Windows 8 is a Pile of Crap

**harrybarracuda** · 21-07-2013, 08:26 PM

Another + for Windows 8 if you can get round the awful interface. These are infections rates for each version of Windows in 4Q12, normalised (i.e. an equal number of computers compared for each version).

**Marmite the Dog** · 21-07-2013, 10:43 PM

Butters loves a bit of infection.

**harrybarracuda** · 31-07-2013, 12:59 PM

Microsoft lobs second Windows 8.1 preview at enterprise IT admins
Lock down those Start screens!
By Neil McAllister, 30th July 2013

Having already teased some of the consumer and small business features of Windows 8.1 with a preview release in June, Microsoft on Tuesday announced a second preview, this one with new features targeting larger IT departments.

"Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview builds on the Window 8.1 Preview which is currently available, adding premium features designed to address mobility, security, management and virtualization needs of today's enterprise," Windows marketing manager Erwin Visser said in a blog post.

Among the major changes, the new release allows IT departments to control the layout of the Start screen – and, optionally, to prevent users from changing the layout themselves – to enforce consistency across workgroups.

Access to apps and files can also be restricted for users or groups, to prevent employees from running unauthorized software on company equipment. Admins can even lock down a device so that it can only run a single Windows Store app in a kiosk-like mode.

Also new in the Enterprise Preview, IT departments can now more easily side-load custom Windows apps onto domain-joined devices. Other versions of Windows 8.1 and earlier versions of Windows 8 have required admins to jump through several hoops to load apps from sources other than the Windows Store, including installing a special product key onto each machine.

Windows 8.1 Enterprise also includes a Windows To Go Creator, which lets admins build a customized Windows 8.1 desktop that can be booted from an external USB drive.

These new enterprise features join the list of Windows 8.1 business features that have been announced previously, at Microsoft's Build and TechEd conferences and elsewhere. Several of these new capabilities also require Windows Server 2012 R2 – which, much like Windows 8.1 itself, isn't expected to ship until later this year.

Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview ISO images are available for download beginning on Tuesday in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Supported languages include Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

There is one catch, though. Unlike the earlier Windows 8.1 Preview, the Enterprise Preview is available only as a full install image, rather than as a Windows Store download for existing Windows 8 devices, and is meant to be installed on test machines only.

In fact, Microsoft does not even plan to offer an upgrade path from the Enterprise Preview to the final version of Windows 8.1 Enterprise. "Personal data will be kept on your test computer," the release notes explain, "but the Windows OS and your applications will need to be reinstalled when moving from the preview to production bits."

Customers have around four and a half months to test the Enterprise Preview, as it will expire on January 14, 2014. Redmond has not yet confirmed when the final version will ship, but it has previously said that it plans to make the mainstream Windows 8.1 upgrade available to OEMs in late August. ®

**blue** · 31-07-2013, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Windows 8.1 Enterprise also includes a Windows To Go Creator, which lets admins build a customized Windows 8.1 desktop that can be booted from an external USB drive.

whats that mean ?

I'm just downloading it to try it , as my windows 7 is creaking a bit ,and It came with the laptop so I cannot get a clean re-install from a disc.

What do i do when it's downloaded , do i have to make a partition on my hard drive ?

**harrybarracuda** · 31-07-2013, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by blue

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Windows 8.1 Enterprise also includes a Windows To Go Creator, which lets admins build a customized Windows 8.1 desktop that can be booted from an external USB drive.

whats that mean ?

I'm just downloading it to try it , as my windows 7 is creaking a bit ,and It came with the laptop so I cannot get a clean re-install from a disc.

What do i do when it's downloaded , do i have to make a partition on my hard drive ?

Seems fairly self explanatory. A bootable Windows 8.1 desktop - you can install and boot lots of operating systems from USB drives.

Quite handy in Interwebnet cafeterias as long as they support DHCP - you boot your own clean OS with firewall and antivirus, etc., and a desktop with your own Browser and email client.

Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick | USB Pen Drive Linux

**Butterfly** · 01-08-2013, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

for each version of Windows in 4Q12, normalised

ridiculous

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

you can install and boot lots of operating systems from USB drives.

what an innovation !!!

**harrybarracuda** · 01-08-2013, 05:55 PM

Hardly, but it is to Blue.

Did you have anything useful to contribute, Buttplug?

**blue** · 01-08-2013, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Hardly, but it is to Blue.

true .
But I seemed to have survived ok until now without knowing .

Still don't know if I need to partition my hard drive or not to get winows 8 up and running ,I tried to look into it and maybe I don't need to , and can put windows 8 on this torrent prog i'm downloading:

VMware Workstation v9.0.0.812388 Incl Keymaker-ZWT

or this freeware one
Oracle VirtualBox

all will be revealed later ...

**harrybarracuda** · 22-08-2013, 01:00 PM

Well they've announced the release date for 8.1:

I know a lot of folks are eager to find out when they will be able to get Windows 8.1. I am excited to share that starting at 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand (that’s 4:00am October 17th in Redmond), Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 will begin rolling out worldwide as a free update for consumers with Windows 8 or Windows RT devices through the Windows Store. Windows 8.1 will also be available at retail and on new devices starting on October 18th by market. So mark your calendars!

They're also updating Server 2012, System Center and others.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.

**Butterfly** · 22-08-2013, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Did you have anything useful to contribute, Buttplug?

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

They're also updating Server 2012, System Center and others.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat.

do you ?

**Bettyboo** · 22-08-2013, 04:31 PM

Today I've become a Windows8 user. I bought a laptop for the missus (HP touchscreen 14"), but she didn't want it so it's mine...

I don't like Microsoft, and I've tried to avoid their products in recent years (Umbuntu, Android), so this would not have been my choice - I would probably have gone for an Ultrabook 13" running Android or whatever to avoid Microsoft. If this machine fuks up, crahes, gets a virus, or Microsoft piss me off for whatever reason then I doubt I will ever go back to them (although I've said that before...).

So far: The machine is fine, the desktop is there as normal just one push/click away - it seems, so far, very similar to win7, maybe I will get annoyed and need to make changes as I use more functions/applications.

I like going straight into my email, weather, maps and news from the W8 interface; similar to the functions I use most on my phone and have on my phone's homescreen. In this regard, it's a bit of a nice hybrid; I have the Androidesque functionality that I like and use most often, then a click to the desktop takes me to my working space. All quite nice and easy thusfar.

I would like to change some things, not sure if I can, and these relate to the tiles: I'd like google instead of Bing; I'd like BBC as my default news; I'd like to add another email tile (next to my hotmail one) with my yahoo account; I'd like a Line tile because I use that application a lot. As a happy Android user, I can do all this stuff, but I don't know how open Microsoft is to these ideas - perhaps not very?

I've got the office365 one month trial and will look for the university version which should be cheaper. I'll pay me monies and keep office and the antivirus up to date, play their bloody game then see how it goes. If it's a great user experience then I may stick with it. If not, then I won't be buying a Microsoft product again...

Just my 2 pennies worth as a basic user.

**harrybarracuda** · 10-09-2013, 09:25 AM

Windows 8.1 now available on MSDN and TechNet following developer complaints
By Tom Warren on September 9, 2013 01:00 pm Email @tomwarren

Microsoft is reversing course today, allowing developers to download a final copy of Windows 8.1 ahead of its October 18th release. After originally announcing the finalization of the OS update last month, Microsoft was planning to hold back the final download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers until October 18th. The company now admits that was a mistake. "We heard from you that our decision to not initially release Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM bits was a big challenge for our developer partners," says Microsoft's Steve Guggenheimer. "We’ve listened and we get it."

Windows 8.1 Core and Pro editions will both be made available today on MSDN and TechNet, and the company is also launching a Release Candidate of Visual Studio 2013 for developers. Enterprise versions of Windows 8.1 are expected to be made available on the subscription services by the end of September. Despite the availability of the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 8.1, Microsoft is still stressing that this isn't really the final copy of the OS.

RTM ISN'T REALLY FINAL ANYMORE

"We’re confident this pre-release will enable developers to make progress to ready their Windows 8.1 apps," says Guggenheimer, while noting that final refinement of apps will be needed at the October 18th release of the update. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that the company is still working on its built-in Windows 8.1 apps, and several bugs it wants to address before the October 18th release. Similarly, Microsoft is also planning to update Windows 8.1, and its built-in apps, regularly over the coming months. While in the past RTM has always signaled the finalization of a copy of Windows, Microsoft is seeking to redefine what's considered final and will continue to regularly update Windows 8 in the future.

**harrybarracuda** · 10-09-2013, 06:18 PM

And it takes about 90 minutes to do an in place upgrade, although that's with a load of apps installed.

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