Hands On with Windows 8 Consumer Preview

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392889,00.asp

I've been running it for quite awhile - definitely not a fan here.

So, Inland, no more mouse in Windows 8? Arms outstretched to the desktop monitor?

Gil.

Apparently they neglected to include "desktop" users with Windows 8 - it's really aimed at the tablet market.

That's a relief.

Gil.

Desktop is definitely supported in the Consumer Preview. Mine is downloaded and I will be installing on a SSD tomorrow. I'm anxious to see what it can do. The app store also opened up yesterday.

According to Wired magazine, there were one million downloads in the first day.

SSD?

I suppose Microsoft thinks that desktops will go the way of the dodo eventually and maybe they will but they'll have a hard time getting me to use a laptop. I never have liked fingering the screen to do something. <g>

I wonder what it will mean for us point & clickers or for games in general. Believe me, the tip of my finger is a darned sight bigger than the tip of a mouse cursor when it comes to finding hotspots. <g>

Gil.

Sorry, Gil! Solid state drive. I snagged a 60 GB boot drive in the holiday sales.

Don't know that they think about the long-term, but they certainly realize that the desktop is here to stay for now. Don't know how much time I will have to play this weekend, but I'll definitely try to report in if I can. I'm actually totally OK with touch... just not in my everyday computing here at my desk.

I've read a first view in a Danish newspaper (www.politiken.dk). The reviewer said that we could click on the tiles on the screen in windows 8 with either a mouse or our finger. If we choose to click it with our fingers, doesn't it mean, that we'll have to get a screen as well?

For adventure games, it shouldn't mean much. We can use our fingers or our mouse to click on the hotspots; the dialog interface could be something like a wheel or something similar to the wheel used in ME3.

I'm just worried about playing old games on windows 8, it seems like yesterday that windows 7 was released.

I'm not looking for Windows 8 to be a good platform for gaming. But then we were pleasantly surprised by Windows 7, so who knows. I'll definitely be reporting back - hopefully later this weekend - after I get mine installed.

The desktop has always been there - there's just no "Start" button. Interestingly enough, whenever I criticized the lack of the traditional desktop interface, the threads were removed from the blog. Who cares what these pesky little users want, we’ve got Metro.

Ah, but the Start button IS there now! So, maybe they really did listen. Dear heavens, I hope they get rid of the "charms" nomenclature though - gag me!

From a review by Ed Bott:

I sure don't see it on my copy (MSDN Consumer Preview w/Apps) -

Hmmm... wonder why. Guess I'll find out this weekend if I can find it... I seem to remember reading it wasn't on the Developer's preview though.

I think that Windows 8 will fail worse than Windows ME and Vista did.