Woo! I love being right! And for the record, I haven't even SEEN the build tag before now.

The build tag for beta-level builds and beyond can be found in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion, key BuildLab.

Unfortunately I can't bring anything new to the table, but my experience with Metro throughout all the betas has been terrible. I did give it a solid chance in VMware and attempted to use it as my primary OS for a week, however it just doesn't feel right and it seems to be impossible to adapt my workflow to accommodate the new UI. It certainly feels to me more like a tablet OS.

Hopefully their will be a group policy or registry setting to disable Metro completely however with the way things are going I think I'm going to be using Windows 7 for a while.

Agreed 100% with above poster

Unfortunately, it appears that Microsoft is removing all first-party Start Menu code, which would make disabling Metro pointless unless you used a third-party total replacement like Start8.

Source: http://betanews.com/2012/06/04/dont-bel ... e-preview/

If I am working in Windows 8, and using different software, does any activity (such as application names, etc.) get sent to Microsoft, assuming the software I am using doesn't crash at any point? I am referring to 3rd party software downloaded from the Internet. I just want to know what activity one would consider "private".

Also in case nobody answered altjx's question,


Yes, According to Microsoft's FAQ,

I think it only sends info about what software you're using if it crashes, like for Windows Error Reporting.

Well atleast in the Release Preview you can get the old start menu back with the registry "hack" from the Dev Preview: http://tech2.in.com/how-to/software/how ... -ui/313582

I doubt they will remove code for RTM. Afaik Microsofts build policy is that the RC has all features and there is only going to be bug fixes for the RTM.

No, you can't. At least I cannot find the RPEnabled key. I doubt they would of added the code back, the only reason it was toggle able was because it was a heavily locked down feature.

They got rid of RedPill back in the Beta and shsxs.dll was merged with shell32.dll as well iirc.

You can get rid of Metro entirely by deleting twinui.dll in your Windows system directory. When you log in you'll be dumped on the desktop.

There are some interesting effects of doing that though, which mean it's not really an option for day-to-day use:

[*]Nothing appears on the Taskbar
[*]Pressing the Windows key alone does nothing
[*]Other key combos such as Win+R and Win+E work as expected

This implies that the old Start Menu code has indeed been ripped out of explorer.exe, as that's what generates the Taskbar and the Start Menu in older versions of Windows.

I also experimented with running older versions of explorer.exe (a trick which works in 7 and earlier) but no dice - they've plugged that loophole.

Whoever wrote that article obviously has never even installed the RP

Which one is that aimed at?

This one:

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Well atleast in the Release Preview you can get the old start menu back with the registry "hack" from the Dev Preview: http://tech2.in.com/how-to/software/how ... -ui/313582

I doubt they will remove code for RTM. Afaik Microsofts build policy is that the RC has all features and there is only going to be bug fixes for the RTM.

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There has been no way to get the start menu back since the DP, the CP had to use 3rd party like ViStart, the code for the old start menu is not even in the RP so no hack anywhere would ever bring it back

Well, you could get the Start Menu back in the Developer Preview by setting RPEnabled = 0 in the Registry, but once they went to the Beta stage they axed RedPill and the code for the Start Menu.

It ain't comin' back, folks.

For private reasons, I have been obliged to continue trying to use the Metro start screen permanently. Users should really assess what functions/shortcuts they really use on a regular basis. If this is done, then quite a lot of the icons can be removed. I have done this, and renamed several. I now have a metro screen which is quite workable and I am getting used to it. Here is a snip, in which I have reintroduced quite a few rarely used items, just as an example.

+1 to this. A lot of the gripes about the Metro UI being somehow unintuitive or limiting can be completely resolved if you take a few minutes to customize the thing.

And if you put a little more attention you can even pin folders to the start screen (For those people who didn't know). That replaces (at least for me) the right panel of the start menu, I can have even more programs with just pressing the Win key than in Windows 7.

Also I compiled a BAT that called a VBS script with this:

That calls the shutdown dialog. Pining it to the start screen did the trick for me, it's really easy to shutdown, restart or hibernate like this. It feels like it's integrated

The quickest way to shut down Windows 8 is to press the power button (If you have configured it to do so in the power options) It shuts down gracefully, with no problems.

I downloaded the installer for this. Before I install, do any of you guys (or gals) know how to remove the expiry?

Thanks

I tried the old Office 15 build 2703.1 on the RP x86. It installed fine & using the shortcut that came w/ the modified (O15) package, Moorea runs good too.
From previous experience I could only get only Lime to run also.
Since Moorea is the most fun that's all I am testing today.

I dislike the fact that going to the Start Screen doesn't close a program. But the ribbon interface on Windows Explorer is very nice, and i haven't gone through any problems installing some stuff...

No worries, to truly quit a program completely as if you were pressing the red X button, while you are in your Metro app, just take your mouse cursor up to the very top of the screen in the middle area, and your cursor will turn into a hand, and then you drag the app window to the very bottom of the screen and let go, and voila! The program is now closed.

I think that the reason you all think Windows 8 is not intuitive is that you are using it on your desktops/laptops. I also find a lot of it to be irritating on my laptop. MS is really trying to make a good OS for tablets, as far as I know. Why do you think it's similar to the Windows phone UI?

Look at Windows Phone 7. Then look at the Windows 8 start screen. If you can't see the similarities, something's wrong.