"8 Mode"
As you can see from the screenshot at beginning of this article, 8 Mode looks like a big cell phone interface. Imagine swiping left and right on that screen to get to a number of tiled apps, just like you do on your Android or iDevice. It runs on live tiles and apps as opposed to full applications that users are accustomed to. Instead of opening and closing programs like we did in XP and 7, the apps stay on and running all of the time (again, like mobile), letting the user switch between them with Alt-Tab or other mouse driven means. While the apps aren't active, Windows drops their resources down to run in the background so it doesn't hog up system memory. The design from the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview has been altered slightly, and the newer scheme really reminds me of the tile system for what currently runs on Windows Phone 7 devices. The advantage of this interface is really geared for mobile devices - something akin to what we can expect from the ARM Windows RT powered Surface tablets to be released later this year. There's also an option to show more tiles, covering quick access to common functions like the control panel and other system settings.
I can at least say that there more apps on the Microsoft Store than I remember there being while playing with the Consumer Preview. 8 Mode comes stock with a "Games" app, linking up with a user's Microsoft / Xbox Live ID, as well as built-in "all in one place" social apps. Another default app is for mail, which handles both Microsoft and third party email accounts. A number of other apps exist for sports, news and travel, which basically act as RSS feeds that look a lot brighter and more colorful than what you're used to on your basic feed reader. See? A big phone. But there's one thing that gives me pause so far, and that's the Microsoft Store. Like its competitors, Microsoft lets users broaden their experience by downloading apps for multiple things, but the problem is that it still needs some development.
If you look at Microsoft's future competition in Android and iOS devices, there's a large gap that has yet to be covered. Those mobile platforms rely very heavily on the Android Market and App Store to provide a vastly expandable and richer mobile experience to users. This "8 Mode" interface, which in my opinion would in fact work great with a touchscreen and is posed to compete in its own right, is only going to be able to deliver an experience to rival the other heavy hitters in the mobile space if they can expand what's available in the Microsoft Store. Microsoft's also trying to cash in on the cloud trend with their new SkyDrive initiative for those who love to share and/or overshare on the run, but the whole package is going to need a little more substance.
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.