Windows "8", me, and Co* on it.

[Edit: Sorry. It's long. But I wanted to be as complete as possible for yas who wants to knows. ]

Well, ok, not the official Windows 8, but the Windows Developer Preview. Still. I figured I could snag it, and try it out, so I did. I need to kinda know, being the job I have as an IT guy...

So... I downloaded the 64 bit ISO, burned it to a DVD. Yay and stuff.

I had a spare drive, so I turned off my computer, stuck that spare in as the primary drive, and installed Windows "8".

Pleasant enough experience. Works. Fast install. Goofy install look, but, hey, that's ok.

Got all done, the creepy thing was it wanted my Windows Live ID, and I have one, so I gave it the info... and of course, it knew my real name. Bastid interconnected web we have. But hey, whatevs....

It's on. It's working. It...

... looks like a smartphone? o.0

Uh, ok... poke about... ah. Desktop. Yay. That's better... wait, it took me back to the phone thing... go back... aw... oh. Ok.... ok... ah. Now I get it.

It's weird, at first, but you kinda 'grok' it pretty quick. I actually kind of like the phone idea, but haven't had enough time with it.

After figuring out that the desktop isn't what it wants to do primarily, but you can get there, first thing to be annoyed with: The start orb. First, it's not an orb any more, it's just a flag. Fine. But it mostly keeps bringing me back to the phone.

At least I figured out a few things, so I can get to control panel, and the Explorer, and the C: drive and such like that. Good, good... getting around is a little odd, and some of us older cronies may get exasperated, but if the phone thing can be made to plonk tiles of whatever I want on it, then that may be ok...

But I gotta say this: I have read, and now feel I know what they mean: This is NOT a 'professional' OS with that interface. It is *definitely* meant for Average Joe consumer who likes his Windows Mobile 7 phone, or an iPad or such. That Win8 keeps 'defaulting' back to the Phone screen is... odd. And the control I have with that alone... I can't let people have that.

It's early yet. I have a few things to try on that issue. If I can make it 'businesslike'...

Oh, yeah, one *really really* weird thing: The Phone IE9 (I guess it's IE9?) is *completely different* than the Desktop IE9. As in, logging in and doing things in one, DOES NOT correlate to the other. If you log into this forum here, the other DOES NOT KNOW you did that. Favs aren't sent across. Nothing is, near as I can tell. It's as if you have Deskop IE9, and some other browser like Opera or such on the Phone, and neither the twain shall agreen on a dang thing unless you feed them consecutively the same info.

That alone is a 'business' deal breaker, you cannot have that, IMO, and call it ready for 'business'. I'm sure I'll learn more about that, but I found that completely, totally unacceptable.

---

Well, anyway, enough about the interface, the thing I wanted to know... does it play Co*?

Short answer (after all that? yeesh...) is YES. It does! From scratch. But it isn't *poof*, done, you have to do two big things first.

As I have an nVidia GeForce 9600GT, I had to install the latest Win7 64 bit drivers for that. Co* told me so when it first tried to run, as Microsoft ships a gimped driver for this card "out of the box". So do that first. It's an easy install. I'm assuming that other video cards will likely have this same issue.

But even before the video card driver, I had attempted to go to this website and get the client to install:
http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/my_acc..._of_heroes.php
Specifically, the PC client.

Now, I have to say, this is Co* Installer, but I figured that it was the 'right' thing to do, so I tried to run it.

Could NOT install the game with it. It kept saying the server was unavailable and such. Hm.

So I figure that the problem is that THAT site is WRONG. Seeing how we've 'moved on' to the NCsoft Launcher, and ferreted my way about and found this location for it:
http://us.ncsoft.com/en/launcher/ncsoft-launcher.html

Downloaded that. Ran it. It updated itself. Told it I wanna play Co*. It downloaded a mere 680MBish set of files, and started right up.

Which is stupid.

Why? Because the game starts up, but you *can't do anything*, except play around with the character creator. It's in a 'staged download' setting. The entire game didn't download (which I knew due to the <3GB download) and for it start up but prevent use until "Stage 3" or "Stage 4" completes downloading... Why did that happen?

Further, damn the music is loud, and it's in full screen... Oh, yeah, I can't deal with any of that until I get in a zone, but I CAN'T GET IN A ZONE... Gaah....

So... fine. That's dumb, but I can deal with that.

The other stupid is implied by my ignorance, perhaps I need to try it on an XP or Win7 or such... I'm wondering if they will let the CoH Launcher in the first link run to completion, or is the web page making people irritated by not having the correct launcher link in there? I don't actually know myself... not the point, but hey, an answer to that would be good I think.

---

So I tell the NCSoft Launcher to update the Co* files. Which implies a forced download, which is sketchy I've heard. No matter, my system/internet is up to the task. I leave it for a while and visit my brother.

Come back, and it's done. Verify the new files and such... and voila! In there!

Played about, made a character, got in the zone, dealt with my interface issues... I wonder when they made it possible to make Windowed mode work perfectly without exiting the game. I am very pleased with that new feature.

Once I get the interface done, I do a little playing with the new character (which will get re-rolled, I made him a scrapper and he was s'posed to be a brute... meh.) I am happy to report that, apparently, when Win8 comes out, Co* can be made to run on it rather easily.

In case anyone was wondering. I know I was.

---

Ok, one last thing: Windows 8 seems to be *FAST*. I mean stupid fast. Perhaps it's the empty drive, and definitely partly the clean install, but just like Windows 7 vs WinXP vs Win2000 on the same machine, just swap the hard drives (which are identical) and Win7 whups the other two... Win8 on my machine seem to be in that category on Win7.

Although I admit, I'm stuck(*) with Windows Vista Ultimate on this machine (I'm going back and forth with Win8) and we all know Vista sucks.

And I'm running Win8 64 instead of Win8 32, so there may be something there as well. Too many variables, so maybe you guys/gals just don't put much stock into my speed impression just yet. The real test will be the 32 bit Win8 on a work machine I have later in the week.

/(*) - just can't drag myself to spend money on Win7 for this one. I'm a cheap bastidge, yessir.
//My next one will get it... unless Win8 shows up, then it'll likely be that, if this testing goes well.
///Can't get into my NFL.com fantasy on Win8 IE9... it just refuses to log on... Odd.

when i visited relatives this weekend my cousins and i were discussing this some and we all agreed that the new windows OS looks darned stupid lol

from what you described our assumptions were pretty accurate, it IS stupid, and we will very likely not be using it if we can avoid it

I really need a link for that Beta personally as it's not on MSDNAA yet.

I've seen teh demos and multi-hour presentations and come to the conclusion that this is designed for a touch screen world (IE: no wires at all, no KB, no mouse, etc). It's really fast because of some now forgotten background reworking and you can get to the desktop really quick. The cavet is the BUTT UGLY WinPhone interface. That said, you're not looking at a bunch of Icons, static Thumbnails, etc, but active widget like content that loads the full app on request. You'll get the most out of the system on a tablet based system as the swipe commands are the key interface points.

Anyway, there's no reason the game Shouldn't work great on it give or take how well the newer browser, etc interact with it. HTML5 and all that jazz. As for the trickle download/play function, that's how the game is intended to function now. Somewhere in the i21 details page it talks about how at around 25%(?) the game lets you into the CC and then it assumes you'll be there until it can DL the tutorial. Why they think that you'll be in the bloody tutorial long enough for the rest of the game to load is beyond me unless they really do plan on retro-destructing it the way many of us want it (ALL tutorial related content in the tutorial zone!). So yeah, it's functioning correctly in your situation.

One last thing on Beta OS', they're Faster than the RC's because they don't have all the compatibility bloatware built into it yet. Windows 7 was uuuuuuubbbbbbeeerrrrr fast on this machine during beta, but once the RC's came out it slowed down probably 40%. Granted, it's still faster and feels smoother than XP did, but I'm not ready to load it as my primary yet.

Oh yeah, something that'd be cool if you'd test!
Download/Install XP-mode under Win8, install(copy piggs ;-)) the game within that environment, and let us know how well it runs if you get a chance. ^.^

Again, I'd love to have a link for the Beta DL. O

This is part of the whole "tablets will replace desktops" mentality that is overwhelming in the tech media. Even HP says on one hand that tablets will be dominate in a few years but on the other they cancel their tablet in less than two months.

I will be the first to admit that Apple succeeded in coming out with a nice media consumption hand-held. You can watch movies, you can play games, you can browse the web, you can read e-media, you can listen to music, etc. Wouldn't want to write this post on one without a real keyboard but as a coffee table computer it's great.

And I can see in certain professions that a tablet could work better than either a smart phone or a laptop. But replace PCs wholesale in corporations or homes in the next few years, I don't see it.

As for Microsoft, they basically missed the smart phone revolution, well they are very late to that party. They missed the netbook revolution. Well any environment where the hardware requirement is significantly less than a store bought PC of 5 years ago. At least with Windows 8 they are trying a lot harder in making an OS that is light weight.

As for the smartphone/tablet look of it. Yes it's corny but my Mom would probably like it a lot. The worse thing in my opinion is Microsoft is adding an App Store. I don't want Microsoft, or Apple, to be the gatekeepers of what runs under their OS. That scares me.

RE: The webpage for the link.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516

I think they didn't put it on MSDNAA because they want literally anyone and everyone to try it out, but they sorta make you fall into using the Windows Live! thing to track stuff... you can't NOT select 'send us info', for example, in the setup.

Anyway, get it, enjoy.

/edit: Man, I got to work, where we got Fiber, and it is sill fun to watch a 3GB download happen in 6 minutes.

Right now I have it running in a vm at work and I hate it. I do not know what the hell MS was thinking with that metro ui thing. Its just so fugly, I hope they change it for desktops or give an option to opt out of the UI to get the old one back.

A few things about installing the game.

The new "staged download" is a relatively good idea for new players as this lets them get into the Character Creation stage faster than having to wait for the entire game to download before starting. However, it is horrible for people having to reinstall due to a problem like a hard drive crash or even just an upgrade to a newer computer.

Since you have to wait for Stage 4 to finish before being able to get into the actual game world, it's going to be much better if people start semi-regularly backing up the installation folder to make reinstallations quicker and easier so that they can get back in the game.

The process then would be similar to how we've done quick updates for years, start the installation, stop the installation, copy the files to the new installation folder, Update (or Repair) the installation to get the most up-to-date patches.

As for the capability to switch between Windowed mode and Full screen without restarting the client, that is a new feature in Issue 21, a feature that's long overdue.

I've been messing with Win8 on a Virtualbox VM (VMWare didn't like it.)

The default interface they have right now - the "Metro" thing? I can say already I *despise* it. I use Ninite when I set up a new machine (ninite.com) - one downloader, grabs Firefox, Chrome, all the little utilities and such (it's fairly convenient.) I let that run. Aside from not finishing the install, the "Metro" UI now had not just the program icons, but... basically anything that would be in a "Start menu" entry (uninstallers and the like) that you have to manually remove from that menu.

Plus, it's hideous. It *is* designed for touch screens and phone-ish apps, and so far hasn't wanted to play nicely as a regular desktop OS. (Dear microsoft... we're not moving to tablets. Maybe getting one to work WITH what we do on the PC... but not replacing it.)

I like the new lock screen, mind you - that's a fairly useful thing, and I wouldnt' mind seeing THAT backported to Win7.

There is, by the way, a registry setting to completely disable the Metro UI (instead of the "flip back and forth" bit.) Don't have it near to hand, but with it... well, it's Windows 7.5, and I can stop swearing at the VM to have it do what I want it to do! I'm hoping (expecting) it'll be an official settings option when the OS matures a bit more. I will say that, yes, at this point it *is* quick.

See my Guides and Tutorials

There is apparently a way to make it look like a real desktop, and there is also apparently a way to have the "Windows XP Like" non-bubbly style. However, being that I don't have it myself I have no idea how to tell you how to set that permanently. But someone who works at Microsoft was at my D&D game last Saturday talking about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

There is a potential for a NCSoft Launcher shake up for Windows 8.

.NET is to Windows as the floppy drive was to Apple.

I'd like this to be the spur that NCSoft will use to make a true cross platform launcher...

But I bet they will try to ride out the desktop remains of Windows 8+.

I have it Dual Booting with Windows 7, And so far it's worked fine.

CoX works without even a stutter, I had the same issue with having to install the updated drivers for my graphics card, but honestly you should be doing that anyway. The Microsoft versions are always crappy by comparison. These ones just happen to be basically non existent.

The MetroUI is horrible. Absolutely horrible. The fact that you can't actually CLOSE open metroApps drives me insane. Yes, I know they suspend after 5 minutes of inactivity, and I know they close on their own if they're inactive and your system requires the memory. But I don't like having five things just sat open and the only way to close them to be Task Manager.

That registry fix is a lifesaver though. The MetroUI is counter intuitive, And they dump a whole lot of junk I will never use on there from the start. I much prefer the standard start button... But then, I've had my PC's set up to basically emulate Windows 95 since windows 95 came out, I'm guessing I'm not the target audience for that. I suspect having things right there on the front ready to go with a click or a poke will appeal to the less tech savvy crowd. Like Father Xmas said, I bet my Mom will love it.

But hell yeah, It's fast... REALLY fast. I don't know if that's 'cos it lacks the bloatware that normally fills a windows OS, or if it's really this fast, but either way, It makes me happy!

Semi-related to what Kal posted above.

I work as in the Technology Department for a school district. Several of the work orders I get are along the lines of "I need blahblahblah installed on my computer" or "I need to use blahblahblah for my classes, please install it on all computers in my classroom and all of the labs".

I'd say 98% of the time the blahblahblah is a particular website, and since they don't have a shortcut to it on their desktop, they put in the work order for me to "install" it. In another 1.999999999% of those work orders, it is for a program that is installed on their computer but that doesn't have a shortcut to it on their desktop, therefore I need to "install" it for them. I'm talking about things like Word, Excel, Acrobat Reader, Paint, and ... well ... you get the idea.

Now, I also get the "I'm trying to download Flash Player but it won't download for me, please download it on my computer" when they really mean "Flash Player has an update available that I have no idea if I really need or not, but all software installations require an account with administrator rights to install and you are the only one on campus that has those rights. Please install it even though I may not need this update."

These are the types of people that will likely like the Metro interface. But only if it dumps every possible thing they might or might not need right in their face.

Really? They're making it non dual bootable? That seems somewhat silly...
Especially since I somehow managed to unplug the drive I had it fully installed on, and as it booted it complained that there was a problem with Windows 8, Would I like to boot to another OS?

Ah well, Reasonably certain it'll only take a couple of days until someone hacks that. It's an annoying idea, and from what I've seen, I don't think I'll bother upgrading to it for a good long while, But of course, we're still very early in development... I'm hoping things get much better pretty quick.

Also, am I just stupid, or is it almost impossible to shut down? The only way I could figure using the MetroUI was to log myself out, and then shut down from the log in screen... Was I just missing something?