as i recall an ug from win 6 to win 7 required reloading everthing. i have a new computer to replace the 3yo. can i load win 8 on it, load all my software, live with the horrors? can i load 7& 8 side by side? what is recommended?

i am not a power user. just simple office apps and brokerage and email accts.

I wouldn't load 8 on anything you want to do real work with. The build that came out last week still has significant stability issues and most apps are not going to come close to working on it. If you need a new machine setup today go with Win 7.

+1
It is a preview I'd say a Beta 1.5 version. I'd at the most dual boot it, in reality VM.

Windows XP is still the most used operating system (xp 45%, 7 at 38% followed by Vista, and mac). 8 currently has a .02% share. There's no rush to get to 8, let them work out all the bugs first.

February 2012 data from Net Market Share

http://www.netmarketshare.com/report...ame=M&qpsp=157

Yes, run it in a virtual machine. VM Player is free and easy to use.

To get your Windows 8 questions answered by experts, I'd suggest checking out the following forums:

IT Pro/Consumer

Developers Developers Developers

Quattro - I hope you've posted your issues there.

(I work on the Windows team, so I guess you can say I have a vested interest in making sure any problems get fixed)

Well, if that is the case then y'all need to have a proper menu system in Windows 8 for those of us that go back to the DOS 1.1 days. We like menus, and real directories, and files.

Also, for those of use who mouse with the left hand we need to be able to move the Favorites in IE9 to the left side as has been possible for the last 100 years or so.

Finally, you need to fix the IE problem described here:

http://www.chipps.com/open.html

Loaded it on Friday night to try it out.

Removed it Saturday.

YMMV, but I was unimpressed.

It's a beta release, so I would not load it as your only OS. I would probably not load it at all unless you really were doing it because you like playing around with technology or need to evaluate it at all. If you do, try installing it on a second partition if you only have one machine, or better yet get another cheap machine.

I have been running it since Thursday. To be honest it is kind of a let down - Windows 7 is still there behind everything, just a little more difficult to get to anything. But in the end you pretty much can make it behave the very same way. all you get is the "metro" user interface at start up, which again seems to me to be a bit of a let down. Doesn't look good, doesn't really add any functionality, and right now there are only a handful of apps in the store, none of which are particularly impressive. I can see how this might work on a tablet device, but for a computer, it just gets in the way.

I do notice a little improvement in waking up from sleep, but not really an improvement on start up and certainly not in shut down. I think Microsoft my have been better off offering a separate metro product instead of trying to overlay 7.

About half our computers at work use XP, the rest Windows7 (can't find anyone using Vista ). I use XP at home and have at work since forever. It's stable and comfortable. Win7 makes it tougher to do some things, and the apparent Microsoft attitude of 'don't worry your little head about it - we know what you want' does make it difficult for those of us weaned on the command line and actually know exactly what we want to do and in what order.

The old addage 'Never buy version 1.0 of anything' applies here, as always.

Yeah. +1

They're not 'folders' on 'my computer' - they're directories and sub-directories on a g..d..n machine. What did Microsoft do - set up a focus group at Berkely to see what to call this stuff?

My Computer. My Pictures. Makes me want to take 'My Arse' into the john and puke up 'My Lunch'.

You might consider loading it on a virtualized hard disk instead of a Virtual Machine. The VHD runs the software natively on the hardware so the performance can be significantly better than a VM. While setting up the install takes a few more steps, the VHD leave a very light footprint if you decide Win8 isn't to your linking, or when the next version comes out.

+1 - Windows 7 and 8's ability to boot from VHD is very useful, and a great way to try out the real performance of an OS without taking the risk of a dual-boot setup mucking up partitions.

I used the steps outlined in this article, and it worked very smoothly.

Windows 8 will cause nothing but headaches if this is the case and not really offer any enhancements for what you do.

I totally agree. Win 8 is a dud, it's another Win ME / Vista. MS continue to make the same mistakes over and over, why do they never learn? The wake from sleep/hibernate has been a non-issue since I went to a SSD. I installed the preview in a VM and didn't see anything at all that was a must have and a lot of where's the innovation/new features head scratching.
I mentally called it Windows 7 with a tacked on UI and designed by a 6 year old....

Our IT group (supporting over 15K users) has decided that Win 8 is a skip....

Win 8 = Epic Fail