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Microsoft seems to have removed the Start orb.

http://www.theverge.com/microsoft/2012/ ... er-preview

Well we all know how this is going to go. Lots of people moaning and complaining because how dare a company change something in one of their products. It's like every time Facebook changed the layout people would complain saying they want the old layout back despite the fact they complained about that when it first came out.

Microsoft has released Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012 ... eview.aspx

I tried to find this forum entry but it didn't come up in the search results, oh well thanks for posting SYSTEM, I'll be having a look at this release in the next couple of days.

Edit: Seems Visual Studio 11 Beta is available today as well.
Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2012/02/29/micros ... studio-11/

Hint: If you do decide to download the consumer preview and you have a slow connection, then download using IE9. Why I hear you ask? It appears that with IE9 (and not Opera for example) you can pause the download, thus freeing up your connection at certain intervals when you need it most. Normally pausing with Opera (for example) is possible, but perhaps Microsoft have blocked this capability for non-IE browsers?!

guinness wrote:Normally pausing with Opera (for example) is possible, but perhaps Microsoft have blocked this capability for non-IE browsers?!

For large downloads, I try to use a download manager of some kind to resume downloads. Browsers I've used so far haven't seemed to solve the resume-downloads problem when there's a connection hiccup, and not just after pausing. This is necessary with the crap wireless connections I use.

Unless there's a browser that's fixed this?

I should've mentioned that I tried Web Downloader but it didn't work on my machine with this link, so I opted for the IE9 option instead. Considering I've probably used IE two or three times in 2011, it's not as bad as I remember and the pause feature works well even when disconnecting the wireless.

I do remember the good old days of IE6 though :mrgreen;

I found this review of Windows 8 entertaining and check out the new bluescreen towards the end (this was an intentional bluescreen.)

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-AsGXg8Cyk
Additional: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Scre ... #Windows_8

If you're having trouble creating a VirtualBox image then read this >> http://www.blogsolute.com/windows-8-vir ... led/18089/

if you have trouble installing windows 8 in virtualbox/vmware,because v-ht is not enabled or present (like me), there is also the option to install windows 8 [and boot from] a .vhd file. As stated in the article :
"This is a nice approach because it yields in much better performance. Only the hard disk is virtualized, not the rest of the hardware, so you benefit from the full power of your CPU and video card without creating a real dual boot setup or even upgrading your system completely. The drawback is that you have to boot into that Windows 8 VHD separately, whereas the installation with VirtualBox allows you to run Windows 8 within your existing system, and you can switch back and forth between both in the blink of an eye."
The author also describes an easy way to prepare the vhd using a PowerShell script:
"The other methods create the full VHD (including the desired target operating system) without the need to manually boot from an installation media and go through all of the installation steps. This process is known as "sysprepping" and creates an "almost finished" system in the VHD. When you boot it up for the first time, you have a similar experience to what happens when you buy a computer from an OEM: only some minor final steps have to be performed, like detecting drivers, accepting license agreements, setting the computer name, and you're done. This is a cool solution especially if you often want to start over from a really fresh installation, probably on different machines."
Check the rest here : Installing Windows 8 Developer Preview as bootable VHD by Mister Goodcat

There is also a nice tutorial here : How To Boot From VHD with Windows 8 Consumer Preview

So I managed to install Windows 8 Consumer Preview, this is how I did it on Windows 7 x64.

1. Downloaded the ISO image and saved to a folder for use later on.
2. Downloaded Rufus and created a bootable USB using the ISO I had downloaded earlier (this took about 20mins as I selected to check the drive as well.)
3. Navigated to Control Panel >> Administrative Tools >> Computer Management >> Storage >> Disk Management.
4. Selected the 'Action' menu and 'Create VHD'.
5. Selected a location for the VHD file and made a note of the name (e.g. F:\WindowsPreview.vhd as well as the label of the drive) and then chose 20GB and fixed size (because it was recommended.)
6. Right-clicked on the VHD entry below and selected 'Initialize drive'.
7. I then formatted the drive, created a single partition and assigned a drive letter e.g. (V:\ for VHD.)
8. I then made sure I backed up the important information just in case.
9. Noted down what the product key was.
10. Restarted the machine with the USB drive plugged in and selected the option (from the BIOS) to boot from the USB drive.
11. Waited until the screen to 'Install' was shown and selected 'Install' (Don't worry it won't format the drive yet.)
12. Selected the language and keyboard configuration for my machine.
13. Entered the product key I noted down earlier. (IMPORTANT!)
14. At the drive selection I entered Shift+F10 and a command prompt was shown.
15. Entered DISKPART and hit the return key.
16. Entered LIST VOLUME and hit the return key.
17. A list of drives was shown, now earlier I had stored the VHD file to the F:\ drive with the label 'Backup'. Now I looked at the list and saw the name 'Backup' but the drive letter was now E:\, therefore I replaced the drive letter F:\ with E:\ thus making the location E:\WindowsPreview.vhd.
18. Entered SELECT VDISK FILE="E:\WindowsPreview.vhd" (with the quotes) and hit the return key.
19. Entered ATTACH VDISK and hit the return key.
20. Entered EXIT and hit the return key. Then I closed the command prompt.
21. I then hit the F5 key to refresh the list of drives and then selected the drive that wasn't there before and had a value of 20GB, though please make sure you select the right drive. (IMPORTANT!)
22. I then continued with the installation as though I was installing to a second partition.
23....26...Windows 8 was installed!

This worked for me and I make no assumption that it will work for you either, so please do so at your own risk. You have been warned.

Source: http://boyans.net/HowTo_InstallWindows8_to_VHD.html (but I did it a little differently.)

So I've been messing around with the latest preview of Windows and I have to say it's quicker, a lot more polished and a whole lot easier to install alongside another operating system e.g. Windows 7. Of course the big difference (and what everyone is talking about) is the Start menu is now a metro style launcher. Now I can't see what all the fuss is about because I rarely use the Start menu, as I'm what you call a Portable Freeware User!!

I use PStart & RocketDock to attend to my launching needs so overall this isn't a problem and I have a script which simulates pressing Win+D to show the desktop on Windows startup.

So overall Windows 8 has potential to be great for those who want to upgrade from XP/Vista, but would I upgrade? Probably not, because there isn't anything that really stands out as new or essential, of course this was different when I went from XP straight to 7.

SYSTEM wrote:Microsoft seems to have removed the Start orb.

http://www.theverge.com/microsoft/2012/ ... er-preview

I actually like it without the orb. I'm glad that Windows 8 is stripping unnecessary elements from the UI.

I still use XP on my main com, so I'm still not used to Windows 7! Not a fan of the Ribbon interface.

The ribbon interface can be hidden easily with a click of a button.

There is a new and really long blog post.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012 ... ience.aspx