Windows 8 for people who hate the Metro UI

Lum

prowla wrote: »

Is Hyper-V really as functional and scalable as ESX?

Umm, we're talking about a desktop OS here.No way am I running a hypervisor on my desktop where my main concern is performance in the host OS.

Hyper-V, which is free with Windows 8, is more functional than the free alternative from VMWare, namely VMWare Player. The latter can't (officially) create new virtual machines for one.

I'll agree that VMWare Workstation is a better product, but you pay extra for that.

Hyper-V is also a hell of a lot better than Virtual PC that was available free for older versions of Windows.

Lucero_2

I think he was referencing my statement around ESXi Vs Hyper V in the Datacentre, where, actually, both are as strong as each other. A load of corporates are moving to Hyper-V backend infrastructure because their Enterprise Agreements allow them to and they can stop paying out for ESX(I) licences.

prowla

Lum wrote: »

Umm, we're talking about a desktop OS here.No way am I running a hypervisor on my desktop where my main concern is performance in the host OS.

Hyper-V, which is free with Windows 8, is more functional than the free alternative from VMWare, namely VMWare Player. The latter can't (officially) create new virtual machines for one.

I'll agree that VMWare Workstation is a better product, but you pay extra for that.

Hyper-V is also a hell of a lot better than Virtual PC that was available free for older versions of Windows.

VMware Player has a "Create a New Virtual Machine" button right there on its main GUI, and it steps through the options for the VM's config.

I am currently running 4 VMs on VMware Player (Windows 7 - with a self contained Outlook, Ubuntu Linux with shell and GUI interfaces to other systems, Windows 8 onto an intranet, and Windows XP running the ESX vSphere GUI).

Yes - Virtual PC was not the greatest product. I used it prior to the Microsoft acquisition on a G4 Mac to try and run Windows!

Lum

That must be new? VMWare player never used to allow VM creation (though there ways to trick it into doing so), just running preconfigured VM appliances, though they did make an exception where you could import an XP Mode VM on Windows 7, which was awesome as it supported full hardware 3D acceleration.

Off topic, but does VMWare player support running ESXi as a guest OS like you can with VMWare workstation?

prowla

Lum wrote: »

That must be new? VMWare player never used to allow VM creation (though there ways to trick it into doing so), just running preconfigured VM appliances, though they did make an exception where you could import an XP Mode VM on Windows 7, which was awesome as it supported full hardware 3D acceleration.

Off topic, but does VMWare player support running ESXi as a guest OS like you can with VMWare workstation?

I don't think so - I tried it once but it may have just been I didn't have enough memory.

However, in my case I have a separate ESXi PC...

Lum

I don't really want yet another PC in my house. 2 desktops, 2 laptops, 1 HTPC and 1 work laptop is plenty already.

I'm only really using virtualised ESXi to learn on as my company is somewhat behind the times technology wise (32 bit Server 2003 everywhere with XP workstations) so it's the only way to keep my skills up to date.

chunter

My first full day with Windows 8. Spent most of the day laughing and screaming in equal measure.
How can anybody defend this rubbish?

I see Acer have had the very ingenious idea of putting their own on-off button on the taskbar.
10 minutes to find the add remove programs. then i have to shut it down and go through the whole nonsense again.

Surely a tablet is more practical for people who want this sort of thing?
Why on earth buy a computer where the keyboard is redundant?

Lum

I'm not really defending it so much as posting how to fix it.

Windows 8 does offer a bunch of "under the hood" enhancements, but I'll freely admit that the Metro stuff is a load of cack. Get rid of that and what you're left with is actually pretty decent.

oscarward

And I tend to agree.

I've got 2 vista laptops (1 works m/c) , a win 7 netbook and now a win 8 laptop to replace my personal vista machine.

I find WIN 8 very confusing after struggling with it for 3 months. I can't get some apps to work properly at all and am constantly switching between the old desktop and the metro UI. Which I personally hate.

I will install some of the patches in the first post to get back to what I can use efficiently with a start menu off the desktop.

Lum

Updated the OP a little, and added a new section about changing the Windows theme.

Also, while it's not in the OP and it's not stable yet. There's an interesting project to add the aero glass effect back to Win8. Personally I'm not convinced it's worth the effort as it's mucking around with DWM for the sake of pure eye candy, but if anyone wants it, it's here: http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-get-true-aero-glass-with-blur-in-windows-8-with-aero-glass-for-win8-v0-2-software/