 environments all the time. I have been frustrated so many times coming home after a week of work, starting my (Windows) pc, run something and be prompted to install this, or do that, reminders, popups, UAC. Yes, I know this isnt something that happens all the time. But you see my point, right? I honestly tell you guys its such a relief coming home, turning on my PC, boots for like 20 secs on a 5400 rpm drive, and everything works..... No crazy menus I have to go through all the time, no annoying popups, just a fckkking straightforward operating system that gets me where I want to go every single time. Without annoying me. And I love it for that reason specifically.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself! Yes, it is that kind of things that made me dislike Windows so much.

Of course in my case there is also the "Mac Experience", which puts together some of the most beautiful hardware in the world and arguably the best OS.

[alaskantraveler]

I have always been under the impression that 'Dual Booting' means you are running both operating systems from the same hard drive, just on different partitions.

 

I single boot all my systems. Each is on it's own harddrive. With it's own booter. I just run through the bios and switch which ever drive I want to boot into the first position.

 

now cross contamination. Windoze 7 runs on one of my EIDE drives, SnowLeo is running on my Sata drive. Lion is running on my USB harddrive. That is only because Windoze won't install to a USB or Firewire drive, and OSX will.

 

As for MS Office, there are versions of it that run on both Windoze and Mac. Doesn't make it any less of a overbloated, over priced piece of {censored}, but there you are.

 

There are other Office programs that work on OSX that will do the same things as MS Office. Libre-Office comes to mind. And best of all, It is FREE! I just saved hundreds of dollars by not using a MicroSnot Product!

 

As you can see I am not a big MicroSnot fan.

[TH3L4UGH1NGM4N]

I'm not particularly against Microsoft because I do like and use their Office Suite but their OS in my opinion I only use as my gaming OS since I use my Hackintosh for everything from regular web browsing to app developing. Years ago I wouldn't be saying this but I had been slowly been falling out of the whole Windows OS as my major OS a few years back and found the Hackintosh scene and everything else from there was history.

[.picodev]

First off,i've had only a couple of BSODs on Windows 7 from the beginning of time and it was related to graphics card and motherboard failure. Windows UAC - OSX admin pass prompt,same {censored} different package init

 

And about Windows 8,im running the consumer preview ATM.Well,there are infact some under-the-hood changes.Complete overhaul of the runtime - WinRT,less processes in the default config,less RAM consumption,feels much more snappier overall.The power managment is also totally different.I like their FastBoot .. suspending the initialized kernel and drivers into an image in the hard drive.Really really fast bootup..The storage spaces is a nice feature aswell and,although i find the metro partly useless,i use the live tiles for some info feed and like it.Hardware sensors API is a nice addition aswell..The no-more-update-nagging-popup-{censored} policy is also good.

 

The only major change that affects me is that Win7 boots to desktop directly and Win8 needs one click more to get to it (or the win button on the keyboard). And no,they don't want to make the standard desktop a 'legacy' feature nor will they push it onto those poor car mechanics,it will be used in the future,metro is just a familiar bridge between different form factors.The only thing IMO they have to work on is the better transition and integration of the desktop-metro.2 Control panels,clicking on the network icon in the tray opens up the metro interface for managing it but the volume icon doesn't.The speed of doing things is practically the same, win button+cont+enter opens up the control panel,and for a fast typer,its a snap to launch anything.And yeah,the integrated virus+malware+crapware protection is great (FINNALY).

 

My platform of choice for audio work is OSX,its lightweight,very low latency with hardware,better RT process priority (kernel design differences),graphics feel much less hungry.Recently i've reanimated an old Toshiba 5 year old lap top with a 1core Celeron using Snow Leo.With Windows 7,it could barely play music with Traktor Final Scratch,on OSX it plays 4 decks,no glitching when switching effects presets,just perfect. So yeah, +1 for the "it makes the old hardware feel like bleeding edge"

 

@Gringo , i just love Chieftec cases,you could use them as a replacement for bricks,even build a house with them

[eep357]

I know what you mean of hackintoshes back in the day man 8)

 

You've got my vote!

The classy green plastic tabs galore just scream out how Dell's sophisticated and elegant designs remain timeless and unrivaled to this day!

Oh, wait.. wrong thread

 

Windows 8 should be great! Everyone knows tablets can't do everything a desktop can do, so they've managed to make your desktop more like a tablet so it can also do less too! A pessimist may see this as bringing the desktop down to the same level as a tablet. But us optimists will see the tablet is now equal to the desktop and we didn't need to buy another iPad or any apple product to do it, just the spiffy new Windows 8, and a super cool touch screen all-in-one PC, such as the beautiful, completely original designed, new Vizo one that looks nothing at all like an iMac, oh, and maybe some special ergonomic elbow rests or like a sling or arm stir-ups or something for all that screen touching, and....wait a minute, this isn't sounding so good anymore Except arm stir-ups, that could be a money maker if touch monitors ever take off, I better check the patents on that

 

On a slightly serious note: I now use Windows so rarely at home, maybe a few times a year, it becomes pointless. If I have something to boot Windows for, maybe a game to try or something, As soon as I boot to the desktop, I always get greeted with "you must restart to apply changes" and I think, Yay!, what a great welcome home, nice to see you too! $%#*!! Rebooting is the funnest thing ever anyway and is what I really wanted to be doing, sweet! You pi%^&$ of #&%$!! Then a few hours of updates and many reboots later, I no longer have any desire to play the game I had kinda, sorta wanted to check out, and go back to OSX. To be fair, all OS's have some updates and if I used it more I'm sure there wouldn't be so many updates, or probably just as many but not at the same time. Partly my fault, but not really. Thing that kills me is any time I try out a new version of a VM program, or change a fan in my case, my expensive, fully legit, full priced, purchased copy of Windows 7 requires me to call MS to get a new serial #, Sadly it became too much of a hassle and so much easier to install hacked version and keep my paid version on the shelf. I doubt the intention of their anti-piracy measures were to inconvenience only their paying customers, but this has been my experience, and it just doesn't seem right Some times it helps to be reminded how much I appreciate my MacBook and my Hacky(which, other than while testing extreme OC settings, has never kernel paniced once install is fully set up, and is even more stable and reliable than my MacBook)

 

P.S. No serious rebuttals on the obviously sarcastic Windows 8 comments please, 7 is better than Vista and that's a good start

[.picodev]

Microsoft patches their vuln's in a matter of days,Apple in a matter of a couple of months,just not to alert the public that their OS is really not imune to abusive code (what was their primary factor for bashing Microsoft)

If i could update 500 MB/day of patches,that would mean the code auditing teams are doing their job haha

[TH3L4UGH1NGM4N]

@ eep Yessss my first vote woot. I know your hassle of doing the slightest changes to a windows OS and having it complain about it's legitimacy as it happened to me on a few mobo upgrades I've done in the past or when I moved my hdd to another comp just to boot. Lol at the changing the fan reference you had me chuckling at that one. I was Skyrimmin' the other night when I got an arrow to the knee from Microsoft when it restarted my comp in the middle of the game like I was not doing something important. At least in the OS X world the OS has the decency of asking you and giving you the choice whether you want to do the update now or later unlike Microsoft that rage quits your game in favor of trivial updates.

 

@LaS You know an OS is setup for failure when the updates per month breaches your isp data cap.

 

Not in anyway bashing Microsoft but at least when you get attacked by a Trojan it quietly takes over your system. Microsoft on the contrary makes it system update takeover more obtrusive unfortunately. =\

[jvangent100]

Well, maybe you should startup control panel, type in windows update and change the settings for it ? You CAN prevent issue like you are describing easily.

[Gringo Vermelho]

Yep. I've seen many complaints about the forced updates and restarts, if that ruins your user experience just turn off automatic updates, problem solved.

 

It's not difficult to remember to run it manually once a month, at a time when it's convenient.

 

Windows 8 should be great! Everyone knows tablets can't do everything a desktop can do, so they've managed to make your desktop more like a tablet so it can also do less too!

 

Hahaha great, thanks for that!

[TH3L4UGH1NGM4N]

Well, maybe you should startup control panel, type in windows update and change the settings for it ? You CAN prevent issue like you are describing easily.

 

My point is not turning it off my point is how obtrusive it is. Since when is an update so crucial that it warrants a take over restart?

[eep357]

It constantly {censored} at you when it's off, and labels it as an issue with your computer. Anyway, no biggie, parallels works fine in Mountain Lion now, so non-issue either way.

[Gringo Vermelho]

It constantly {censored} at you when it's off, and labels it as an issue with your computer.

 

You can turn that off as well!

[XLR]

Take a look at mine, should run Windows 8 nicely alongside Mountain Lion!

 

[TH3L4UGH1NGM4N]

@GV Might as well turn off the computer while you're at it then.

 

@XLR

[makwanad]

I have just installed the consumer preview and I have to say I am a fan of Metro UI, I like how fluid it is. The only thing I dislike is how much of the space is wasted in Metro apps. I have a Nokia Lumia 800 and an Xbox 360 so I guess I'm generally used to the UI. Performance wise I would compare it to Windows 7, even with the original style desktop running.

 

I look forward to seeing more Metro UI apps, I hear Google are working on a Metro Chrome which will be nice. IE 10 is pretty slick also.

 

PS. If you're going to install using Bootcamp, use the Windows Support files, that way everything should work properly.

[starobrno1]

Looks like the last win8 update turned of the need to unhook your win8 harddrive if you dualboot osx and win8.

It did for me anyway.

[Hackintosh2000]

I'll leave the rest to somebody else but, no BSODs in Windows? It is like saying, no salt in the sea. Windows 7 has become stable for me only after almost 3 years of updates. Previously BSODs were a daily occurrence on all my PCs.

 

Sorry to hear that. My Windows 7 box was rock solid right out of the gates. I didn't see a BSOD until about six months ago. It was due to adding an OCZ SSD. It was pretty easy to diagnose because I had never seen a BSOD on a Win 7 machine before and I knew that SSD was the only thing I added. OCZ has been having massive problems with its SSDs.

 

If you are serious about using OS X, you should buy a Mac.

 

I was not aware of this rule. My Hackintosh runs OS X stuff fine. I woudn't spend $1,500 just to get the same thing. To me it is ecologically wasteful to buy another CPU, keyboard, speakers, mouse, monitor, etc. when you can do everything in one box you already own.