Your Carrara experience with Windows 8
NetWorthy
Posts: 0
I'm getting a new workstation for my biz. I really wanted to get it with Windows 7 preinstalled, but alas this was not an option. So I would like to hear your experiences (and TIPS) with Carrara on this platform. From where I sit, the Metro start menu is kinda cheezy - a smartphone screen writ large or something - and mouse actions are sometimes headscratchers. But I can get over these annoyances if the desktop works OK with Carrara and other favorite software. So... fire away!
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Mine came with win8 too, thankfully I still had my win7 DVD. I hated W8 so much, if I wanted a smart phone, I woulda bought a smart phone, not a PC :P
There are some addons that will restore the old desktop and start menu, but the new crap was still there hiding stealing resources.
I've been using Win8 Pro for a while now and have had no issues with it.
Carrara runs normally with it and Hexagon too with no real problems.
The biggest thing to get over with Win8 is the start screen. I personally find it a rather fast and intuitive way to work after getting used to it.
Hit the windows key (yes that one on the keyboard that you never use) for the start screen, click on a tile to launch, simple.
When your (not metro) software is running its on the desktop anyway, so if you have a few running you can just use your task bar like the olden days.
Also the mail program is again different to Live Essentials but better and there are other useful apps that you can't get with Win7, like the people app which links your twitter and Facebook feeds.
Embrace the future people.
OK, 77 people visited the thread and only 2 responses...
One respondent disliked Win8 so much, he installed Win7. Great, but it didn't really answer the question did it.
The second was more helpful: Carrara works fine on Win8 - Great news! Then a stated preference towards Win8, not helpful but OK, every OS has strengths and weaknesses, guess it fits his workstyle OK. Then he takes it where it shouldn't go: "Embrace the future people," he sniffs from his lofty position of superiority.
"The future?" I think not. To me all of these full screen apps resemble the UIs on well-designed full screen MS-DOS TSR programs of the past than anything else. This is not necessarily a bad thing in the right arena, namely devices with limited screen space and touch screens: smart phones, IPADs, and most tablets. In MY workstyle, I usually have a dozen windows open at a time with stuff arrayed across a couple of 23" monitors - a full screen app makes NO sense in this environment. I think the real answer is that Win8 is a transition (a clumsy one) to the real future. MS is struggling for a way to consistently present an OS that works on any platform in the current BYOD free for all. It is a daunting task.
My reason for posting here is simple: I want to know if one of my favorite tools will work in this new environment - and you can be sure I'm checking the rest of my toolbox on other forums, too. Being cautious about jumping into something new and gee-whiz is not stodgy, it is called experience. (Another word for "experience" is "scar tissue.") I have seen far too many "great new ideas" that end up wasting time and money - and I don't have excessive quantities of either to piss away right now.
If you actually READ my original post, I'm not too thrilled with aspects of Win8 but willing to go with it IF my major tools all work OK. I can understand why people bash MS, they have a really bad habit of releasing horrible "dot zero" releases before they are clean or sometimes even completely thought-out. But one of the reasons MS is so big is they almost always put right the "dot zero" mess and make the stuff WORK, and I am willing to ride along knowing this IF it doesn't hurt too bad up front.
Its sad to say, but the most eloquent comments seem to be coming from the people who are silent to this thread: Apparently Carrara on Win8 is a big fat non-issue. And THAT is exactly what I wanted to know.
Yeah sorry lol. I just never even got to the point where I had all my basic stuff installed, let alone carrara. Even with win7, I strip out everything not needed, I don't need pretty bells and whistles, I need all my processing power for graphic programs. The only reason I tolerate windows at all, is because a lot of the programs I use don't have linux versions :(
Anyways, good luck with your win8 adventure, hope your programs run smoothly for you :D
Kind of a safe assumption these days, most people around here have way better systems than I lol.
Well, I haven't upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 8. Windows 7 works fine and the hassle of changing operating system, re-installing software, is not a priority for me. I have enough hassles for now. Maybe I'll skip Windows 8 altogether, after all, if I don't hear news that it is so awesome that it cannot be avoided. I didn't hear that yet. I know some people who still use Windows XP, and are happy with it. I think sometimes change for the sake of change, or for some bells and whistles, is a bit silly.
I ran Carrara 8.5 Pro beta on Windows 8 no problems.
I can't add anything to the Windows 8 discussion as I don't use any flavor of Windows, but you may get more informative follow-up responses if your second post in this thread didn't have that scolding demeanor. Instead, the post I quoted could turn people off. Especially since you only have five posts listed. I know if it was a Mac OS related question I would think twice before responding after seeing your snippy and somewhat sarcastic response.
I've been running Carrara 8.5 beta on windows 8 almost every day for about a month.
It works good. Crashes about as often as on windows 7 and win xp. maybe less. (Doesn't happen often.)
But like all projects. Save. and Save often!
So to recap. I don't believe Carrara in Win 8 vs 7 should be an issue and talking up your time with worrying about it.
I have noticed the Menu bar in Carrara as well as Photoshop, Adobe creative suite becoming unresponsive more than on my win 7 machine. But just use ctrl+S save. close and start up again. (Not sure if this is a Win8 bug or my new laptop processor threading.)
I've got nothing great to say about win8. But it only took 3 days use to get back up to full speed as compared to win7.