I've used Stardock applications since the mid-90's when I ran OS/2. They are useful applications and I still use them. But I have to say that Start8 and ModernMix are something of a mixed bag. While their functionality is much appreciated (in fact, the next major Windows 8 update will be providing similar functionality and Windows 9 will improve upon those) both Start8 and ModernMix have caused visual glitches and irregularities and have performed inconsistently while they were installed.
You can guess by my wording that I have uninstalled them and reverted to standard Windows 8.1 functionality, but I DO miss them and am now looking forward to the Windows 8.1 SP, or whatever it will be called, that restores the start menu and enables ModernUI applications to run in windows on the desktop.
The glitches I noticed where that sometimes the Windows Key mapping was lost and the standard Windows start screen would activate, instead of Start8. Other issues were weird flickers and (very quick) window resizing in regards to ModernUI applications running in windowed mode.
Without these two apps installed everything is once again smooth and silky. No visual glitches, hesitations and of course since there is no start screen interception, it works as expected.
I do still use other Stardock/Object Desktop applications. I like Launch8 (which places a Mac OS X - like dock in the Windows start screen), Decor8, which allows me to customize the start screen background and a couple other minor applications having to do with eye candy.
Zookeeper out.
Showing posts with label Windows 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windows 8. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Friday, March 9, 2012
Having a working Windows Key is Apple Pie
For some reason, even with the appropriate dip switches set, my HHKB Pro 2 is not sending the correct signals to represent the "Windows Key", so I have been without it for ages. That was no big deal with Windows 7 as I really didn't miss the functionality. But I had read that the Windows Key (from now on I'll just call it the META key) was useful for W8 shortcuts so I downloaded SharpKey and redefined what was supposed to be the meta key and told it to send the proper meta key bytes.
I can say it really does make a difference. It can snap you in and out of various metro modes in an instant and really does make having the menu button more-or-less obsolete. And playing with it, I've discovered features I had no seen before, like side-bar app switcher.
Anyway, my appreciation for the metro screen[s] has jumped up a notch with the functionality of the meta key.
I can say it really does make a difference. It can snap you in and out of various metro modes in an instant and really does make having the menu button more-or-less obsolete. And playing with it, I've discovered features I had no seen before, like side-bar app switcher.
Anyway, my appreciation for the metro screen[s] has jumped up a notch with the functionality of the meta key.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Networking issue fixed...
I didn't solve it, someone else did. But I found it! :D I am now able to connect to our company network thanks to a simple registry tweak. That, coupled with the Stardock start menu app, gives me nearly the same basic environment I had with Windows 7 WITH all the benefits of Windows 8.
Now I need to get my network printers working. I have one hooked up via USB, which is fine, but I'd like to not be dependent on the physical connection.
Now I need to get my network printers working. I have one hooked up via USB, which is fine, but I'd like to not be dependent on the physical connection.
And some more on Windows 8
Yeah, having trouble coming up with good titles. :)
Today I installed a new app from Stardock / Brad Wardell that sort of replaces the start orb. Basically what it does is crams the metro start pane into a small pane that opens where the start menu always did. It works pretty well, a couple of bugs but this was just written and just published so I expect a number of updates in a short span of time. It DOES also offer the ability to view the full screen version that is standard with Windows 8 with the click of a settings flag. Very nice!
Some things I haven't mentioned about Windows 8 that deserve mentioning. Or really one thing: SPEED. Windows 8 is fast. Seriously. I know people are probably thinking "yeah right, compared to what?". EVERYTHING about Windows 8 is faster. Start up times, shut down times, application start times, web browsing, explorer file listing, etc. When I say everything I mean everything. They've done some serious optimizing.
There was a comparison done somewhere, ARS or maybe Tom's Hardware and Windows 8 had the shortest start up time over all the competitors (linux, Mac OS) by a significant amount. That in itself should give you an idea of how they've changed up this version of their venerable OS.
Even my crammed, shared USB external disk seems to load faster.
There will be more to come. I'll try to think up more clever titles.
Today I installed a new app from Stardock / Brad Wardell that sort of replaces the start orb. Basically what it does is crams the metro start pane into a small pane that opens where the start menu always did. It works pretty well, a couple of bugs but this was just written and just published so I expect a number of updates in a short span of time. It DOES also offer the ability to view the full screen version that is standard with Windows 8 with the click of a settings flag. Very nice!
Some things I haven't mentioned about Windows 8 that deserve mentioning. Or really one thing: SPEED. Windows 8 is fast. Seriously. I know people are probably thinking "yeah right, compared to what?". EVERYTHING about Windows 8 is faster. Start up times, shut down times, application start times, web browsing, explorer file listing, etc. When I say everything I mean everything. They've done some serious optimizing.
There was a comparison done somewhere, ARS or maybe Tom's Hardware and Windows 8 had the shortest start up time over all the competitors (linux, Mac OS) by a significant amount. That in itself should give you an idea of how they've changed up this version of their venerable OS.
Even my crammed, shared USB external disk seems to load faster.
There will be more to come. I'll try to think up more clever titles.
Monday, March 5, 2012
More on Windows 8
I've been using Windows 8 CP (Beta) for a week now and am getting used to it. In reality not much has changed except for some visual and under-the-hood improvements. But it still plays like / feels like Windows 7.
As I mentioned, there are some definite bugs, so unless you are bold and daring and have other ways of getting around issues, don't install and use this just yet. It needs a few more months of brewing.
While I love metro on my phone and no doubt would love it on my tablet, I am coming to the conclusion that they should find a way to keep the start orb and only enable metro full-screen mode on specific devices. I think that some of the metro apps show promise and if they could make them more windowed, less full-screen they would be great. I also DO have to admit I like seeing reminders, social updates and my weather on the metro start panel... but... I spend 99% of my time at the desktop and appreciate the small, pop-up start button/panel of Windows 7.
Even so, it isn't HORRIBLE like some people might have you think. It is quick (the transition from desktop to metro to desktop happens as quickly as you can click your mouse). You can arrange your most used apps in such a way that they will be close to the switching corner. You can also still pin items to the super bar at the desktop level.
I will be monitoring updates and all the feedback on the Windows blogs with interest, to see how this progresses. Meanwhile, since I can run 7 in a VM I can continue to use 8.
Finally I want to mention that 8 is stable at a system level. You don't see crashes. At least I haven't. There are just some driver issues but they will sort themselves out over time.
As I mentioned, there are some definite bugs, so unless you are bold and daring and have other ways of getting around issues, don't install and use this just yet. It needs a few more months of brewing.
While I love metro on my phone and no doubt would love it on my tablet, I am coming to the conclusion that they should find a way to keep the start orb and only enable metro full-screen mode on specific devices. I think that some of the metro apps show promise and if they could make them more windowed, less full-screen they would be great. I also DO have to admit I like seeing reminders, social updates and my weather on the metro start panel... but... I spend 99% of my time at the desktop and appreciate the small, pop-up start button/panel of Windows 7.
Even so, it isn't HORRIBLE like some people might have you think. It is quick (the transition from desktop to metro to desktop happens as quickly as you can click your mouse). You can arrange your most used apps in such a way that they will be close to the switching corner. You can also still pin items to the super bar at the desktop level.
I will be monitoring updates and all the feedback on the Windows blogs with interest, to see how this progresses. Meanwhile, since I can run 7 in a VM I can continue to use 8.
Finally I want to mention that 8 is stable at a system level. You don't see crashes. At least I haven't. There are just some driver issues but they will sort themselves out over time.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Windows 8
Downloaded it the moment it was available and installed it.
So far it has been a mixed bag. The upgrade installation path from Windows 7 failed. I had to start from scratch and perform a clean installation. That in itself was inevitable as I found that the VPN software I need to use does not work in Windows 8 anyway... so I ended up installing Windows 7 in a virtual machine and getting it set up to share disks with my W8 system.
So far Windows 8 is showing that it is absolutely a BETA version of the operating system. It seems a lot rougher around the edges than Windows 7 did when it came out (I have been running W7 since it was publically available).
There are device issues, my networking seems rather unstable and inconsistent. IE 10 (which I am using to post this entry) while fast in some situations, seems doggedly slow in others. It also keeps complaining that something is trying to take it over, it is apparently quite paranoid. It works relatively well until all of a sudden it interrupts whatever you are doing to warn you that BING is no longer your search engine du jour. When it pulls up the settings panel it turns out that not only is Bing still your search engine, it's the only one listed. So I don't know what that is all about.
The UI itself is pleasant. It will take some time to get used to the new full screen start panel, and for the side pop up windows used to manipulate the interface. Explorer is nice. I like the changes Microsoft has made to file copying, the window manager, and the menus having been replaced by the ribbon. They are all pluses.
Power management. Ugh. I build my own machines and Windows has always had one issue or another with them... in this case my machine went to sleep never to wake. I had to reset, when that caused W8 to boot into an unusable state, I performed a hard shutdown, powered off and powered on again. After that she came up fine.
Still, something to watch.
I went and turned off all power saving options. Hopefully that will solve my problem[s] for now.
Since I am now running my work machine in VirtualBox, my Windows 8 installation can be a bit lighter. I am able to share any and all files so I can continue to edit natively, I just have to perform all networked tasks within the VM. So compiling, code management and running the server itself will all take place in the VM.
So, while there are some serious bugs left to be ironed out, I can't say enough about how the general desktop interface has been improved, made more useful, more powerful. I have to admit that I wish there was a way to bring back the start orb, and there IS a registry fix, which I tried, and which then broke my explorer so I had to revert the fix. I think Microsoft is expending too much effort in the new UI to allow the orb to replace it.
So far it has been a mixed bag. The upgrade installation path from Windows 7 failed. I had to start from scratch and perform a clean installation. That in itself was inevitable as I found that the VPN software I need to use does not work in Windows 8 anyway... so I ended up installing Windows 7 in a virtual machine and getting it set up to share disks with my W8 system.
So far Windows 8 is showing that it is absolutely a BETA version of the operating system. It seems a lot rougher around the edges than Windows 7 did when it came out (I have been running W7 since it was publically available).
There are device issues, my networking seems rather unstable and inconsistent. IE 10 (which I am using to post this entry) while fast in some situations, seems doggedly slow in others. It also keeps complaining that something is trying to take it over, it is apparently quite paranoid. It works relatively well until all of a sudden it interrupts whatever you are doing to warn you that BING is no longer your search engine du jour. When it pulls up the settings panel it turns out that not only is Bing still your search engine, it's the only one listed. So I don't know what that is all about.
The UI itself is pleasant. It will take some time to get used to the new full screen start panel, and for the side pop up windows used to manipulate the interface. Explorer is nice. I like the changes Microsoft has made to file copying, the window manager, and the menus having been replaced by the ribbon. They are all pluses.
Power management. Ugh. I build my own machines and Windows has always had one issue or another with them... in this case my machine went to sleep never to wake. I had to reset, when that caused W8 to boot into an unusable state, I performed a hard shutdown, powered off and powered on again. After that she came up fine.
Still, something to watch.
I went and turned off all power saving options. Hopefully that will solve my problem[s] for now.
Since I am now running my work machine in VirtualBox, my Windows 8 installation can be a bit lighter. I am able to share any and all files so I can continue to edit natively, I just have to perform all networked tasks within the VM. So compiling, code management and running the server itself will all take place in the VM.
So, while there are some serious bugs left to be ironed out, I can't say enough about how the general desktop interface has been improved, made more useful, more powerful. I have to admit that I wish there was a way to bring back the start orb, and there IS a registry fix, which I tried, and which then broke my explorer so I had to revert the fix. I think Microsoft is expending too much effort in the new UI to allow the orb to replace it.
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