windows8 preview... anyone try it out yet ?!

[d-track]

i went with solaris 11 instead

[golemus]

finally someone who tried running Live on win8 !!!
looking good...

although I would like to hear some more impressions before I take the plunge..

I tried it too, but just for 15-30min and with internal soundcard. Seemed to work pretty well.

Although I must say I already uninstalled Windows 8.

If the final version will be like the consumer preview then I don't think it is likely that I will update at all. It is a tablet OS, not a desktop OS. The new start menu is very slow to use with mouse, then icons are too large for mouse operation --> you have to move mouse much longer distances than with windows 7. Windows explorer is as bad as in windows 7 or perhaps even worse. No lessons learned from win7 or OS X finder (or all of the linux file managers). And I didn't like the live login, perhaps it can be disabled but didn't find out how. Still no virtual deskstops, nothing as usable as expose in OS X.

The start menu problem could be solved if the icons could be made smaller and closer to each other but it isn't still enough added value to update. The most important and lacking part (window and file management) of win7 has really not changed in win8 so I don't see any reason to update, unless MS plays the filthy company strategy and leaves some vital hardware support (like USB3 or thunderbolt) out from windows7.

Although I must say that windows 8 seems to become pretty nice tablet OS. But as they have made the life of software developers so difficult with porting to C# and most music apps are already on ipad, it probably will be my choice (or android if they sort out the latency problems).

[3dot...]

I'm now running on windows8..
now bring out the touchscreens already..
that is all..

[Geissler]

I ran Windows 8 natively for a couple of weeks, including Live. Thoughts:

It's fucking fast

All hardware autodetected

Metro is pretty but feels clumsy with keyboard and mouse. Window management for metro apps is nearly non-existent: it's either fullscreen or slim sidebar

The metro apps are well-designed but feel completely redundant on a desktop (why do I need the OS to provide facebook chat and email natively when I have a browser?)

Everything else has been slimmed-down, streamlined and perfected (task manager, file copy dialog stand out here, they're all MUCH better, faster, more usable and more stable than their win7 counterparts)

Most importantly, metro doesn't get in the way if you don't want it to. The new features and 'apps' (god, I hate that word) are entirely optional and if you don't want to use them, your experience will be identical to W7 but with added speed and usability. All your programs are right there on the start menu, which opens up just as snappily as before, and launching programs is just as easy: hit the windows key, start typing, press enter, done. Seen from this perspective, it's not such a bad idea to create a single OS for every platform. Metro is the new image of windows and I can understand why they want every windows user to get used to it.

Ableton ran pretty much the same as in windows 7, but I had trouble with DPC latency. It was constantly in the yellow, whereas win7 stays green for me on the same hardware (Lenovo T400). It's difficult to know how hardware will react to a new OS in terms of Latency, so who knows what the final product will be like. Certainly more stable and easier to use than Windows 7. Forget the scaremongering; once you get past the slightly weird UI design it actually works great.

[regretfullySaid]

This has piqued my curiosity solely to see how Live and my controllers are handled in 8.
Since I still prefer XP 32-bit and wondered about dual booting and installing from a mounted image I'm putting this link here if anyone was wondering the same thing.

http://www.blogsaays.com/dual-boot-wind ... windows-7/

[3dot...]

it's funny..
I don't miss the start menu...at all..
have everything I need in the "desktop layer"..
and everything is accessible there...
I don't even need to use the "start screen"

[Sonarcade]

amplitube 2 no longer works in windows 8 for me. I'm hoping that this gets remedied down the road so that I don't find myself buying older plugins that may be incompatible with windows 8. Also the DPC issue is addressed on microsoft's forum as well. A real shame since I really do like a lot of things about windows 8. perhaps when a "metro" version of live comes out, it'll be faster. I've been finding the "desktop" programs to have suffered a bit of a performance hit compared to 7. Some of the metro apps, like the music player have very bare and somewhat unintuitive interfaces. I love the fast boot up and shutdown times, though.

[3dot...]

I have no problems so far (knock on wood) with vsts...

I actually have a different experience with the desktop programs than you..
graphics seem snappier..and programs perform slightly better..

about the "apps"..I don't really care for them..
most of the Microsoft apps require you to be logged in..
and as you said .. half don't work...
the appstore is still kindof empty..
not much interesting stuff there yet..

only "bug" I found yet is related to my Microsoft keyboard..
the custom keys..don't work within live anymore..
(works with all other software)
they did with work in win7..

[TaoEntropy]

So does Ableton become a touch senstive application in win8?

Can you move the knobs and sliders by touching them?

[3dot...]

yes you can...

but "multitouch" (launching 2 or more clips together) has to be supported by developers (Ableton)....