Reviews - Windows 8 - Part One: The Rebirth

[HEXUS]

Microsoft's reimagined and reinvented operating system under the microscope.

Read more.

[dfour]

Look forward to reading the second part and that might make me decide if its worth bothering with on a gaming desktop.

Keep it up Hexus

[chates]

Very interesting, also looking forwards to part 2. I've generally been of the opinion that there is no point upgrading my PC as I don't have a touch screen, but I would like to know what the experience is like without one

[cjs150]

I like Windows 7 on my main pc. Touch is a complete waste of time on that machine because my arms are not long enough to touch the screen! If it works sensibly without touch I may give it a go on my main machine.

I will be installing it on my HTPC though. Tiles make more sense on a screen 8 ft away then a standard desktop. The fact the WMC has not been upgraded, there is no Blu-ray support does rather worsen the idea. When XBMC get proper native blu - ray support and the TV back end becomes mature, W8 goes on the HTPC as well

[crossy]

The Modern UI adorning the Windows 8 Start screen is so different that many users will initially feel lost, and a thorough demonstration - or better still, a video detailing the new interface - should be here to help newcomers get accustomed to navigating Windows 8.

I really hope that the comment above gets back to someone in the Windows development team at Microsoft. That was the experience of one of my relatives who got "dropped in the deep end" (his words) of Windows 8 this weekend, having been a happy Windows 7 user previously. More information for folks transitioning (especially if the upgrade packs are going to be popular this Christmas) would be highly desirable.

I might have a Windows 7 -> 8 migration to do at Christmas, so I'm hoping that the User Migration Assistant that I used to go from XP to 7 is still available for the 7 to 8 jump. That really did make the process of moving a user from older OS to a new one a no-brainer.

Can't help thinking though, that if touch is such a big part of the whole Windows8/MUI "experience" then there's surely scope for the manufacturers of touch screen monitors to do some kind of discount deal on the Windows8 software upgrade with their products to drive demand.
I'll echo the statements of the folks above - good article and I look forward to part 2.

[tickleonthetum]

My wife who uses a computer all day as part of her job (Customer Services using a PC as a data entry/query tool in the local council) has given Windows 8 the thumbs down. She said it would make her job harder and be more complicated and time consuming to use.

She also pointed out that because of the nature of her job she has to have several programs running AND on screen at the same time and be able to cut and past between them very quickly. She said the 'App' environment would be useless to her and all the others at work.

Bearing in mind that it takes her system 20 minutes to boot, login (separately) to about a dozen bespoke packages and be ready to start working her IT department wouldn't have a clue how to get Windows 8 up and running in any sort of useful manner. As they insist that the whole council all use one OS hten they will be sticking with Windows 7 for a very long time! (They only upgraded from XP to Windows 7 a couple of months ago after lots of problems!).

She said Windows 8 looks OK for on a tablet or phone but looks stupid on a desktop PC, especially as there are hardly any touch enabled ones around and no one has the money to waste on new monitors just for a gimmick. Her view was that Microsoft should have released 2 products "Windows 8 Touch" and "Windows 8 Desktop" and each of those should have come in 2 'flavours'... "Standard" and "Pro". Windows 8 Touch should also come with both x86 and ARM on the same disc so you could just choose which to install.

The economic climate is all wrong for launching such a major change of paradigm.

We won't be getting Windows 8 and will wait to see what Windows 9 is like... hopefully more like what she suggested:

Windows 9 Touch (x86/ARM on single disk)
Standard [Retail version: £39.99, upgrade version £19.99 - both on disk!]
Pro [Retail version: £49.99, upgrade version £25.99 - both on disk!]
Windows 9 Desktop (x32/x64 on single disk)
Standard [Retail version: £39.99, upgrade version £19.99 - both on disk!]
Pro [Retail version: £49.99, upgrade version £25.99 - both on disk!]

Thus you go into a shop/online and choose Tablet or PC, then Upgrade or Retail, then Standard or Pro. Simple clear steps, well priced.

[ladcrooks]

So you tell me whose gonna touch their 30 inch screen? I believe you get an app to make any screen do this!

Cos I am not going to go down that route, imagine all that bloody cleaning, anyone thought of that? Ok to wipe ur silly android 7 inch screen on ur jumper sleeve!
Toys, toys, toys, that's all they are to me, - just my view only!

Look and see in a few years time when spec savers will be the biggest company on the planet! Why? Because of all these silly gadgets kids want, oh and grown ups.
My nephew was watching a film on something like 4'' screen! Blaaa! Blaaaa! All these poxy gadgets have taken over most of your tech sites! Oh the good ole days are gone.

[Boris]

Great article, I'm looking forward to part 2.

I installed Windows 8 onto my laptop on Saturday and I'm very pleased with it.

I've had no driver issues and happily played a few games on it. Not bad considering the laptop is 4 years old.

I went through my list of activities for a new build PC and was happy to find a couple of them were unnecessary: no need to download Microsoft Security Essentials as it is incorporated into Windows Defender; Graphics driver up-to-date and working fine.

The new UI really suits my taste. It's refreshing to see a personalized and active screen when you log in. All the active tiles showing up-to-date news/sports/etc.

Programs and apps are easy to launch and the desktop is one click away.

Search is a dream, no more faffing around on the Start button.

[Boris]

She also pointed out that because of the nature of her job she has to have several programs running AND on screen at the same time and be able to cut and past between them very quickly. She said the 'App' environment would be useless to her and all the others at work.

I don't presume to understand your wife's operating environment but, just to pick you up on the comment I have quoted, the desktop is still available. Everything you did on the Desktop in Windows 7 you can do in Windows 8.
Apps themselves are less flexible (I mean the 'new' apps as MS is referring to legacy programs as apps too) but they too can be shown side by side etc.

[OilSheikh]

This app way of thinking is what will cause Microsoft to have bad sales for Windows 8. Mark my words!

Already looking forward to Windows 9 next year

[tribaljet]

Having been quite happy with Windows 7, Windows 8 presented itself as a lighter and higher performing Windows 7 that just happened to have a new UI slapped on top of it. Half an hour in, and Windows 8 now boots straight to Classic Desktop, Modern UI doesn't pop up for even a single second.

While there might be people looking forward to Modern UI without touch-enabled hardware (as odd as it might sound), the new UI is definitely geared towards such hardware, and it's definitely made to feel smooth while using. I personally have no interest in Modern UI, but the Windows 8 core is very solid and still customizable enough to become as usable as Windows 7.

[wasabi]

Fine for faddish touchscreen toys, rubbish for everything else.

[Geoff I]

Fine for faddish touchscreen toys, rubbish for everything else.

Please explain why it is rubbish for everything else?

I have been running Windows 8 since it was launched I am finding my way round easily, all my programs run on Windows 8 as they did on Vista.

[crossy]

(wasabi: Fine for faddish touchscreen toys, rubbish for everything else.) Please explain why it is rubbish for everything else? I have been running Windows 8 since it was launched I am finding my way round easily, all my programs run on Windows 8 as they did on Vista.

I think that what wasabi is getting at is the usual MUI complaint that for non-touchscreen users it's actually getting in the way - pretty but not necessarily productive. Actually my relative's experience so far (new Samsung all-in-one) is that there's really not anything that MUI is doing that gives him that "ooh, that's clever" feeling. Instead it's a case of frustration at "how do I do X".

Just finished using the MUI-like dashboard for the XBox, and while it was very usable there were some omissions. e.g you can play a game/dvd/etc but can't eject the disk using the touch/gesture UI, but you can with the controller based UI. I'm willing to bet that Windows8's implementation is similar.

[deejayburnout]

Interesting read but i just don't like the new UI.

Was expecting higher spec pc required also.

[mikerr]

Even if you just use the classic mode (almost identical to w7), I find it feels much faster than windows 7 - or XP
-and I've been using XP on many PCs in favour of vista/7 in the past, win8 is faster.

Can you do everything in the tile interface ? No.

Do you even have to ? No - IMO win8 is a good performance upgrade for windows 7 even if you don't use the tile interface...