I downloaded and installed Windows 8 newest sample version last night and while it appears to run well, I have not been able to test Vegas as I've exceeded my activations and couldn't get it running, don't have time to contact Sony right now.

I find the interface a tiny bit of a hassle, but overall it is basically a new version of Windows 7. I'm wondering, more importantly how Vegas runs on it, especially complicated projects.

I reverted back to Win 7 after playing around for a few minutes (just swapped out drives, real simple) because I needed to get back to work, but would love to hear from those who have edited on it.

I ran pre-release versions of Windows 7 for many months back in the day of Vista, and my experience was so positive I would definitely consider loading all of my programs, just thought I check here and see what people are experiencing.

frankly i wouldn't want to be among the first to test out any new os!!!

i certainly wouldn't want to run a non-certified piece of commercial software on it.

the problem with being on the cutting edge is you can bleed to death pretty quickly ;-(

finally, given the 'quirks' of 11, why would you add yet another unknown into the mix?

however, please keep us informed of your experimentation - after all, someone has to be first ;-)

Why not download a trial copy of Vegas 11 Pro., and have 28 days testing?

Installed the developers edition a while back on a virtual machine. I gave it one look and deleted it! I want a desktop not some stupid metro interface. I'm sure consumers will love it but unless they implement an option to get the start button and desktop back I'm not even going to bother with Windows 8.

agree entirely with nicholas - some marketing mba thought 'wow' the same interface across the board. just goes to prove that marketing has no idea of what people want in the real world ;-)

i find metro a complete dumbing down, the very idea of apps on a desktop totally pointless, and from my few hours playing on an old laptop, no discernible improvement over 7, other than it might be loading a little faster - but then again, i've never understood this manic pressure for a fast loading desktop os. my desktop is on pretty much all week and usually only turned off late friday. monday mornings boot up lets me sit down and, for the minute it takes to load win 7 from an ssd, gather my thoughts for the coming week.

I'm not sure I understand. One click and I had my desktop, not a big deal at all. You just have to play with it awhile to get the hang of the interface. It is essentially no different on the surface than my old Windows 7, looks exactly the same. In a couple of minutes I has my desktop identical to my Win 7.

If we can get past griping about the metro interface, I'm more interested in how it performs with Vegas 11 and for video in general. I do not mean to belittle you guys' complaints about the interface, it's just a non-issue to me, it's too easy to fix.

I read a few months ago that Windows 8 has improved some of the under-the-hood stuff and I'm most anxious to get going with it.

For those that have an extra hard drive to use to experiment with, simply install Win 8 and load your programs. It is not a big deal, and you do not have to erase your present OS, just use another hard drive and swap out as desired.

Re: the new interface, I like it very much. I do not use social media, etc, but the interface is a logical progression given the types of interactions younger people expect with their PC. It is new and strange to many of us, but it should not be a shock.

I do not expect to use the Metro interface, but it looks like I would expect a PC should look these days. At least you can skip it and revert to the old style if needed.

Don't forget MS is not completely stupid. Zillions of users still need basic PC functionality and Windows 8 still offers that. Let's not freak out over this "weird" interface. If you don't like it, just skip it!

jeff, i will look forward to your report.

as i wrote, i have no time for the new window dressing, nor for beta-testing (it's enough i feel like a beta tester for vegas!). however, from my brief reading, and even briefer play, i didn't see / feel any significant difference between 7 and 8 - though i'd be more than happy to stand corrected.

i did (eventually) get a 7 desktop on 8, and you're quite right, it isn't rocket science getting there, but i still maintain that it's a flawed concept using metro by default on a desktop. i know a great many IT people who are killing themselves laughing at the thought of the multitude of corporate users who'll simply gag when confronted by it.

as for younger people (i was one once ;-)), nearly all the ones i know (mainly professionals) simply use their smart phones for most tasks and a laptop for the rest. the desktop as we know it doesn't really exist for them, unless they're directly involved with media production of one sort or another, design, or simply big number crunching.

still, when all is said and done, metro WONT deter me if, and only if, there are proven advantages to using 8.

i still wouldn't use it for commercial work till sp1 comes out though.

Hi

agree entirely with nicholas - some marketing mba thought 'wow' the same interface across the board. just goes to prove that marketing has no idea of what people want in the real world ;-)

i find metro a complete dumbing down, the very idea of apps on a desktop totally pointless, and from my few hours playing on an old laptop, no discernible improvement over 7, other than it might be loading a little faster - but then again, i've never understood this manic pressure for a fast loading desktop os. my desktop is on pretty much all week and usually only turned off late friday. monday mornings boot up lets me sit down and, for the minute it takes to load win 7 from an ssd, gather my thoughts for the coming week.

I agree completely, it's horrible for productivity and has no place on a desktop machine.

The only goal of Metro is to drive people to Microsofts "App" store in order to download mainly pointless apps for a few dollars a time in order to provide Microsoft with a continual revenue. The flat boring interface and solid color scheme is used because it makes it easier for bedroom programmers to create apps that Microsoft can then flog on their store, as no graphic design skills are needed. It's the lowest common denominator of a UI to encourage as many apps as possible. More evidence of this is that the free Visual Studio Express editions will now only support Metro apps, with no ability to program for the desktop.

In order to flog as many apps as possible Metro can't be disable and we will be forced to use it. The Aero graphics on the desktop is being removed to make it as flat and boring as Metro.

The Metro start screen once you start to install a few apps looks like an advertising billboard, not something I want to see each morning when I start work on the computer thank you very much Microsoft.

My company is firmly staying with Windows 7, and so am I.

While Windows 8 is sold as an upgrade, many think of it as a downgrade. http://xpwasmyidea.blogspot.it/2011/09/features-removed-in-windows-8.html

Updating your Facebook profile, checking the weather or latest share-price, or telling the world you've just had a coffee and a chocolate biscuit via Twitter might work fine with the Metro UI, it would work fine via touch pad telephone! However any serious work Metro can't be used. How can something like Sony Vegas ever work within Metro? Yet the desktop is being depreciated in Windows 8 with real work pushed aside for Twitter, Weather apps, and tiles for ordering Domino Pizza's. It makes me smile with all the Metro demos, you seldom see anything more than people opening an app, flicking it from left to right or up and down, pinching to zoom in or out, then picking another app and doing the same again! That's because it is just about all you can do!

Regards

Phil

Phil the thing that scares me is that Microsoft might not care what we say and stick to the metro design, it's dull & ugly. Windows 7 will be good for another two years but after that we'll be force to switch. I work on 3 monitors I don't want full screen apps and other useless UI buttons that makes no sense for productivity. I sincearly hope Microsoft releases a professional version of Windows 8 for professionals. W8 is a step in the right direction for the tablet and consumer world it's just not right for me.

Hopefully Microsoft doesn't fall in the same trap that RIM did, allianating their business clients to compete in a consumer world. For Facebook and twitter I have Apple products for work I have Microsoft, don't give me another reason to go Apple Microsoft.

Hi

I know what you mean, although I think Windows 7 will be around for a long time yet.

I think Microsoft have just lost the plot and marketing have taken over, hopefully this will not last long, but I agree it is a worrying trend.

Take Visual Studio 2012 (a programming tool) where they removed all colour and just gave us a black and white interface, and then capitalised labels on tabs (a UI no no), it was horrendous. There was a big backlash and Microsoft changed it, they removed the capitalised labels on tabs, but in a two finger salute to their professional customers put them instead on the menu, and it looks terrible. This is all in an attempt to Metro'fy the desktop, and really indicates they are not listening to their customers at this point in time. No company can do that for long. Visual Studio 11 User Interface Updates Coming in RC - The Visual Studio Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/05/08/visual-studio-11-user-interface-updates-coming-in-rc.aspx)

I think overall Windows 8 is going to be a let down for Microsoft, they've missed out on tablets and mobile phones to the likes of Android OS and Apple, and for the enterprise they've added nothing anyone wants.

Once upon a time they forced the desktop UI onto mobile phones, that didn't work, and now they are forcing a mobile UI onto larger form factors, which will not work either.

Windows 9 will see a move back to common sense and more productive software I'm sure.

I don't think anyone is really saying there is anything very wrong with Metro UI, it isn't exciting, it isn't particularly new or adventurous, it is what it is, big fonts and big buttons to jab at with a greasy finger for small form factor touch screen devices, plus a driver towards an app store that Microsoft have been trying to get going for years. The problem is Metro isn't for everything.

Regards

Phil

I agree completely, it's horrible for productivity and has no place on a desktop machine.

This is what I do not understand, Phil, Leslie. The Metro interface does not need to be used. It's a choice. You can bypass the Metro interface with a single click and leave your desktop up and it can be exactly as it is in Windows 7. The Metro interface is not required to be used. It's a non issue unless someone just leaves it up and just wants to curse at it because it looks alien. I leave my PC running mostly 24 hours, so I will never need to look Metro unless I choose to.

Windows 7 brought subtle improvements to Vista like native thumbnail viewing of m2t files. Not earthshaking, but certainly it has been a really a nice improvement.

Windows 8 is simply an updated version of Windows 7. It is not at all about the Metro interface in my mind, in fact I view Metro as a minor quirk, nothing more. If it's so easy to avoid, I just don't see why people are focusing on it, when it has nothing to do with anything relevant to us as video editors.

Jeff do they allow you to disable it completely with the latest release? Last time I used it every time I pressed the Start button everything was metro & unavoidable in full screen. I use the Start shortcut quite often to search for files.

Good question Nicholas, I don't know. I only played with it for an hour and I had to get back to my other hard drive so I could work.

I feel awfully confident yes you can, but not having done it I don't know. It may or may not be possible in this release, yet simple to do in the RTM version.

I'm not worried too much simply because Avid, Premier editors for example among hundreds of millions of users in business will have no need for the Metro interface, so it is only logical it will be easily bypassed.

Microsoft may make a lot of stupid mistakes, but they are not that silly. In other words, they may be dumb, but they are not plumb dumb.

It may take a bit of figuring to do to pull off in this version, as I suspect they are really keen to get feedback on the Metro interface.

I do remember reading early on that it would not be an issue to avoid the metro interface in the final release, and I believe this came from Microsoft themselves, but as happens so often my memory could be mis-remembering.

The key thing, IMO is not to look at this release and disregard it because it looks funny or doesn't act like we're accustomed to it behaving.

It is the future, and yes Windows 7 will be around for awhile, but the latest technological improvements will be in the new Windows 8, so it is essential to me that I get a grip on it when I can, which is why I have it on a hard drive. It's good till January, so it's a worthwhile venture in my opinion.

Hi

This is what I do not understand, Phil, Leslie. The Metro interface does not need to be used. It's a choice. You can bypass the Metro interface with a single click and leave your desktop up and it can be exactly as it is in Windows 7. The Metro interface is not required to be used. It's a non issue unless someone just leaves it up and just wants to curse at it because it looks alien. I leave my PC running mostly 24 hours, so I will never need to look Metro unless I choose to.

Windows 7 brought subtle improvements to Vista like native thumbnail viewing of m2t files. Not earthshaking, but certainly it has been a really a nice improvement.

Windows 8 is simply an updated version of Windows 7. It is not at all about the Metro interface in my mind, in fact I view Metro as a minor quirk, nothing more. If it's so easy to avoid, I just don't see why people are focusing on it, when it has nothing to do with anything relevant to us as video editors.

It throws you back to the Metro interface everytime you want to search for a file or application. I'm constantly launching programs and using the search under the Start Menu, that menu has now been removed in Windows 8 to force us to keep flicking into the Metro interface. I don't want or need a full screen start menu, not on a 24" widescreen monitor.

Don't get me started on the "charms" bar, nothing charming about it at all, and all the silly hot corners for this or that.

There is nothing improved in Windows 8 for a desktop user. There might be a few UI changes to copying files etc and some improvements elsewhere on the desktop, overall the negatives far out way any postive changes. Why would I pay for a renegade computing experience?

No you can not disable Metro Microsoft want to force as many people into apps they can, it's all about about generating a continual revenue from micro payments.

Microsoft may make a lot of stupid mistakes, but they are not that silly. In other words, they may be dumb, but they are not plumb dumb.

Seeing what they did to the professional community and thinking a black and white interface would be acceptable and would be thought "awesome" by everyone, yes they do make stupid mistakes. They have partially backed down on the black and white interface but not by much.

Windows 8 is basically Windows 7 with a start-up application called "Metro" that takes over! Unless you really really need Metro on your desktop computer, there is absolutely no point in getting Windows 8. Windows 8 desktop is Windows 7, with features removed.

Regards

Phil

Looks like there is a very simple registry switch to totally disable Metro... I'll be making it!

Disable Metro in Windows 8 Developer Preview - MSTechPages | MSTechPages (http://www.mstechpages.com/2011/09/14/disable-metro-in-windows-8-developer-preview/)

Chris Young
Sydney

Back to Jeff's point at the beginning,
Is there anything better or upgraded in the Win 8 engine/registry/core (whatever you call it) that will improve -
Performance and Reliability?
That's about the only thing I care about, If I have to deal with Metro once a session to get "in", so be it, as long as I get a faster more solid platform to work in.
And remember, in the famous words of Abe Simpson-
"I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me, and it'll happen to you, too."
:)

Looks like there is a very simple registry switch to totally disable Metro... I'll be making it!

Disable Metro in Windows 8 Developer Preview - MSTechPages | MSTechPages (http://www.mstechpages.com/2011/09/14/disable-metro-in-windows-8-developer-preview/)

Chris Young
Sydney

Please note, the linked to article says this is for the Windows 8 Developer Preview. It's dated Sept 14, 2011. We're now up to the W8 Release Preview. Even if it still works in this version, there is no guarantee it will work in the final product. In other words, caveat emptor.

D

Imagine the hundreds of millions of corporate users who have no use for the Metro, Microsoft is not going to force this interface on them, it's not even conceivable.

It will likely be quite easy to bypass in the final version. Remember folks, Windows 8 is essentially nothing more than updated Windows 7, so Metro is an add on, it is not the OS itself.

We are looking at a preview, not the real thing as it will be sold. I suggest we stay calm, be logical, and don't panic.

Gerald, who the heck is Abe Simpson? (Just kidding, very funny little quote there).

Thanks for sharing that link Christopher. When I need a distraction, I will go back to Metro and I will try the hack, I'm sure it will be fine. If I break something, it doesn't matter, that's what the preview is for, to play with.

I've been running Windows 8 for a week and it uses less memory, is more responsive. I like it very much.

It is, on the surface, not much different then 7, but I like the way it runs very much. The improvements under the hood are obvious, which is why I chose to go with it for my new build. Windows 7 Pro wasn't seeing all of my memory, and I got frustrated and gave Windows 8 a shot, and it is perfect so far, Vegas 11 runs perfectly on it.

Metro is gone, replaced with a Start screen, same idea, but there is a desktop icon, so it is a complete non issue. There are a few minor differences in how you access things, but I have figured most everything out I need, just took a few days of use.

People will complain about the differences, but it's a new OS, just takes some getting used to.

Windows 7 Pro wasn't seeing all of my memory.

Where you running 64bit? 32bit won't see more than 4Gb.

64 bit, of course, and it was seeing 8gb, but just not 32gb as it should have. The reason could've been it was a bad installation, don't know, but it was comforting that Windows 8 has run perfectly from day one. I've had no issues with Windows 7 to speak of, it's a great OS, but for the last install I had the buggy memory issue which surprised me.

Another interesting thing is the Windows 8 was installed on my old build months ago, but I never used it after a couple of days, I disconnected the hard drive and forgot about it. Recently I replaced my MOBO, ram, and processor, and I hooked up the Windows 8 hard drive, and it worked out of the box. But the hard drive with Windows 7 wouldn't work with the new MOBO and processor, I had to reinstall. So Windows 8 seems to be adaptable somehow. It seems to be extremely stable and more intelligent somehow. I don't know the technical details, but it seems to be a superior version of Windows to me.

Hey, Jeff. I had a system come in with win 7 pro using 24gb of the 32gb installed. It turned out the system was running in diagnostic mode via MSCONFIG. Once normal mode was selected it used all the ram again. It could be a long shot, but give it a try.

Just for the record. I am also using windows 8, on a laptop and it is the full release. I really like the OS. My opinion is slightly tainted because I use a windows phone too. Both, my phone and laptop sync users, calendar, emails, contacts, pictures.

There is a desktop button, that makes the system look much like win 7.

You also have to learn where they have moved things. It takes about 10 min, if you read or watch a video on how to maneuver around in win 8 it is very easy to use. Somethings are better some things are crazy.

I have not tried it on my workstation, although, I did install vegas 12 and watched it crash in the first click...

Most of the arguments against windows 8 are valid, it is a money grab yada yada yada. However, I do like the metro display for the live tiles. I can see the weather, canadian $, the market, any emails, facebook, calendar appointments coming up, news bullets, and many other things that happen live. These tiles are like a dashboard of what is going on, in your interests. Since your interests are different you customize it your way. These live tiles allow me to see all the above at a glance.

My 2cents worth about 1.998cents US. :)