I
started playing around with Windows 8 when I got my hands on the Developer Preview a while back. At the time poking around in there showed me a lot of things that looked very promising. I saw an OS that was setting itself up to be a decent touch-based platform for mobile devices that retained some (some) of the old school "Start Button" love from previous Windows iterations. Today I started working on Windows 8 Pro (the actual retail version). It'll be available to the general public in October, but my tech pro ilk and I are kind of special, and those of us that are TechNet / MSDN users are pulling it down to play with now. So I got a chance to see what's up. Keep in mind that I installed this on a laptop though, so I don't have the ability to review any of the touch features here.
What I noticed wasn't really wholly different from the Consumer Preview that was released a couple of months ago. It still has the same look and feel, but the user is offered a few additional options for personalizing their start screen and user profile designs. It's quite a bit more colorful and bright than users of XP of Windows 7 are probably used to. And sure, it does look nice. So for those of you that put a premium value on colors and look and feel, there you go. But if you haven't seen anything on Windows 8 yet then you're probably more interested in function. In the words of King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when asking about the holy hand grenade -
"So, uh... how does it work?"
After logging in with your Microsoft ID (or an unlinked local account if you choose), Windows 8 operates in 2 modes - the first is what you start off in, which I'll be calling "8 Mode" for lack of a better term. Call it whatever you want, really, as long as you don't call it "Metro." They kind of frown upon that one now. 8 Mode made my laptop feel like a huge phone, with apps and live tiles for basic settings and social media. 8 mode is also what triggers when the user clicks the Start button. Then there's Desktop mode, or what I call 7.5 - it's reminiscent of Windows 7, only minus the traditional start button and minus aero glass. It's where users can still get to regular things like "My Computer" and document/picture libraries.
Article comments
1 - Melbourne
I will be sticking with Windows 7 on my gaming system too. The *looks around* "Metro" start menu is rather annoying, I much prefer the regular start menu. I might install it on my laptop though, just for fun.
2 - tushar nene
i'm still looking forward to see how it runs on mobile - wish i had some hardware to test it
3 - MechCr8r
Nice, balanced article..thanks. I have convertible tablet/notebook (HP2740p) with multitouch. I use tablet-mode at customers' industrial sites. Love it! I am very eager & excited to see how Win8 will enhance this & all other use. But I'm worried setting myself up for Win8 not meeting my expectations...
4 - Vid
I have RTM enterprise installed on my media PC, dell m5010 laptop and my wife's MSI netbook.
1. It is a learning curve getting used to the new start menu. I'm still learning as I go along. That said, once you get used to it, it is pretty smooth.
2. It was very easy to install and I didn't have to really look for any drivers. I did install the ati catalyst software because I like it but it run perfect without it.
3. IF YOU ARE A MEDIA person and USE TV, you may want to hold off on WIN8, especially if you are NOT tech savvy. It doesn't come with native DVD, blu-ray support out of the box. Win 8 Pro will have the option to download MCE at a later date.
That said, if you still want to test it out, you can easily remedy this by installing shark's codec for win8. I have that installed along with WinDVD for my blu-ray stuff and it works perfect.
As for my TV tuner cards, I it found one and I had to download drivers for the other but they work just fine. In short, 3rd party software is your best friend here.
Over all, I am pretty content with win8, even though i find myself using the desktop more than the start menu (formerly known as metro).
5 - Fahmy Farouk
this is by far the most easy and direct explanation article i have found discribing the first touch experience on windows 8 ... you totally explained it from end-user without any big and mystery tech. terms.. thumbs up
6 - Guish
If they add back the start menu and allow users to boot in desktop mode it will be a huge success.
Start menu is the best place to put apps that you use just occasionally.
Booting in Metro mode is the less efficient way to use a desktop computer.
7 - Mehdin
First impressions were so so. But, after 7 days I found Windows 8 UX very good and now I love it.
There are shortcuts you need to use and with solid PC (dual core, 2 GB of RAM) it works well and smooth.
Now I can start my Apps much faster with tile groups: I simple press Windows key, get my App groups and I find the app in a second.
These groups are much more intuitive than having groups of icons on your desktop. This is something you will love when you create it for you. Also unpin everything you do not use.
I think you should go with it.
Also quick start is really really fast. Starts my OS in 6 seconds.