Anyone who has installed Windows 8 Desktop along with Winstep - any problems or things I should know about before I do?

Thanks.

Hi MIST

No, There's no major irks with winstep in Windows 8.
I upgraded, in-windows, from Windows 7 ultimate to Win 8 Pro, and I AM very glad I did it. System is much speedier and polished, despite some "geting used to" from our part - even resolved some driver issues I was having, in particular with my DiNovo laser keyboard constantly dropping connection on windows restart.

All my steam games work as nice as before.

I'm sure you'll like it. Only things that happen with Winstep in desktop that I could see, are:

1. No transparencies - What I did was disable nexus dock's background - only get the icons this way, with all the reflections and eye-candy! no problem for me since I actually prefer it this way - and it's speedier by the way

2. Don't check the "respect other objects position" option for the docks - if you do, when you put a Win 8 app snapped to the desktop, the dock will disappear (a quick visit to the systray winstep options, or personalize option in the desktop right click menu, brings the dock right up). If you deselect that option, the dock will ignore the space occupied by snapped apps, and always remain visible.

I'll put my desktop in a screenshot here later, so that you can see!

Ignore the rant , and make your own conclusion's about the OS strenghts and weaknesses. It has some weaknesses of course, but it's a very solid and fast OS, besides some non-intuitive inconsistencies. Those will get sorted out with time, I'm sure.

Be sure to use to start menu absence to your advantage if you can.. with NextStart you can create your own menus, with the options you see fit, for easy access. Besides, the new Win 8 Start can be customized with all you want (folders, tools, apps, programs, system or administrative tools, sites, etc...). It really is a improved start menu!

Just my 2 cents.


Best Regards

PS I do hope Jorge doesn't drop support for Winstep extreme in Win 8.. It woould be a shame, in my opinion (I'm sure he won't, despite his opinion on the OS)... (hear that, Jorge? )

actually side by side test on identical systems were done and in general 7 was still faster than 8. many apps that work fine on 7 don't work on 8.

http://virtualcustoms.net/showthread.ph ... -true-test

Won't argue with that. I can only speak for my experience. But I think everyone should speak mainly from their experience - hands on - also..

Personnaly I couldn't care less about benchmarks and speed tests made by others, not knowing what systems they were running, the state of the OSs on those systems, etc... etc...
It's like those cold boot vídeos on YouTube from an SSD with a fresh installed OS - of course they're always fast - they have ZERO programs installed.

I can tell you this, my experience was from an upgrade in-windows from a 2 year old - well maintained - Windows 7 Ultimate, to Windows 8 Pro, and, believe me, in my case, it's faster in every day use.

My boot was cut in about 40%, and it's an in-windows upgrade, same software installed, same hardware.


That's my experience.

PS. As promised, here are two screenshots from my desktop, and with a snapped Win 8 App (music app). AS I said, if the nexus in set not to respect other object's required space, the docks are always visible.

who are you kidding razorsedge was very clear on what sytems they ran the test on and how they preformed the test. those videos don't even remotely compare to the test he and his friend put 7 and 8 through.

Chucky

You didn't understand me. I'm not devaluing tests made by Razor or anyone... What I'm stating is that what matters is one's experience with the product itself, not the experience other have.. this is obvious, isn't it!

Each of us, of course, have a unique ecosystem of programs, devices, drivers, and each of us have diferente experiences, so one shoe does not fit all!

I'll tell this thought, what makes no sense is to rant on a product without testing it and using it in a day to day basis. I'm NOT saying that's your case, but it is the case with many, many, many out there!

Besides, what I did was answer a question Mint made, regarding specifically experiences with Winstep under Windows 8. An answer of someone who do use Windows 8 daily with Winstep software.

I'm not gonna enter a WIN 7 is good - WIN 8 is evil discussion, that's for sure!

Howdy,



Wonderful.



M$ should take lessons from Jorge.

I don't have a choice to like it or not, I'm stuck. Right after I had Winstep the way I wanted it the end of October, the system died permanently. Wait for the tech to certify and work through three new ones. Kid you not this is the fourth tower. Getting one bad one off the shelf, I can live with but four? No way. Add in install times. So far, so good here. Haven't removed the shrink wrap on the face either.



Got 'em, thanks.

Well, it's no secret that MS isn't my favorite people. However, I was willing to give them a chance yet again. Ahem, as I said they need to take lessons from Jorge. They also need to get rid of that pay crapware.

Is it faster? Eh, dunno whether it's OS or the spanking, new, black ASUS. Do I miss the "Start" - nope, I'm a Winstep user. Doesn't phase me in the least. Have more checking to do but if I can delete the MS crapware and just have Winstep, I'll be a very happy soul. Since Win 8 is self-maintaining - so they say - I don't foresee a need to venture out of Winstep.I'm sure Jorge is very pleased.



Shhhhhh!

He wouldn't.

IMPORTANT: When you started to install Winstep, you started it like you would for anything else?

Thanks much. Appreciate it.

Mist

Howdy Mist

IMPORTANT: When you started to install Winstep, you started it like you would for anything else?

Not sure what you mean. In my case, Winstep was already installed by the time I upgraded to Win 8 Pro (as I said, I did a In-Windows upgrade) and everything wen't smooth.

But I guess you can install it as you would with anything else. Windows 8 really is the common desktop OS, polished and faster, with a new frontend and the ability to install apps.

Regards

Hehehehehe If it blows up....

Time to be bold. Heck, I'm so beat up now, it won't take much.

Thanks for the info. Miles ahead.

Mist

Glad you are aware of this. As far as I know, Windows 8 uses some kind of hybrid hibernation/cold start method for booting up faster.

The real question is, how frequently do users boot their computers these days? Mine, for instance, is on 24/24.

The MAJOR problems I have with Windows 8 is how Microsoft is

1. Basically forcing users into METRO/WIN RT instead of letting them naturally adopt the new technology over time (this should already tell you something about the real worth of said technology).

2. Related to 1) above, removing, for the first time ever, functionality and API calls that were on previous Windows versions (such as the code to Glass Blur windows and invoke the Start Menu).

3. Trying to kill Desktop applications so they can dominate basically everything (from what apps get installed to making money on other people's work by forcing developers to sell WinRT apps through the Microsoft store) with what is, without a doubt, a new OS that has nothing to do with Windows as we know it.

4. Having no clear direction and constantly jumping 'all over the place'. Windows 7 was a step in the right direction, as sales and popularity proved, but with Windows 8 they are going off again and killed a lot of the stuff that made Windows 7 so popular.

As I previously stated, I lost all my faith in Microsoft as a developer and I know I am not alone in this. They already proved many times (first with Classic VB, then with Silverlight, now with this Windows 8/WINRT abomination) that they now have zero respect or concern for developers. Developers are the *only reason* Windows is so popular (what good is an OS if it has no applications being developed for it?). Developers should be cherished, not kicked in the teeth.

Apart from all that WinRT crap, Windows 8 has obviously some good points, after all it still is an evolution of previous Windows versions. But, if Microsoft have their way (hope not now that Steven Sinofsky is gone) Windows will become something completely new (i.e.; not Windows anymore, just a platform to run a bunch of full screen widgets/apps with a touch interface that currently means zero for Desktop users).

Jorge, since I'm not a developer, I can't argue with your statement that Microsoft is trying to bring every developer to WinRT environment and as such, kill the desktop in the process.

What I can't find, honestly, is:

1. Any indication that they are trying to kill the desktop for good - that would be seriously suicidal, since the strength and fulcrum of Windows resides in the desktop environment and every business in the world that depends on Windows use it. Even in Windows 8 the center remains in the desktop. The start screen is just a wall / frontend where you can gather live information without even opening anything (that's the principle as I see it, at least) and access anything you want with the additional capability of using very use-specific apps, just as you do in any smartphone or tablet.

2. Anything crippled in the desktop environment, besides the absence of the previous start menu (that one is easily replaceable) and the lack of Aero (purely cosmetic, and, as such, prone to personal taste, thought I understand it cripples eye-candy components in third party software).

What IS a complete mystification tought, is the assumption that windows is no more windows because it won't multitask. You can have as much windows opened as you want (desktop) and have an app docked is 1/4 of the screen (very useful for home banking in my case ), plus have an app running in the background (Xbox music streaming for instance).

Regarding Win RT environment and Windows Store ecosystem, it's no different from what Apple did with iOS and the App Store and as in such case, the Windows 8 philosophy's success is umbilically dependent on apps. And those are severely lacking at this time.

I could, of course, be completely wrong, regarding desktop's future. Time will tell.

Best regards.

Newguru i'd suggest you google what intel is upto after their next cpu release. plans are to try to kill the enthusiast market and possibly kill off alot of oems to have even more control over the market. with windows 8 that possibility becomes far more likely.

You have to look no further than their just released Surface tablet (NOT Surface Pro, which is a different beast) to realize exactly where Microsoft wants to go.

Surface will NOT run *any* Desktop software other than the pre-installed Microsoft Office software. Period.

This means you can *only* download and install WinRT apps from the Microsoft app store in the Surface tablet. Surface is Microsoft's current vision of the future.

Surface (which is being returned in droves by those who mistakenly brought it thinking it could run all kinds of Windows software) is also Microsoft's big experiment: even though they knew perfectly well the market is not ready for a world of WinRT apps only - and that Surface would therefore sell really badly - they still wanted to see what would have happened if they had abandoned the Desktop entirely in Windows 8.

You see, Microsoft's problem is that for its brand new OS (WinRT) to succeed, it needs applications, and lots of them. For this, Microsoft needs 3rd party developers, but at the same time they are alienating those same developers by trying to force them to abandon all their business models and millions of man years of Win32 know-how.

Microsoft is thus gambling on their market share: they believe that because they have the biggest OS market share, developers will NOT abandon Windows in droves even when Windows becomes something completely new. Where users are, developers will follow, after all.

So, Microsoft is betting on two fronts: that users will adopt WinRT and not abandon Windows altogether because of something called 'inertia', and that developers won't abandon Windows either because that's where the users are. Chicken and egg kind of situation.

This is why Windows 8 is an 'hybrid'. Microsoft is trying to gain time, on one front to convince users to adopt and get used to WinRT, on another to convince developers that WinRT is 'the future' and that they MUST switch to developing WinRT apps in order to survive.

Their hope is that, by the time Windows 9 becomes a reality, both users and developers alike will have adopted WinRT, the latter having made lots of apps for it. Windows 9 would thus no longer feature a 'Desktop', and would be just like the Surface tablet.

The problem with this attitude is that they are using the 'gun in the head' approach: do it or else. For developers, it's switch to WinRT now or you won't have a business when Windows 9 comes out. For users, it's 'you get the Metro start screen whether you like it or not and you don't have a choice - we made sure of it by removing said choice'.

Personally I don't like it when someone sticks a gun to my head and tries to force me to do something I don't want to do.

If Microsoft perseveres with this plan and succeeds, it will be a sad, sad, world. There will be no more diversification, no more 'out of the box' solutions. It will be Microsoft's way or the highway.

The funny thing, in my opinion, is that, even if Microsoft succeeds, this will be the very thing that will ultimately finish them off as a company. They seem to have forgotten that the secret to Windows (and the PC) success is precisely its open architecture.



Apple was smart enough to keep iOS (for tablets and phones) and OSX separate. There is a reason for that.

actually its seeming open architecture.

Says it all.