Live - Windows 8 Consumer Preview w/ download links (free public beta)

Quote from acr : There's a rumor that Windows 8 will not allow for a system to dual boot with Linux. That would be a big deal breaker for lots of people.

That would suck...

Tons of Internet hearsay incoming from people who don't know what they are talking about...

Wow. This is the first I've heard that there's going to be a Windows 8. If it follows the every-other-release pattern, it should be crappy like Vista and ME.

Quote from WhipperSnapper : Wow. This is the first I've heard that there's going to be a Windows 8. If it follows the every-other-release pattern, it should be crappy like Vista and ME.

Where have you been?? And it's based off 7, so there isn't likely a major bevy of issues that will be present like Vista.

if I can play GTA4, Crysis II and the like smoothly on Win8, I'm sold.
I've had some issues w/ games on earlier beta. how about you guys here.

update:
Win8 beta is actually very good, so far. Vista was annoyingly horrible. Win7 is more like patched Vista.
If I can disable the tablet portion, Win8 is great for my new desktop. haha. but of course, my main OS has been Linux for years.

Quote from acr : There's a rumor that Windows 8 will not allow for a system to dual boot with Linux. That would be a big deal breaker for lots of people.

That's a rumor (started by someone that apparently couldn't read) that has long since been put to bed.

Quote from kumgetsum : Win8 beta is actually very good, so far. Vista was annoyingly horrible. Win7 is more like patched Vista.

Possibly misreading your tone, but it sounds like you don't like W7.

So one poster says that W8 is an evolution of W7. You say W7 is a patched Vista. Doesn't that make W8 a patched, evolved Vista, which you refer to as annoyingly horrible?

I don't know how it is that I missed the horribleness of Vista, aside from the fact that I didn't have it at first. I have two machines that came with Vista, one from 4 years ago and one from right before W7 came out (3 years ago), and both worked beautifully. Now both have W7 and they continue to work beautifully. Without going back and screwing around with a Vista machine, I can't say that I remember there being a gigantic difference. Maybe all the bugs were ironed out after 15 mos, when we got our first Vista machine?

Quote from z9z91 : What's the point to upgrade this when I'm still doing fine with windows 3.1?

I highly recommend thinking about upgrading to 3.11. Networking support is much better. You might be able to upgrade from dial-up to ISDN.

Quote from Ransom : As always, I recommend a complete install, and have a good backup system so it will be easy to re install a release copy when it comes out.

Why is it worth the time?

Devs/Betas are inherently unstable and require extra work on the part of the consumer. Nothing so far shows a significant enough performance to upgrade unless you're a developer or need to anticipate something because of changes in the OS. Normal users and anyone who is learning about the next iteration from slickdeals is better served by waiting

Quote from shadowshopper : What tablets will I be able to install this on, if any?

None of you uber-tech geniuses have an answer? Really, how hard could it be?

Quote from drdiaboloco : Possibly misreading your tone, but it sounds like you don't like W7. So one poster says that W8 is an evolution of W7. You say W7 is a patched Vista. Doesn't that make W8 a patched, evolved Vista, which you refer to as annoyingly horrible? I don't know how it is that I missed the horribleness of Vista, aside from the fact that I didn't have it at first. I have two machines that came with Vista, one from 4 years ago and one from right before W7 came out (3 years ago), and both worked beautifully. Now both have W7 and they continue to work beautifully. Without going back and screwing around with a Vista machine, I can't say that I remember there being a gigantic difference. Maybe all the bugs were ironed out after 15 mos, when we got our first Vista machine?

I never got the Vista hate either...and I even ran x64 which had almost no driver support! I never had any problems with Vista that weren't Windows/MS inherent and therefore present in every and all other versions of Windows.

Quote from Teaser38 : I highly recommend thinking about upgrading to 3.11. Networking support is much better. You might be able to upgrade from dial-up to ISDN.

WfW FTW

Quote from shadowshopper : None of you uber-tech geniuses have an answer? Really, how hard could it be?

"Support for ARM-based chipsets"...but what about drivers for the rest of the tablet hardware? If it's so easy, get to work shadow!

Ya I totally want to upgrade to a unstable system with problems to help Microsoft... I cant wait, How could this be Free.

Waiting for Windows 8 SP1.