So windows 8 came out. I wasn't one of the earlier rtm or beta adopters, so this is a new experience for me. Some people have asked me what i think of it and here's my results.
1. price. If you're running a relatively modern system and you have vista or xp, dump that crap. Now. This is the first upgrade microsoft has offered that is relatively affordable. I went the download route and it was painless and i was able to purchase it with paypal.
"The install":thumb:
Microsoft has made the upgrade universal this time. I went for the professional upgrade, and i could have applied it to any version of windows since xp, whether or not it was also professional. The upgrade was also cheap. Really cheap. Cheaper than OSX cheap. The standard price for the download upgrade is $39 but with a promo code it can be had for less. Google how to get one. *I paid $16* for a brand new version of windows. The only odd incident i had on the install is that it did not remove the win7 entry from my start list. The win 7 that it replaced... hmm.
"The new Metro Interface":thumb:
People are talking like it's the new future and the desktop is the old way of doing things. Here's the truth:
The new tiled interface (microsoft frowns upon people calling it metro) is simply a replacement for both the start screen AND gadgets.
I've been toying with the idea of making a grid-based start menu like this for a while, and microsoft beat me to it.
"Learn to Love your Keyboard":down:
studies have shown that the efficiency of a person using windows is much higher if they use the keyboard when available over using the mouse. Microsoft seems to be forcing the issue with windows 8. You will either use keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier or give yourself carpal tunnel. Even simple tasks such as logging in require you to drag a huge window from the top of the screen to the bottom. This is also the method to close any metro app or switch from desktop. Navigating the new panels is pretty difficult in general. In fact i actually have a pen input monitor and the spot you have to hover in the corners is too small for me to use it. But from the keyboard everything is super easy. Heck to search for something you dont even have to do anything besides start typing.
"Hardware Support":thumb: That monitor which i mentioned earlier? It required custom drivers in vista and 7 because they both identified it as a mouse. That is no problem in 8. Every single bit of oddball hardware i own was identified and installed.
"Software Support" :down: :thumb: This is a mixed bag. I haven't had any issues running my installed software. The problem is i had to uninstall some stuff, more specifically a virtual drive program, before i could upgrade. Some people who rely on these (and i am one of them because i have most of my software backed up to iso files) are having issues even with programs that are supposed to work in windows 8. Programs such as system reboots. On the other hand, it's not a deal breaker for me because i can still dual-boot if i need access to them.
"Eye Candy":confused: They seem to have removed aero glass. This is a trend. The live wallpaper that vista ultimate had is gone, and now glass effect is gone also? Window borders look horrid. Aero Peek no longer functions and the "show desktop" button is invisible although it is still there.
"Media Center" :eek2: This is a really confusing subject. It doesnt come with windows 8 professional officially, but until january they are giving away free install codes. So i installed it. Not only is it exactly like the win 7 media center in every conceivable way, but it actually kept my plug-ins. This leads me to believe it was actually there already and they want you to have to jump through hoops to unlock it. It took three hours for them to mail me the code.
"Metro Apps" :thumb::down: for the most part i've had good luck with some and bad with others. I'm fully integrated with my google account, my twitter account, and my facebook account directly in my contacts list, email app, and messaging app. However... It was two days before photos started showing up in any of those three apps, and some still don't show up. If it's a non-embedded image in an email it won't show it and that's that. Ad photos in the music app have never appeared for me, and some images that i swear are locally stored don't show up. This includes the photos app. It can display your facebook photos. While i can view them just fine inside the contacts app, they don't show up in the pictures app. Just the x placeholders. I can't blame this on the OS though, without more testing. I use a non-standard method of connecting to the internet and as far as i know there may be some kind of server-side blockage since i'm using 4g tethering for internet.
"Final Thought":thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::down:
the metro interface still needs a little work. It could use sub-folder support for apps like office which populate half the screen with buttons. However the fact it's still a familiar interface for the most part and you don't have to use metro, really. There are start menu replacements for free, but you can just create a shortcut to C:\Users\John\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu (use your own name) although this doesn't list public apps. that's a 2nd folder. However probably the best replacement is free, and it's found here: classicshell.sourceforge.net/
this could be a great stepping-stone for some upgraders since it can emulate the start menu from xp, vista, or 7, and has an option to force win 8 to boot directly to desktop.
Win8 simplifies some things, groups others oddly. The new interface is simple to understand and use, and you can uninstall apps by right clicking on them. However this only works from the new start menu.
So here you go. If you have anything of your own experiences to post, please do so.