I've uninstalled Windows 8 and gone back to Windows 7.

[JCitron]

I did this over Christmas due to some hardware difficulties I was having with drivers.

I can say that Windows 8 is going to be a very viable operating system once the early bugs are worked out. I am familiar enough with it that I can support users in the forums here if they have it installed.

There really are a lot of nice things about it, not counting the Modern interface, including the quicker response, and easier way of doing things in the desktop view. Many of the things that take us a few more steps in Windows 7, are right there at our fingertips in Windows 8. Under the hood too are many more improvements, including quicker file access, number of threads and processes being reduced, and other quietly hidden away things that make the OS spiffier.

The problem right now is drivers. For me even though I have a brand new motherboard, there were some drivers that didn't quite work right, even by using the Windows 7 versions which are supposed to work. I had a few unfriendly faces on boot up - this is the replacement for the BSOD that we're so familiar with in previous versions. After doing some hunting around, I found the cause was an incompatible driver which I couldn't replace. This was for my drive controllers and setting them back to the lowest common compatibility level didn't solve the problem.

So anyway, for those that are running Windows 7, hold off until you have to update. If your machine comes installed with Windows 8, you're probably all set.

John

 

[Euphod]

Thanks for confirming the validity of my decision to install 7, I like to stay away from the newest and least tested, and instead opt for the midstream. I may lose a few years of future proofing that way, but I'm rarely disappointed.

 

[lewisner]

I can say that Windows 8 is going to be a very viable operating system once the early bugs are worked out.

Except that the Beta has been available for nearly a year. I think the "bugs" are part of the "User Experience".

As a matter of interest did you get a refund, as I did?

 

[JCitron]

Except that the Beta has been available for nearly a year. I think the "bugs" are part of the "User Experience".

As a matter of interest did you get a refund, as I did?[/COLOR]

There is no refund needed for me. My copy is part of a subscription to TechNet. I can get all kinds of full-version software including Server 2012, Exchange, MS SQL, etc. if I want. I did install and kept Office 2013. It's the same as the other office versions. Buttons have been moved around, but the functions are still there.

The bugs, unfortunately, I agree, are part of the user experience. Sadly, the beta testers weren't beta testers in the sense that they were years ago. I beta tested Windows 2000 Professional, Vista, and even Windows 7. As clunky as Vista was, it's not half as clunky as Windows 8 is now. In the old days, we were required to send in bug reports weekly as well as run a special "User experience" application that monitored the system crashes and operation. Today, I think, it was more of a bunch of geeks playing with the OS with it being an open beta. The big rush to get this to market meant that a lot of the right things should have been fixed first, but never were taken care of. This doesn't sound too familiar does it?

I'm glad you got your money back.


Ed - you did the right thing. Stick with what works rather then go with the latest and greatest, which isn't always the greatest.


John

 

[Subway7695]

I think you should had gave it time I'm running TS12 on a beautiful laptop with Windows 8 and had to make no changes no bugs yet.Everything works perfect and is faster than Windows 7.

 

[johnwhelan]

Thanks for the information. I picked up the upgrade but hadn't got round to installing it. I have a 3 terabyte drive that works better with Win 8 rather than Win 7 so I'm aware there are some reasons to move but the smart phone style interface put me off for the moment.

Thanks John

 

[JCitron]

I think you should had gave it time I'm running TS12 on a beautiful laptop with Windows 8 and had to make no changes no bugs yet.Everything works perfect and is faster than Windows 7.

I agree that it works well on a new computer that comes with it. I had driver issues with my desktop and that's why I uninstalled it. I did also notice the speed improvement compared to Windows 7 and the ease of doing things that take more than a few mouse-clicks in Windows XP and Windows 7.

I'll give the OS a few more patches, and perhaps a service pack or two before I go back into it.

John

 

[lewisner]

Windows 8 for nerds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma1t0RI1QHA

 

[Subway7695]

I agree that it works well on a new computer that comes with it. I had driver issues with my desktop and that's why I uninstalled it. I did also notice the speed improvement compared to Windows 7 and the ease of doing things that take more than a few mouse-clicks in Windows XP and Windows 7.

I'll give the OS a few more patches, and perhaps a service pack or two before I go back into it.

John

Yeah just takes time to get used to but u can always use the "old style desktop"

 

[CRO]

I am using Win 8 in a dual boot with Win 7 ultimate. My trainz 2012 is on my Win 8 SSD and runs great. My problem is with the black pages DLS.
When I chose 'Download (Helper)' I get an error message -"Address type unknown or unsupported " using Opera 12, and error "No App installed for this type of link " in IE.
My workaround is to D/L the basic item using FTP, installing using CMP and letting CMP find all the dependencies.
Does anyone know why the Download Helper (CMP) won't work direct from the black pages?

 

[haddock56]

post deleted

 

[JCitron]

I am using Win 8 in a dual boot with Win 7 ultimate. My trainz 2012 is on my Win 8 SSD and runs great. My problem is with the black pages DLS.
When I chose 'Download (Helper)' I get an error message -"Address type unknown or unsupported " using Opera 12, and error "No App installed for this type of link " in IE.
My workaround is to D/L the basic item using FTP, installing using CMP and letting CMP find all the dependencies.
Does anyone know why the Download Helper (CMP) won't work direct from the black pages?

That's Opera doing it. You can run IE10 in compatibility mode and that should work. I had no problems with that part of getting things to work.

CMP won't work directly, and you'll get a prompt for permission. If it's not setup to run as Administrator, you'll get that error or one about a registry key. This hasn't since Vista because of the security settings. You can also go to your program defaults and associate a file type or protocol with a program. Ensure here that CDPs are associated with Content Manager.

Also ensure that you are running, and have installed Trainz as an Administrator. In addition, go to the folder where you installed Trainz, and click on each of the exes, and specifically choose run as administrator option.

This should work then.

 

[CRO]

Pity about that...all worked fine in Opera and IE9 under Win 7. I'll give IE10 a go in compatibility mode.
All of the other admin and security settings are ok. I've been well aware of those problems, and have them all checked.

Thanks, and have a healthy and productive New Year
Bob (CRO)

 

[Robert2d6]

This is pretty funny... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0fsyb-ttcw

 

[JCitron]

This is pretty funny... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0fsyb-ttcw

This is funny...

Once I removed the bloatware from my start menu and showed what I wanted, it wasn't that bad. The problem though is it shows everyhing. It would be nice if each application was in its own folder so that the icons are grouped together, but this isn't so. You'll have everything including the uninstall, readme, etc. All in front of you. This makes the new start menu very confusing.

I probably would have stayed with 8 if I didn't have the driver issue with my new motherboard. This has something to do with my disk controller. For some reason MS and Intel didn't talk to each other on this one. Maybe in a few months I'll give it a whirl again and see what happens.

John

 

[mikeman]

As I have done the last couple of OS updates. I will wait until after Service pack 1 is out and running before I will give any consideration to getting Win8

 

[Robert2d6]

As I have done the last couple of OS updates. I will wait until after Service pack 1 is out and running before I will give any consideration to getting Win8

Watch this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WTYet-qf1jo#!

 

[JCitron]

As I have done the last couple of OS updates. I will wait until after Service pack 1 is out and running before I will give any consideration to getting Win8

My thinking too before I go back to it. The driver issues I had are inexcuseable because the OS was in preparation for over 3 years prior to release.

John

 

[Robert2d6]

MS is already working on their next OS, reported to be called Windows Blue.

 

[normh3]

I sincerely hope that Windows 7 stays available for awhile. The Windows 8 interface seems to be built for a touch screen system and even after 35 years experience in computer support, I find it difficult to navigate. There would be some very unhappy people where I work if they had to use 8...including myself.