After upgrading from XP on my home PC, with a clean install (easiest way to get from 32 to 64 bit). i thought i'd give my views.

the metro guestures take some getting used to (with a mouse), and the layout to begin with seems a bit counter intuative, but after a bit of research, a few 'tips', and a bit of setting up.

my recommendations to make life easier;

boot straight to desktop - a quick shcedule will bypass the start screen on boot up/log in. (simple but effective)
recylce bin properties - as default it does not ask you to confirm deletions, but you can turn this back on.
VLC - win 8 does not have DVD playback facility, but VLC is Free (and prefered anyway)
Classic shell program (or similar) - this will re-introduce a start button if desired, but you can pin you favourite programs/my computer to the task bar, and or shortcut them to the desktop and the search charm easy enough to use, so you can live without it.

i do find however its a bit hit/miss with program driver support. downloads that ask you for your operating sytem dont generally have windows 8 on the list?!

the apps for social media stuff make life easier for getting on face book etc, rather than having to go to website and log on. also the live tiles update too.

But its worth checking/altering your privacy setting, as default they are pretty open.

Also, some program also have apps, and generaly the app not as good as the actually program so dont see the point. If you running RT then fair enough, but you dont need these particular apps on a desktop.

Apps also run in background unless you turn them off!

other than that, the dual monitor set-up is very good. allowing menus/gestures/program list charm on both screens.

Its seems to load faster/ run smoother than XP, i know XP was dated, but the price difference between 8 and 7 is massive, and with support running out for XP next year, i thought i would take the plunge

any else one running it?

how do you find it?

Ninja

I quite like Win8. It's near enough identical to win7 but boots quicker. One good tip - to search just hit the windows button and start typing - no need for the search charm.

I nearly bought it and then after having a go on a version at work I scrapped that idea. The only way to make it acceptable on a desktop PC is to bypass all the Metro stuff and load Win 7 start menu etc. A lot to pay for fewer features and quick boot. Our home PC is rarely off and I have a Crucial Accelerator SSD so boot up is fine anyway.

As a rule I every other Microsoft release is pooh
Winodws 3 was poo
Win 3.1 Good
Win 95 was pooh
Win 98 OK
Win ME was utter rubbish
XP was good
Vista was tragic
Win 7 was good
So Win 8 just follows their trend.

I hate the interface with a passion.

So much that my W8 machine requires a bios change to allow it to boot.

it takes a bit of getting used to, its not something you can pick up and play with striaght away due to the UI changes that have been made, but underneath it is essentially 7 so it cant be that bad

i agree the metro stuff is a bit gimmicky, and doesnt really suit a desktop but i can see its advantage on tablet/touch system.

You can work without the start screen, i kinda see it as a big start menu now anyway.

Rich

Yep I have 8 on my laptop. Wasnt keen at first but a few mods and its fine. Agree that the metro interface is less useful without touchscreen.

I use a traditional start menu for most software and just use the windows 8 start screen as a quick access to some useful apps like news, weather, train times, games and some media stuff like TVCatchup and other things where live feeds are nice to have. I find this works well for me.

It says a lot for a new interface paradigm when the first thing people do upon using it is to install the missing bits...

I think the part of the "issue" is a) people dislike change and b) alot of the new interface is based around touchscreens which are not so common place on pcs but this is an interface of many different machines. It could be a strength (a familiar interface for lots of platforms) or a weakness (jack of all trades....) but i think only time will tell.

I have come across this new Windows twice now and dislike it intensely more each time I see it.

I expect its fine if you have a 'surface' touch screen tablet thing, but it does seem completely unsuited to use on a normal PC / Laptop.

I am very pleased that I abandoned Windows a few years ago.

I have to use Win7 at work and that's ok - we will not contemplate Win8 (either ever or for a long time), but this latest version just seems counter intuative to good working as any I have seen.

The Home screen (is that the Metro stuff) is a total mess on a PC. Think I can see merit on a tablet. but then why buy a tablet with Windows?

I think I agree with those that would wait for the next version - this seems to be the 'Vista' or 'ME' of O/S. For corporates this not something that any of them will contemplate upgrading to and that may be a problem.

We have 3500 desktops and Windows 7 is just about on the cards for upgrade this year. Unusually we are also buying in around 500 iMacs in addition to those already in use. There must be merit in this change of direction as retail operations are notable in their lack of willingness to be cutting edge or be different!

Like hyperlink says, people don't like change, and like paulw, my employer is changing to Win7 later this year, but mostly because support for XP is being discontinued. Once I figure out how to get Win7 file explorer to behave like the one in XP then I might grudgingly upgrade the two pc's at home that still have XP.

I love change, bought all versions of Windows as soon as they appeared, and been burnt a few times too.
New OSs, wether it be PCs or Phones are great fun to learn.

I was about to press the trigger on the Win8 download but still suffering from Vista burns i thought I would try Win 8 first. It is just a backward step for desktop use and standard screen. Using the mouse to replicate screen gestures is daft, why not just have a switch for touch and mouse which would then allter the interface to suit. At the moment is is a rushed mess and Windows 9 will be the solution to this. There is not a single reason to upgrade for the standard desktop user, but there are plenty of reasons to stay on Win7

I guess it depends what you mean by standard desktop user but there are some nice features/reasons which make the switch. Whether they benefit any one individual is debatable.

Windows 9 *may* be a solution to a problem which no longer exists.

Microsoft's business methods seem to have bitten them in the foot... their policy of requiring computer sellers to provide all their machines with windows on if they want to license windows at all has made it effectively impossible to purchase machines without paying the windows tax (which has annoyed a lot of people over the years) but also means that there is no choice for a purchaser to decide which version of Windows they prefer: had this machine been available with W7 on it I would have left it installed; instead W8 was the only option and now it is simply unused and invisible.

One the remaining stock of W7 machines are gone - and that's a matter of no more than days or weeks - then there is simply no option but to use what MS offer, other than the few of us who can cope with the idiosyncrasies of installing another OS past the (MS mandated) secure boot system, or who will pay twice the price for an Apple machine.

So now MS have an OS that isn't at all suited to a desktop and which has removed major components upon which people rely; which works best on a tablet that is considered over-priced and is not suited for any work beyond 'media consumption' and games; and which has made a lot of their fans very very angry.

They've bet the company on this. I'm glad I don't have any MS shares...

Are we really trotting out this again?

Wasn't intended as an insult; just the observation that while similarly specced apples and pc laptops are available at much the same price, bottom end but perfectly acceptable laptops are available much cheaper, and surprise surprise that's what many want.

To be clear: I don't *like* apples, but I'd take one in preference to a windows 8 machine at the same price.

i used 8 for about 2 weeks at the tail end of last year... its back compatability for programs is poor the aero theme from 7 is non existent and the sidebar features aren't there (that i could find). its tile feature is smart but a little clunky and not what i expected it to be at all. its menus are too different for my liking too. i personally dont like 8 as a desktop/laptop OS although for mobile touch devices i think its perfect. its very touch orientated and i can see why they have done it, to keep the transition time between PC and mobile to a minimum.

for me its a dog to use on desktops/laptops... ive never been disappointed by any of the advances made my MS from 3.1-95-98-ME-XP-Vista-7 but 8 i felt severely let down. it promised a whole host of things that sounded good but when i came to use it i found it hard to navigate and not actually what i wanted at all.

maybe im old skool, maybe im scared of change all i know is im 28 and never been a fan of (cr)Apple. IMO their machines and devices are overpriced and in a lot of instances under-spec'd. im a Nokia and Windows man and it will have to be one HELL of an iOS/OSx that makes me want to change.

anyway im back on 7 now and couldn't be happier with my choice

Personally I am not a fan of Windows 8, I can just about tolerate Windows 7, (work kindly supply me with a new Dell Laptop every year). Though I still hate the palaver I have to print a document in word. Why have a tab and then a big button?

While the Apple/Windows debate has been done to death, I find that I am far more productive on OS X than on Windows.

I run Parallels (vitrualisation) which means I can run any OS I choose, (Currently a few distros of Linux, Xp, Win 7, Win 8, Android & Chromes OS).

Windows 8 is a bit of a dogs dinner, it's almost as if MS realising that Apple were making a fortune with iOS, decided to jump ahead by trying to draft a mobile OS onto the desktop.

My new Dell runs Win 7 as according to our IT support "We don't have the time to retrain people to use Win 8!". Says it all really.

Personally I think the whole desktop metaphor for an OS and WIMP is due a change, it suited when we moved away from Control Line Interfaces but it's not really relevant a couple of decades down the line.

One of the things I do like about iOS is that I don't have to worry where files are stored in the device (in terms of folder structures), the device takes care of that for me. I use http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php to attempt to do that for me on the Mac and 99% of the time it works fine.

I did try to use http://www.raskinformac.com but even though it showed promise, it wasn't always intuitive , something Jeff Raskin would have wanted

I bought both my daughters Samsung ChromeBooks and they love them, and at £200 each I wasn't as worried as if I had bought them Macbook airs, the browser based OS is surprisingly capable. My mother in law has tried the Chromebook and was so impressed has bought one too, to replace her...... Windows 8 desktop, (Selling that on a local facebook group)

I am hoping someone and I really don't care who, comes up with a new OS and interface which is better suited for today's "post PC age"