Articles in the series:
- Windows 8 Final Review – Introduction and Disclaimers
- Windows 8 Final Review Part 2 – The Microsoft Vision
- Windows 8 Final Review Part 3 – What Microsoft got right
- Windows 8 Final Review Part 4 – What Microsoft got wrong – Metro Tiles
- Windows 8 Final Review Part 5 – What Microsoft got wrong – Usual Suspects
- Windows 8 Final Review Part 6 – Summary and Conclusions
The way Microsoft is going with Windows 8, I can guarantee
Windows 8 Will ROCK!!
Window 8 looks like it was made by Fisher-Price
and fisher price sells like crazy
and you have own, enjoy and still playing with fisher price
I have spent a long time getting Windows 8 Consumer preview configured and the last release preview isn’t capable for an update by keeping my programs, account, files and drivers. Is the latest version so different that the preview Windows 8 must be erased ?… I don’t understand the game Microsoft is playing, but many customers will be lost if they continue this way, our patience is limited …
Generally Microsoft donot supports upgrading a Beta Os. On the other hand you can upgrade from Windows 7 into Windows 8 Release preview even when both the OSes are entirely different…
A Wrong Decision by Microsoft….
i tried the w8 RC os and it was a terrible experience. The install was ok, but changing the color of the screen from Settings page caused the system to lock up and need to reboot manually. For this, forget it. Windows 8 can never meet all users on all devices. Sorry, but even God has a hard time, all users on all devices. Logging in to Microsoft god at first screen was like big brother. OMG, help me on that one. Windows 7 for a long time here. Thanks for so many Windows 8 news.
lol, is the car meant to symbolise win 8?
ok, lets add a little perspective.
Why does apple succeed with their products? They are simple and intuitive to use. You switch it on, and immediately know what to do. As outlined by several articles, the Windows 8 UI is not immediately intuitive, you have to learn to use it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4boTbv9_nU), unlike many apple products. I think its almost certain, the the first few applications developed for Windows 8 will almost certainly suck, but get better over time.
I definitely see the value of Metro, but for a power user I don’t like it in a traditional PC setting. I believe Windows 8 would be amazing in a “Post PC era”, which in my opinion has not yet arrived for most people (sorry apple). In my opinion the Post PC era will begin when we can do 95% of our daily task on a tablet or other mobile device, until then we still live in a PC world. Microsoft has definitely shown a lot of forward thinking on this, but I hope their forward thinking does not end them up in trouble again.
Congratulations for this nice article.
I do like touch in Desktop, for example in the HP TouchSmart.-
A lot of ink over “perspective”… But very little perspective…
“… but for a power user, I don’t like it in a traditional PC setting.” – I’ve got my ways…I’ve not changed them since (insert Al Gore’s inaugural speech date…. whoops… didn’t happen)
Apple Macs are A LOT less intuitive than they are portrayed to be… ?!?!… Heresy!… wait… a show of hands for the all those who know why there’s no “Command-X” Cut functionality in Finder… Refresh Finder… hit the…. the… “There is no refresh keystroke/button in Finder” key… very intuitive…
How long did APPLE carry Carbon apps after killing OS 9….. about 8 years…really intuitive to throw in gobs and gobs of 32-bit Carbon code for developers to just be lazy with for years and years… very intuitive…
“..the first few apps devloped for Windows 8 will almost certainly suck…” Like ALL the Mac OS X apps that came charging out the door… in… 2001? No. 2003? No. 2005? Kinda… 2008?! More yes, than no…. Has Adobe’s CS6 been Cocoa-ized yet… Kinda….
95% of the work done on PCs is more like 30% of what should be getting done, if not for people downloading porn, playing Solitaire and tweeting how much fun they’re having at doing something other than learning how to do their jobs better.
ok lets calm down, perhaps my wording was not the best in my comment.
I was simply comparing Microsoft to Apple and not making a direct comparison between both operating systems (which probably was a flaw in itself given the context).
1) Command-x does provide cut functionality in OS X.
2) Refresh key in finder? I had no idea Windows Explorer had a refresh key, call me ignorant but I never had to use it, and there is no reason why a good File explorer (windows explorer and finder) should have a refresh key. Internet browsers, Yes, but thats another story.
3) “”… but for a power user, I don’t like it in a traditional PC setting.” – I’ve got my ways…I’ve not changed them since (insert Al Gore’s inaugural speech date…. whoops… didn’t happen)” Glad we live in a free world and are all entitled to our own opinion. Still don’t like Windows 8 on a PC with a mouse and keyboard, many professionals share my opinion.
4) “How long did APPLE carry Carbon apps after killing OS 9….. about 8 years…really intuitive to throw in gobs and gobs of 32-bit Carbon code for developers to just be lazy with for years and years… very intuitive…” Fair point. But Microsoft did similar things with Windows.
5)””..the first few apps devloped for Windows 8 will almost certainly suck…” Like ALL the Mac OS X apps that came charging out the door… in… 2001? No. 2003? No. 2005? Kinda… 2008?! More yes, than no…. Has Adobe’s CS6 been Cocoa-ized yet… Kinda….” I think OS X only became good when Apple switched to the Intel platform in 2007, and I switched in 2009 so it would not be fair for me to comment on OSX before that, since I had limited experience in using it.
6) “95% of the work done on PCs is more like 30% of what should be getting done, if not for people downloading porn, playing Solitaire and tweeting” If thats what you do at work, I hope your boss is not reading this blog.
Look, I was not trying to say Apple was better than Microsoft, or OSX was better than Windows 8, I was simply suggesting a comparison and stating some concerns I have with Windows 8. I think mobile devices (inc. tablets) are separate devices from PC’s and should be treated as such. At the moment I think apple is taking a more sensible approach than Microsoft. Also please don’t assume that just because someone uses apple products, or mentions the world apple, they are an apple fanboy and buy anything shiny they make. I have criticised apple many times, and try to keep my comments and opinions as impartial as possible.
After extensive testing, my opinion is that Windows8 = Millennium.
I am sure that MS is heading toward a great OS, but this will not be it.
Thank you Onuora for posting this. I feel the same way about Windows 8. I was toying around with the Preview (some things I liked and many things I didn’t like) and then I went to upgrade to the Release and it failed 🙁
So I installed it fresh but when I got into it I really didn’y have the interest to do anything. That is sad.
I remember when Windows 7 Beta came out I installed it on a new drive and knew right from the get-go it just felt right. I knew it was the system I would buy when it was released to comsumers.
Windows 8 does not impress me at all… I do not have the drive to explore the new way Microsoft is offering. So I will hold on to Windows 7 for a while until I see some changes or work-arounds that make Windows 8 more friendly to me.
Change is great but;
*example: Don’t sell me a car and have me search for the power windows button or the windshield washer switch. They should be readily available. New features to find and adjust to …yes I am all for it!
cheers
I use several PC’s and Apple products including iPads, iPhones, Macbook Pros, and several PC’s all running Windows 7. Some are configured as HTPC’s others are used as traditional PC’s. I have to say that I don’t understand what Microsoft is thinking. I’ve used Windows since version 3 and I think they’ve misread what benefits the USER replacing it by a misguided marketing strategy. Really? Use an OS designed for a touch screen on a desktop PC? Slide the mouse to a corner to bring up a menu? How intuitive is that? How is clicking on a tile different than clicking on an icon? Pay for Media Center which previously came with Windows? BTW, I tested WMC and the option to have the PC start with the WMC has been removed. Perhaps this will be added in for the final version.
Will business users really want to use this given re-training costs and lost productivity during a learning curve? Perhaps if everyone were using tablets, Windows 8 would work, but we don’t. In the real world many of us still use PC’s for productivity. I’m disappointed in Microsoft. Needless to say I’ll be sticking with Windows 7 as I suspect many other PC users will.
exactly my thinking ;).
I personally really enjoy windows 8 more than seven because it contains windows 7. I also really like metro. I have a windows 7 phone now because I intend to unify my life around Microsoft products, and I must tell you, I am an incredibly difficult person to sell anything to. Matter of fact, until you told me that the motivation of Microsoft is to get persons unified around there products, I did not know. I just love their technology. I have spent a lot of time researching whether to go Android, Windows or Apple for my next big purchase, which is a tablet, and I have decided to wait until windows 8 comes out. My only hesitation to usuing 8 is that I will have to reinstall all my audio recording software, and then, I will have to get new licenses for some of them because they use Hardware ID to validate installs. That being said, I am most interested in knowing how you tweaked windows 7
If you install windows 8 on your current PC, where your audio recording software is, you will not have to purchase a new license. Also I would suggest approaching the company who wrote the software and ask them to reset the license so you can install is on a new device.
The bigger issue with WinRT is that the API (let alone the apps for that API) aren’t fully fleshed-out – which is a problem when you are competing with established (and niche) APIs and OSes such as Android and iOS. When compared to Android and iOS, the flaws of WinRT are evident; however, if WinRT cloned either, it would very much get whacked over the head for it. Worse, a LOT of users of Windows are like the government of Pakistan – cognizant only of the immediate (local) picture; while they have a very good idea why the WinRT API exists (and even why it is part of the Windows 8 whole, and not just in WindowsRT), they could care less about it. Because it’s even there (never mind that they don’t have to use much, if any, of it) the mere fact that it’s there is a turn-off to them. What they want is nothing more than Windows 7 2.0.
A majority of us hate learning new things but as time changes the weather changes and we have to learn to adapt to the new weather conditions.
Our computing ability was threaten when windows 95 and some of us wanted to stay with windows 3, Microsoft was all wrong then. Time came to pass and we moved to win 95 and enjoy it, then came win 98, win me, win XP, win vista, Win . All along the way the old has always been better than the new, along the way our comfort zone has been threaten, along the way we have resisted the move, along the way we have enjoy the new change, and along the way we have seen the importance and need for the changes.
Windows 8 is here, tomorrow will be windows 9, 10 11, or what…..
I think Microsoft is heading in the right direction, they may not be there yet and they may never get there because more than 3 billion minds want it their way.
Nice article!
If you don’t play an xbox 360 with the current home screen you will probably never like the windows 8. I say that because I think windows 8 metro ui based around how the the xbox 360 home screen looks now but with more options because its not just a game console os. And it is faster to boot into the metro ui than the windows 7 ui. I have noticed a speed difference. I have a gaming pc running @ 4.0GHz and windows 7 ui made it run like it was @ 3.0GHz or lower vs. Windows 8 made full use of my 4.0GHz and 8gigs of ram. My point is that windows 8 is all around a better os than windows 7. I will be getting windows 8 and getting rid of win7 completely.
You cannot get rid of Windows 7. According to Microsoft:-
“All the things you love and care about Windows 7 is still there. In most of the cases it’s better than Windows 7.”
Windows 8= Windows 7+ Metro(Yeh!!)
I took the plunge over the weekend and installed the release preview as an upgrade on top of my Windows 7 work tablet, Lenovo x200, which I use 10 to 12 work hours a day. I had used W8 on a separate partition but felt I couldn’t really appreciate it without actually having it on my main workhouse pc.
After a whole weekend with it and a whole full day of work today (10hr day), I don’t see what the complains are about really. I don’t miss the start menu one bit, everything is faster and more fluid, and I can easily flip to metro and have a look at my live tiles to stay in the know of news, sports, people, etc., without having to checkout any websites. The switch from metro and desktop is not jarring to me at all, so not sure what the complaint with that is either.
The desktop part of the PC works just as well as windows 7 but with more fluidness and grace to it as well as better memory efficiency and better overall performance. Heck, even my battery life increased after the upgrade.
I think the learning curve for the average consumer could be an issue initially, but once they figure out you just need to use the corners, and right click within apps to get more options, all will be well going forward.
I give Windows 8 and 8 out of 10 right now, just because the Metro apps need to be more feature packed and the general Metro interface should have more features of its own as well. All of this should come in time though.
Glad it’s working out for your entertainment purpose. I have a hunch that major populate can’t really focus on more than “window” anyway.
This almost prove the OS will be a complete flop on corporate space.
*one “window”
The same here. I am happy with the Windows 8 and like Metro a lot. Microsoft is not in to making quick buck. Looking ahead I see myself using Surface as extension of my PC. No learning required.
The success of Windows 8 is going to be decided by the kind of metro apps they produce…
In general I agree with your assessment. But there are two points I disagree with. Start menu does not under any point need to be made available. Going straight to the Desktop and skipping the start screen is also not a step in the right direction. When you buy a car, you can not customize the car by moving the location for the air vents and buttons. These are aspects you have to get used to. Each have their reasons. If you dont like them, there are different manufacturers and models. Giving in to the outspoken group; who no matter how they exclaim it are really about aversion to change; is not the right way for MS to step forward to a really successful ecosystem that outdoes all rivals.
this is somewhat off topic but that is one slick tablet up there. Which one is it??