Are you getting Windows 8?

Yeah. The Release Preview has been stable and snappy. I can understand some people's misgivings about Windows 8, but I think a majority of them are following a herd mentality and are misguided.

So windows 8 is out for $70 or $40 dollars for an upgrade from XP, Vista or 7.

For me personally I like the look of the metro interface but I'm slightly concerened how it will handle on a desktop. I feel like I need to ry it out before I'm ready to commit.

No, it looks like shit! Okay, so I will probably give it a try...but, if it turns out that it's shit (which I think it will be), I'll just stick with Win 7. I really hope I'm wrong about the shittiness of it, though.

The only reason why I am currently holding off is I work from home and I just don't want to format my machine and re-install all of my dev tools. Perhaps in a couple of months when I take a week vacation. If anything goes wrong, I'll have plenty of time to solve it.

Currently, no.

I get it free through my university, and funny enough all my instructors say not to bother yet unless you want to be a bug tester. But, since it's free I might give it a go.

I'm gonna get it. Getting a new laptop next week and it will have it preinstalled. Plus, I get a free copy from work which I'll most likely install on my desktop if I like it enough.

Think I'm about to do it. I have one of those $15 upgrade codes. I only use my PC for gaming, so it probably serves no purpose to do so, but what the hell?

If it's like what I used in the consumer preview, absolutely not. If they fixed the corner prompts to actually appear when I want it and not accidentally all the time, then sure.

I may get it for my laptop, but not my desktop.

I also just got an email from school where I could download Windows 8, 2 versions of Windows 7 and Office for Windows and Mac. Sweet. I was never planning on getting Win8 for my gaming PC but since it's free, ill give it a shot. I just hope I don't find many games that break in Win8.

On a side note, does anyone know how to get a copy of Windows XP or 98? I have some old games that don't work on 64-bit and would like to install it on an old hard drive. I really have the urge to play Chips Challenge and MindMaze.

Yep. Definitely, it's great.

@BestUsernameEver said:

If it's like what I used in the consumer preview, absolutely not. If they fixed the corner prompts to actually appear when I want it and not accidentally all the time, then sure.

They have made such massive improvements from the Consumer Preview. I DLed the CP, then the RP (which they updated drastically) and apparently from the reviews I've read even the RTM has far more than the RP ever did. And they're going to keep updating it and possibly add new features that people clamour for, like boot to desktop.

@eSci said:

I get it free through my university, and funny enough all my instructors say not to bother yet unless you want to be a bug tester. But, since it's free I might give it a go.

They've been bug testing for over a year now since the release of the developer preview. The RTM build is extremely stable, so says every review I've read. Even the RP was extremely stable from my use of it.

I'm still using an old Windows XP machine so there is no way I'm going to try upgrading that. By the time I get around to buying or building a new computer Windows 8 will probably be the only version available.

@Mendelson9 said:

I also just got an email from school where I could download Windows 8, 2 versions of Windows 7 and Office for Windows and Mac.

Damn you are lucky. That is the ONLY Microsoft product I don't get for free. Granted, I got a discount (total ended up being $90 or so for office 2010) but still that would have been great to get that shit for free.

@xyzygy said:

@eSci said:

I get it free through my university, and funny enough all my instructors say not to bother yet unless you want to be a bug tester. But, since it's free I might give it a go.

They've been bug testing for over a year now since the release of the developer preview. The RTM build is extremely stable, so says every review I've read. Even the RP was extremely stable from my use of it.

Good to hear, funny enough I just bought Windows 7 x64 when I built my current computer a few weeks ago, before I had my MSDN account. Too bad I wasn't more persistent on getting the account setup, would have saved me $100 but oh well.

But, I am extremely interested in checking out Windows 8. As an IT student, I probably should anyways just in case I have to support it in the future.

I ordered it from Amazon. The full Pro version was $40 (MSRP $199.99), and it comes with a $30 Amazon credit.

It's worth looking into if your interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-3UR-00001-Windows-8-Pro/dp/B008H3SW4I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351231018&sr=8-1&keywords=windows+8

C.

I've seen nothing about Windows 8 that would make me want to upgrade from Windows 7.

I'm going to stick with Windows 7. If I hear enough good buzz about it, I might switch to it eventually.

Nope! I'm as cool as I can be with Windows 7!

Based on the features I've seen, I'm inclined to say "Why bother", but based on the incredibly low price, I'm also inclined to say "Why not".

Quite the pickle.

Don't get it yet. I got it for free through my university and it was just one big headache.

I had it installed on my desktop and Windows 8 currently has issues connecting to wireless networks with the WPA2-PSK enterprise encryption (what my apartment complex and university use) so I spent a good couple of weeks trying to figure out why I couldn't get on the internet. That's a pretty big deal considering how much of my work requires the internet. An ethernet connection will work just fine, but wireless is not there yet. Maybe I'll switch to 8 a few months down the line but I've already had a taste of "bug testing" and I don't like it.

Besides, there isn't anything earth shattering about 8 that I'm just clamoring to have.

I'll wait for 9.

@eSci said:

I get it free through my university, and funny enough all my instructors say not to bother yet unless you want to be a bug tester. But, since it's free I might give it a go.

Unfortunately, that's hard truth for every OS upgrade. I'm still getting random cursor disappearance from upgrading to OS 10.8, despite that it came out in July and has had two x.x.X updates. If you can get a retail copy for free, I would suggest installing it in a virtual machine and keeping your working OS standing. Always let other people bug test software...

EDIT:

@Subjugation said:

Don't get it yet. I got it for free through my university and it was just one big headache.

I had it installed on my desktop and Windows 8 currently has issues connecting to wireless networks with the WPA2-PSK enterprise encryption (what my apartment complex and university use) so I spent a good couple of weeks trying to figure out why I couldn't get on the internet. That's a pretty big deal considering how much of my work requires the internet. An ethernet connection will work just fine, but wireless is not there yet. Maybe I'll switch to 8 a few months down the line but I've already had a taste of "bug testing" and I don't like it.

Besides, there isn't anything earth shattering about 8 that I'm just clamoring to have.

Have you tried it with other WPA2-PSK networks? It's what I use, and my (long-gone) virtual machine of the W8 consumer preview handled it fine. Although it's entirely possible they broke something after that point!

I'm debating getting it. $40 isn't bad. I'm just not entirely sure yet if it's worth it.

Fuck that shit.

Im completely happy with Windows 7 at the moment and dont see the point in a lot of the new stuff in Windows 8. I get it for a tablet but I dont think its needed for a PC.

Sure, I'll get a capacitive multi-touch monitor while I'm at it too. Acer or Dell, not sure yet.

I like to buy things...it fills the void inside.

I actually have that stupid thing Jeff had and I could have gotten it like months ago. It doesn't even seem like worth the hassle.

Nah looks shit, nobody cares about Windows 8. XP4life

Even though I may not use it right away, I've preordererd the upgrade version from Amazon, only because it was like 50 bucks.

Windows 7 works fine for me. I'll wait for Windows 9 when it comes to changing OS.

Ive not heard enough about it. For something that is meant to be a big deal, so little information has been given. Are they going to push a new DirectX with it, do you HAVE to have a touch screen stuff (because i know it has a huge amount of stuff with it) :/ i guess im just needing info.

@Worcanna: to your two questions no and no.

B.

Are there any features to it that Windows 7 doesn't have? Does it use less system power? I don't care for the App/Widget approach.

Not for a while, W7 is still rocking on.

I'm considering giving it a shot.
I think I can get it free via DreamSpark. The website shows it available for my uni and course but I have a feeling I'll need to get login details from our IT department or something. Even if I can't it is pretty cheap so I might give it a shot.

I certainly wouldn't get it for at least a year. Microsoft has had some pretty bad history with early usage of its OS's. There is no guarantee the same thing would happen here but I've never been a huge early adopter of technology.

Even past that point, I'm not really sure. Everything I've seen about it looks like the opposite I want from my OS - something simple and unobtrusive that lets me play video games easily. I'm not a huge fan of the whole Metro thing and the close-minded nature of the whole app marketplace is a bit depressing.

Im waiting for controller support in Metro, then I will get it. Don't really use start menu any way apart from control panel, got all the programs I use on the task bar anyway.

Any performance gains in games?

Does it boot\load faster?

Is there much apps on the Metro store?

@Bourbon_Warrior:The answers to your first 2 questions are no and yes (there are tests done which are easy to find if you google) as for the third question from what I understand no but that will probably change.

After the first service pack.

I think the upgrade price is good - they've finally gotten something.

However, it the OS sounds like a mess to me. But I'll probably upgrade eventually.

For now, my plan is to wait for Surface Pro, hear how that is and maybe get one of those, if they are really good. Maybe that will inspire me to upgrade my primary computer.

All of you saying wait a year...the $40 price tag lasts only until January 2013, then it goes up to standard Windows Prices.

I have 8 and it is absolutely fine. I have very few issues with it. It's also frighteningly fast to load of my hard drive, which has pretty average read speeds.

I will probably get it sooner or later since I'll probably need it for developing purposes. So far I'm not feeling it since I feel it's trying to cater to an invisible audience but who knows, it might catch on.

Probably not, I'll stick with Windows 7 until I need a new PC.

I tried the release preview earlier and I HATED IT. It so counter intuitive to how I use a computer that I ended up canceling my preorder. I decided that I'll wait until Windows 9. But if they go down the same path as they are with 8 then I guess I'll end up sticking with 7 or Linux for good. Yes, it was that bad for me. Everything that would normally take 2 to 3 steps to accomplish ended up taking 4 to 5. All the menus worked for touch screen but didn't make sense for a mouse. Ugh, my experience was so bad. If I ended up having to get any new Windows OS, I'll finally have a good reason to dual boot to it. As it is now, Linux and Windows GUI are about the same. Now since Windows is going the touch route, LInux would be a lot easier to handle desktop work and W8/9/10 or whatever for gaming ONLY.

Sorry if none of this makes any sense. I have a cold, just woke up and am waiting for coffee to brew.

Am I guaranteed zero compatibility issues with my current software library? No? Then I don't want an upgrade.

I'll probably wait until I want to upgrade my PC. That way the jump will be bigger. Also I want to see if it's actually worth having. At this point I'm not so sure. Sometimes you wait through a Vista to get a Windows 7.

No, Windows 7 works fine and I haven't seen anything from 8 that makes me want to sprint to the nearest electronics store.