This is fairly quick, but I wanted to do a first impressions post after about a half hour of playing around with Windows 8 [Referred to as W8]. It is fairly solid. It takes a little getting used to; but that is normal for a complete UI overhaul. Bear in mind that I am running this in a virtual machine and not as an install on a hard drive. So let me dive right in to it.
What I like:
It is pretty. No lie. It is a complete departure from the traditional Windows environment. If you have played around with the Windows Phone 7 OS then you know about the tiles. They are nice and easy to navigate. You get a tile for an app. Easy as pie. Some tiles are live updating; meaning that they continuously update their info and display it. These tiles include your mail, calendar, weather, music, and messenger. The People tile is really unique. It is about time a major OS takes social media into consideration and lets you integrate it natively. iOS from Apple uses deep Twitter integration but is lacking in Facebook integration. Microsoft lets you pick you social media you use and pulls from that. Nice touch Redmond. The hot corners are pretty click; albeit they take some time getting used to. It is nice to have especially with a mouse because it is a fairly easy way to get back Home. One of the biggest gripes I have with previous versions of Windows [Including you W7] is that there is no calendar. OS X has shipped with a calendar for god knows how many versions. I know that I could have used Outlook for my calendar; but that involves opening a separate program for a calendar. Gmail calendar is still my favorite just because of my Android phone, and the sharing with my parents.But Microsoft is heading the right direction. They are also taking a cue from Apple. Apple’s former CEO, the late Steve Jobs said that they were “demoting” the Mac to be on the same level as the rest of its devices. Microsoft isn’t “demoting” the PC; they are just working on making it more attractive for a consumer to invest in their ecosystem. XBOX LIVE integration in W8 and WP7 makes it all an interesting pairing. Microsoft is pushing towards a closer integration for those who already own a XBOX to bring more and more streaming and media content to the living room without a dedicated PC. It is an interesting step forward, and one that will soon either succeed or fail miserably.
What I don’t like:
Everything is still in “preview”; meaning it isn’t final yet. Everything has an additional menu for “feedback”. There is still some polishing that Microsoft needs to take care of; but mostly small things. First off, make it easy to add a Power Options tile to the Metro UI. It isn’t difficult to find; but not in as intuitive location as in the classic “start menu”. The ability to switch to the classic desktop is nice; but there is no direct way to just click and be back at the Metro UI. Mashing on your Windows Key will have the effect; but not everyone is comfortable in a keyboard heavy experience. There is a somewhat unified menu action, which is the right click. But I discovered this by accident. Microsoft needs to have a small tour video that plays when a fresh install is booted into for the first time; kinda like the old “Take a tour of Windows XP!” balloons; but much much less annoying. Both mouse buttons are used heavily; and some places there is no need to. When opening the bar on the left that contains the open windows, a little “X” icon would make closing apps and windows a breeze. I know the right click takes a fraction of a second; but just as a streamlined experience. The Music and Video apps took me to XBOX Live Marketplace and encouraged me to buy the music. I couldn’t find an option to add my own music that I already own the collection; I will look into this more.
Other than those few small things, I don’t have too many complaints at the time. I will try to play with it a little more; and I’m thinking of installing it on Identity Crisis using the old hardware while waiting for the new parts to arrive. That being said, here are my final thoughts:
Gorgeous interface.
Benefits greatly from a touch screen.
Needs little tweaks with the mouse navigation.
Installed fast and booted quickly.
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