[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Is all your gear Windows 8 compatible? here

[SDW48]

Forget the hardware. i doubt if half of my software will work either.
Why should i upgrade if i'm happy with what i've got and windows
8 won't run my older versions of roxio, copilot, dvd burning software,
creative software, my video converter software. and on and on and on.
No thanks. if i get windows 8, then i'd have to spend hundreds of dollars
for new versions of the same software i already on. My printer is an Epson
R280 that came out years ago, and will print directly onto CDs & DVDs.
i'm not willing to give it up because Epson won't build a driver for all of the
hundred printers they put out in the last 5 years. i don't use a tablet, don't
need one and never will. So i don't need an OS that will run both. Has
anybody else noticed that you no longer get a hard copy of the software
you buy. That your just renting your software now. Just like Apple, Microsoft wants to own you. Want to control what they let you do.

[Cmason]

It's ignorant people like you that are giving Windows 8 a bad rep. I've been running Windows 8 since the RTM was available, and I have had NO problems with hardware or software. Windows 8 will run any software that previous versions can run, and probably more efficiently.

And if you ever read your license agreements on any of your software, you NEVER owned your software.

[jpvinny28]

Some of the academic/industry software like Xilinx Design Suite and Modelsim Simulators wont work in WIndows 8. Although they install fine, but none of them open. They crash upon opening. I tried all latest versions of softwares and latest windows 8 release, but they wont work even in compatibility mode also.

[jbodner09]

Quote

Some of the academic/industry software like Xilinx Design Suite and Modelsim Simulators wont work in WIndows 8. Although they install fine, but none of them open. They crash upon opening. I tried all latest versions of softwares and latest windows 8 release, but they wont work even in compatibility mode also.

Sounds more like a hardware problem to me. I've been running Modelsim and Quartus just fine on Windows 8, although they are older versions from around 2009. And keep in mind, I'm running RTM Windows 8 from MSDN as an upgrade from Windows 7, which itself was an upgrade from Vista on a 4 year old HP laptop. If anything, I should be having more problems than I am, but I'm not!

[JamesVelasquez]

lol

windows users want upgrade cycles like debian releases, debian users wanted a upgrade cycle like windows

[nonnald]

Quote

. Has anybody else noticed that you no longer get a hard copy of the software you buy. That your just renting your software now. Just like Apple, Microsoft wants to own you.

You absolutely CAN get a hard copy of Windows 8. Just waltz in to your local Best Buy on Oct 26 and wait in line behind some schmuck buying $100 hdmi cables and plunk down $70 for a disc and a box. Or - download it for $40.

[shanedr]

The critically important point is not covered. I have a program that was designed for Windows XP, I am now running Windows 7 professional which has virtual XP. This program has no replacement and can not be used without virtual Windows XP. This issue has yet to be addressed in every article on Windows 8.

[berock212]

Quote

Forget the hardware. i doubt if half of my software will work either. Why should i upgrade if i'm happy with what i've got and windows 8 won't run my older versions of roxio, copilot, dvd burning software, creative software, my video converter software. and on and on and on. No thanks. if i get windows 8, then i'd have to spend hundreds of dollars for new versions of the same software i already on. My printer is an Epson R280 that came out years ago, and will print directly onto CDs & DVDs. i'm not willing to give it up because Epson won't build a driver for all of the hundred printers they put out in the last 5 years. i don't use a tablet, don't need one and never will. So i don't need an OS that will run both. Has anybody else noticed that you no longer get a hard copy of the software you buy. That your just renting your software now. Just like Apple, Microsoft wants to own you. Want to control what they let you do.

I've been using windows 8 consumer preview and it works with all of my software except amd overdrive. Software isn't a problem. If your really concerned try the consumer preview. Also you can also order a windows 8 hardcopy. All your complaints are invalid.

[Fatesrider]

Quote

It's ignorant people like you that are giving Windows 8 a bad rep. I've been running Windows 8 since the RTM was available, and I have had NO problems with hardware or software. Windows 8 will run any software that previous versions can run, and probably more efficiently. And if you ever read your license agreements on any of your software, you NEVER owned your software.

Ignorance and insults have nothing to do with this. ONE person's experience does not a dataset make.

Installing a new OS when there is no need for it is just plain silly. Whether you like it or not, the point isn't new hardware or software needed for the OS. It's whether the OS you have now is doing everything you need it to do.

If it is, there is no point what so ever for most people to upgrade to a new OS. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of things, then fine, go for it. The concept of "one-OS-fits-all" or that a person MUST upgrade is where the ignorance comes in. If you want to, great. If you don't and what you have is working for you, great.

But NO upgrade is without some kind of issue, be it minor or major. In all cases, the time and cost (even if small in Win 8's case) involved is still time and money taken away from something else. There's also the learning curve and the annoyance factor of having to deal with the "don't call it Metro" UI. And while your singular experience colors your judgement, IT professionals like myself who cater to the home user (the people who will have the hardest time with a new OS) strongly believe in the adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Berating people who have no NEED to upgrade and decide that because what they have now is working for them, there's no point to it at all is just plain rude. It's people like you who have a single good experience and an obvious contempt of others who don't necessarily share your expertise who give a false impression of what someone should expect from an OS upgrade. And you have NO idea whether your OS has a hidden bug or other major defect.

After all, pros generally wait until the first service pack is out before upgrading. Leaping into the unknown in an OS is a bad idea for someone who has little expertise in the first place. My advice to my clients has been that I believe installing a touch-centered OS on a non-touch device is only asking for problems - whether large or small - and to wait until the bleeding edgers have smoothed out the bugs. And if what they have is working for them, don't even consider upgrading. It's not worth the hassles - even if there are none.

[waldojim]

Fatesrider, on 15 October 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

Ignorance and insults have nothing to do with this. ONE person's experience does not a dataset make.

Fine, here is a second set running on three machines. All different calibers of hardware.

The results: Even my AMD Athlon XP runs faster with Windows 8 Consumer Preview than Windows XP. Does all my hardware work? Yep. All of it. How about my software? Yep. All of it. That ranges from games to servers. You name it, it runs, and runs better. My system stability is also much improved across all three systems.

When you have your own data to add, go for it. Use it longer than any of these tech writers, and you are already in a position to make more educated comments than them. Of the tech writers I have seen, very few of them have used the system for more than a few minutes, and it shows.

Quote

Installing a new OS when there is no need for it is just plain silly. Whether you like it or not, the point isn't new hardware or software needed for the OS. It's whether the OS you have now is doing everything you need it to do.

If it is, there is no point what so ever for most people to upgrade to a new OS. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of things, then fine, go for it. The concept of "one-OS-fits-all" or that a person MUST upgrade is where the ignorance comes in. If you want to, great. If you don't and what you have is working for you, great.

But NO upgrade is without some kind of issue, be it minor or major. In all cases, the time and cost (even if small in Win 8's case) involved is still time and money taken away from something else. There's also the learning curve and the annoyance factor of having to deal with the "don't call it Metro" UI. And while your singular experience colors your judgement, IT professionals like myself who cater to the home user (the people who will have the hardest time with a new OS) strongly believe in the adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Berating people who have no NEED to upgrade and decide that because what they have now is working for them, there's no point to it at all is just plain rude. It's people like you who have a single good experience and an obvious contempt of others who don't necessarily share your expertise who give a false impression of what someone should expect from an OS upgrade. And you have NO idea whether your OS has a hidden bug or other major defect.

After all, pros generally wait until the first service pack is out before upgrading. Leaping into the unknown in an OS is a bad idea for someone who has little expertise in the first place. My advice to my clients has been that I believe installing a touch-centered OS on a non-touch device is only asking for problems - whether large or small - and to wait until the bleeding edgers have smoothed out the bugs. And if what they have is working for them, don't even consider upgrading. It's not worth the hassles - even if there are none.

The people who have no need or desire to upgrade, usually aren't the ones posting here. Usually, those are the same people who look at the Internet Explorer icon and go "isn't that where those internets are kept?" The people posting here, generally have a far greater knowledge base. People like what you claim to be - IT professionals. As such, they need to get over their personal fear of the OS, and learn it for no other reason than keeping up with the changes. That is part of their job. If you don't keep up, then find a new career path. Others, those who want to learn, will gladly take your place.

[asoyemi]

Quote

Forget the hardware. i doubt if half of my software will work either. Why should i upgrade if i'm happy with what i've got and windows 8 won't run my older versions of roxio, copilot, dvd burning software, creative software, my video converter software. and on and on and on. No thanks. if i get windows 8, then i'd have to spend hundreds of dollars for new versions of the same software i already on. My printer is an Epson R280 that came out years ago, and will print directly onto CDs & DVDs. i'm not willing to give it up because Epson won't build a driver for all of the hundred printers they put out in the last 5 years. i don't use a tablet, don't need one and never will. So i don't need an OS that will run both. Has anybody else noticed that you no longer get a hard copy of the software you buy. That your just renting your software now. Just like Apple, Microsoft wants to own you. Want to control what they let you do.

This is a serious rant, settle down some now. you have argued solidly for you. I APPROVE YOUR NO UPGRADE" Lets see others who might benefit from the upgrade: either from ecosystem point of view, compactibility with prior legacy software (OK now, calm down some... [Those not as old as this nice fella] etc etc.

[asoyemi]

Quote

Forget the hardware. i doubt if half of my software will work either. Why should i upgrade if i'm happy with what i've got and windows 8 won't run my older versions of roxio, copilot, dvd burning software, creative software, my video converter software. and on and on and on. No thanks. if i get windows 8, then i'd have to spend hundreds of dollars for new versions of the same software i already on. My printer is an Epson R280 that came out years ago, and will print directly onto CDs & DVDs. i'm not willing to give it up because Epson won't build a driver for all of the hundred printers they put out in the last 5 years. i don't use a tablet, don't need one and never will. So i don't need an OS that will run both. Has anybody else noticed that you no longer get a hard copy of the software you buy. That your just renting your software now. Just like Apple, Microsoft wants to own you. Want to control what they let you do. I've been using windows 8 consumer preview and it works with all of my software except amd overdrive. Software isn't a problem. If your really concerned try the consumer preview. Also you can also order a windows 8 hardcopy. All your complaints are invalid.

DOn't waste your time duking it out with "berock212" he has a hard-on for Microsoft. It has nothing to do with OS, his beef is directly with MS you might want to leave that duking out between him and MS.

[asoyemi]

Quote

lol windows users want upgrade cycles like debian releases, debian users wanted a upgrade cycle like windows

Hey... Do you know u just identified a match. "Who Knew"

[MrHistamine]

Quote

... Ignorance and insults have nothing to do with this. ONE person's experience does not a dataset make. Installing a new OS when there is no need for it is just plain silly. Whether you like it or not, the point isn't new hardware or software needed for the OS. It's whether the OS you have now is doing everything you need it to do. If it is, there is no point what so ever for most people to upgrade to a new OS. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of things, then fine, go for it. The concept of "one-OS-fits-all" or that a person MUST upgrade is where the ignorance comes in. If you want to, great. If you don't and what you have is working for you, great. ... Berating people who have no NEED to upgrade and decide that because what they have now is working for them, there's no point to it at all is just plain rude. It's people like you who have a single good experience and an obvious contempt of others who don't necessarily share your expertise who give a false impression of what someone should expect from an OS upgrade. And you have NO idea whether your OS has a hidden bug or other major defect. ...

So then, you berate those who haven't had the same experience with Windows 8, as you have...?

What if they've tried Windows 8, and - heaven forbid - enjoyed it? Would you still persuade them not to use it? Why not recognize that they took the initiative to try something new? In fact, why not ask them what they enjoyed about it, instead of labeling them as a witch, and burning them at the stake?

What's funny is that there are more articles on the UI, than there are about the internals of the OS. Usually, the articles start off with a paragraph glossing over the features of the OS itself, before ending with a 24-page novelization of why the tile UI is an abomination.

[max999]

I won't have any problems cause I'm skipping Windows 8!

[obsurv]

If a person is running win 7 why would they even bother upgrading to what could be a problematic win 8. Windows XP was great, but windows Vista ran terribly so that was why I paid the $100 sum bucks to upgrade to win 7 and all my programs and accessories run fine on win 7. Again, why would anyone upgrade to win 8? There are no new and exciting features.

[duyhyper]

As author said, "no OS upgrade is trouble-free for everyone", or exactly "every hardware". I have one PC and one Laptop which had upgraded to 8 (Release Preview, of course), both. My Lap is completely compatible with the new OS and I'm really convinced by it. But the PC is not smooth like that, my 5.1 speaker now "upgrade" to 2.1 because of insufficient sound driver. Be worse, my ATI radeon GPU can't work even if i downloaded and installed the latest driver from amd.com which be said that would be compatible for windows 8.... Nonetheless, that new OS is really attractive with me, so I hope the official version release in next 10 days will be perfect, at least to me

[QUADICON]

Most devices that work in Windos 7 will work in Windows 8, you just need a driver package that you can extract, or learn the registry trick that allows for the original driver package to run as usual.

The guy who had the Dell? What's his hurry?! Drivers for Windows 8 will appear. Delay? Its not a delay. When you have OEM's that make 1000's of products, drivers don't become available overnight. You all make this same stupid complaint about every release of Windows.

What about OSX. When Apple releases new versions, the OEM's have the same tasks. They have to update software for the new OS. Yet I never have seen one article where you diss them on the same caliper as you all do Microsoft.

Microsoft works very hard to provides as many generic drivers they include on the install disk. The Dell user above could simply download the Windows 7 driver for his computer, extract it and manually point the Device Manager to it and it pull the files to install the card. The problem with Windows is not the software time to availability. Its all the uneducated users who know as much about a computer as a box of rocks. They dont know how to even troubleshoot simple issues.

Windows 8 uses much of the foundation of Windows 7. Which means Windows 7 drivers will work for many devices. Here is the issue that has affected every Windows based on NT. The driver installer package verifies you are running the version it was designed for. So if you are in Windows 8, you simply make the package think its Windows 7. In some casesright clicking on the package and choosing compatbility mode for the older OS works. But if not a simply registry change will do it. Just remember you mush change it back.

Use the search box or run command and run REGEDIT. Go to this location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion and where it said ProductName change it to the older OS. In my case it says Windows 7 Ultimate. So if this was Windows 8 I was using, I just place Windows 7 Ultimate or Professional. Close the registry and run the installer again and it will run. No reboot required. Just again make sure you go back and return the line back to its original state.

Its a simple fix, doesn't hurt anything and its something even an idiot could do.

But regurgitating this BS every time a new release of Windows comes is getting so really old. The MS hate is really sad on such a biased site.

The downside of Windows is the fact it is compatible with so many devices. We cant help the fact we have cheapers who buy low end useless unbranded solutions. If you have a fairly recent product and a new version of Windows appears, it will more than likely be supported. You simply have to wait. The simple rule is, you dont have o go an buy a new version of Windows off the shelf. The stupid dummies who guinea pig themselves bring on their own problems. The solution is simple, Microsoft suggest buying a PC with Windows installed on it already which insures 100% compatibility. Your other option will come afterwards.

The guy above claims Windows 8 didnt install the drivers for his card correctly? I have a HP Envy and I installed the CP of Windows 8 on it and it has the same card. It installed just fine using a generic set of drivers.So what exactly is he doing wrong? I have the ATI Radeon 7850 to be exact. Also I install the drivers package Catalyst 12.8 into Windows 8 and it works perfect. I havent had any issues with the CP.

[QUADICON]

I have an older IBM ThinkPad. Its a Type 2007-59U. Based on its mfr date, the laptop is now 6 years old. The system uses a Core Duo w/ ATI x1400. I installed Windows 8 consumer preview on it, and everything installed just fine including the FingerPrint Reader which tend to be an issue.

How is it a 6 year old system works find and these cats with newer hardware have issues?