Windows 8 .. ..worse than Vista!

[StevenWWinters]

Java 32bit is the only option - apparently it has to run in a certain mode on Win 8. I suspect that whatever the issues were, may have caused the java-based yahoo games problems, though I couldn't find any.

Not that it matters now, but I just got around to checking my Win8 system and 64 bit java is installed. You can test in a command prompt with:

java -d64 -version

For 64 bit, should get a response like this:

java version "1.7.0_21"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_21-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.21-b01, mixed mode)

[Jimi King]

Dunno if it's of interest but I recently got a new machine for my home recording studio. My old one ran on XP but was beginning to chug a little, so I reasoned that I'd better buy now as I wanted Windows 7 (didn't fancy 8. Still don't). Last Summer I bought a seriously kicking Dell XPS 8500, which is the machine I'm using right now as my main office/design machine. It has an i7 processor and 16 gig of RAM. It's great. It's also very quiet, which is important as my office is also my studio. It's great that I can make studio voice recordings with the office machine still running. A quick tweak with noise reduction software and all is great.

I called Dell and said that the XPS was great. Can I have the same again? The answer was no. Although their Business section says "We recognise that as a business you need to be able to choose an operating system that suits your needs." it's actually not true. You can't buy an XPS with Windows 7. They won't sell you one. You can only have it with Windows 8. Apparently their licensing agreement with Microsoft prevents them from selling you that combination.

In the end they sold me an Alienware Aurora, which is a gaming machine. They said that it would be as quiet, if not quieter than my favoured XPS. It wasn't. It was huge and when I fired it up it sounded like a Combine Harvester by comparison. I then spent a month from Hell trying to get it sent back. In the end I had to complain to Michael Dell's office US before they finally collected the thing and refunded my money. Interesting point here for would be Dell UK customers. If you can avoid it, and want any chance of returning a product, never buy from Dell Business, because your contract has practically no right of return. Whereas if you purchase from Dell Home and Home Office, you are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations Act and you can basically just send it back if you don't like it (although it still took me a month of calls to get them to do so).

In the end I bought a PC from a company called Quiet PC. And it is indeed completely quiet. The machine is completely fanless. You press the button and apart from a green light that comes on at the front, you'd never actually know it was on until the screens come to life. It cost a little more, but it's actually a little higher spec than my XPS, and it's Windows 7 Pro 64. It actually has two SSD hard drives, so aside from the CD/DVD drive, it actually has no moving parts whatsoever.

[pauland]

Steven,

Windows 8 is history in our house.

This is what the Java help says:

Will Java run in Start screen on Windows 8?

Microsoft Windows 8 does not support plug-ins in the Start screen and therefore Java will not run in the Start screen. You will have to switch to the Desktop screen to run Java.

When will Java be supported in Windows 8?

Windows 8 is officially supported with the release of Java 7 Update 10. Java will only be supported in Desktop screen. Java will not run in the Start screen.

Why do I only get the 32-bit Java when I go to Java.com?

Java.com provides a Java version based on your browser and operating system (OS). If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows 8, you have access to 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer 10 on your system. The desktop version of the Windows 8 OS does not run in a full 64-bit mode (unless you have Enhanced Protected Mode in Internet Explorer 10 turned on), thus 32-bit Java is the default.

[StevenWWinters]

Windows 8.1 unveiled: will it change your mind about Windows 8?