running the dev edition Ive had a helluva time getting anything to work.. and when you try to navigate "metro" on +30 display with a mouse its a no go...

on the backend you can disable metro and get an interface that looks and runs like Windows 95.. but at least it works...

my main complaint is everything that's run in metro, once you lose focus the app stays memory resident and there is no way as of yet to close without console commands....

Win8 is basically a forced media Center version of windows that defaults to the interface no one wants... to test out Windows8 just install Chrome and play in there app browser is the same experience.. except they handle memory much better!

You can kill metro apps from them from the task manager.

Alternatively you can put them back in focus. Then grab the top of the metro app and pull it down. Or just hit alt-f4.

All of which are ridiculous workarounds for what should be a task that should be self-evident.

Same as hiding the non-Metro apps behind Windows-Q. There is no making excuses for forcing a user to do something that is not readily visible on the screen.

It is abominable human factors engineering. However, it is absolutely wonderful at forcing tie-ins. Welcome to your new desktop. Now Microsoft owns it all.

Bah.

You don't have to close metro apps once they're minimized. Just look at the task manager and see what happens to their resource consumption ;)

Hint, they get suspended (so minimal RAM consumption and literally no processor and HDD except in certain situations) until you activate them again or some system hook activates them (for example mail polling the server at certain intervals), though the last option shouldn't really display in the task manager (haven't tested that yet).

I mean, I get it, you don't like it, I have nothing against that, but please either do your homework or stop spreading FUD.

Ain't FUD. It's a direct complaint that features that are already exposed to the world are confusingly and badly designed.

An operating system should stay the hell out of my way and let me do my work. Not keep my apps on a second-class desktop, not force me to sign up for Windows Live, not keep applications running even after I close them. It should do what I tell it to, it should make it easy to tell it to do everything it can do, and then it shoud get the hell out of my way.

Windows 8 fails that on every G*****n count.

I'll have to give this a fair shot sometime soon, but my initial impression is that the compulsive minimalist in me would find this new set up annoying.

No need to hate, you don't need to use the metro apps if you don't want to. :) It's true that Metro apps don't present a task bar or close buttons and the like but their equivalents are really easy to use and can be done entirely from the mouse. It just takes a minute to learn. New toolkit --> new skills required

Windows-Q is unnecessary. I don't even have a windows key on my keyboard. ;) All the programs I've installed so far have an entry on the start screen. Pinning/ unpinning is possible. Still, I think the easiest way to find a program is to type in the first few letters of its name and then click on it.

Really, Win8 is nothing to get excited about. It's kind of a boring release, for the desktop at least. With all the drama from the tech news sites and the accompanying discussion, I was expecting something more radical. Or at least the requirement to sweat a little and learn something new. Instead I got a fancy start menu and a fish. Oh well.

Actually, it looks like GfWL users finally get to select an Xbox360 style avatar. It's all worthwhile now! :o)

While I haven't tried the consumer preview yet; if my experience from the earlier dev preview still holds true, it's got a much tighter integration with Windows live too, so much that you can log into Windows with your Windows Live ID.

Well, after playing with this thing for awhile, I can see a potential market in a home audience, but almost none in the business arena.

To be sure, everything is still there, but the default behavior and presentation will not be well received in the workstation environment, and the first requests for support will be in the area of 'how do I get rid of all of this superfluous shit' or something to that effect. As for bs live accounts and the like, they will be disabled immediately, and those that oversee productivity are not going to be enamored with the time spent tweaking something that should be more respective of their needs right out of the box.

It might help if the new ui was an optional skin that could be chosen, if desired, but not forced upon the end user as if they were all the same. As it stands, I would not recommend this product as an upgrade to my clients, and it might be nice if operating systems did as they used to which was stated above: Load, get the hell out of the way, and don't interfere with my work! Serve as the interface between the hardware and the end user/program, and quit requiring so much attention to yourself.

Some of you have mentioned the integration with Microsoft Account (previously Windows Live). This is not required. You are given the option of making a traditional Local Account instead and can even migrate an account from one to the other at any time in a couple of clicks.

Purchasing apps from the Windows Store requires a Microsoft Account but you can selectively log into it while still on a Local Account. Similarly, Xbox Live-enabled games on the Store can optionally track achievements and such through Xbox Live but default to a seamless offline mode automatically (unlike Games for Windows Live's offline mode, which required some nagging and fiddling to get it set up).

You can also close apps from the Win+Tab view by right clicking them. Closing the desktop app from this view will merely hide it from the list rather than actually closing down your desktop programs and so forth.

As with Windows 7 Movie Maker and some other apps aren't included by default. There's no Metro app for Movie Maker yet but you can use the existing Windows Live Movie Maker until then.

Task Scheduler is still available as are all other expected features of the desktop side of things. I have yet to see any removed functionality in this regard.

No Movie Maker... and actually, they are killing the Windows Live and Zune brands with Windows 8 and beyond. But, expect an application equivalent to Movie Maker to be available through the store (for free) once Windows 8 is released.
They are smartly managed by the OS. Once an application is minimized, after a few minutes it goes into a suspended mode (saved state, and better performance if you decide to open it again), and few minutes after that it is automatically shut down by the OS. IIRC from what I've read on the official blog.

Those who do not want to use the Metro version of IE10, you can force every link to be opened in the desktop version, just go to Internet Options in IE on the desktop, Programs, click the first box, and choose Always in Internet Explorer on the desktop from the dropdown list.

Too bad signing in is currently available from 4 countries only.
Rumors are that WinRT-like stuff will be available on WP8, so security will still be the same.

About GPU compatibility: nVidia's latest drivers work perfectly on 8 (there are official Win 8 versions of the drivers (the same as with 7 and Vista). AMD have released preview drivers, don't know how they work.

I am seeing quite a few problems with IE10. It runs faster than IE9, that is certain, but some interface issues come up from time to time (not related to rendering websites).

The country restriction only applies to the Xbox apps: Music, Video, Xbox Games, Xbox Companion.

All other apps support signing in in any supported country/region, with the partial exception of Xbox Live-enabled games which only support signing in for regions that are supported by Xbox Live (which is a larger list than the Xbox apps). These games still work in unsupported areas but achievements and other integration features will of course be unavailable.

Nvidia's preview drivers work with all currently supported cards but AMD's only support a certain subset of cards. If you have an AMD card check whether it's on the supported models list before downloading. If your card isn't supported use the driver from Windows Update instead; this is fine for everyday use but some games won't render correctly.

As for IE10 are you talking about the desktop version or the Metro version? The Metro one is completely GPU accelerated (rather than just the page within it) so visual issues with it could be due to the preliminary nature of both vendors' Windows 8 drivers rather than something inherent to the app itself. Both vendors will probably have finalised Windows 8 drivers within a couple of months.