Re: Windows 8 FREE Public Dev Preview being released tonight!!!
I spent 4-5 hours with Windows 8 over the weekend and I like what MS is trying to do, it just needs some efficiency tweaks.
I can now navigate through Windows 8 with ease, perhaps because I've always been a keyboard/shortcut guy. I can see why mouse-first users hate the OS.
Things I didn't like...
Things I did like...
My final initial impression is that the Metro is cool and personally I like it but it is by no means necessary. If you eliminated Metro from Windows 8 and brought the Start menu back everything would work just swimmingly. I feel like MS is trying to be different or innovative for the sake of being different or innovative. It's not like Android or iOS where something is innovative and, most importantly, makes working more efficient or easier. I did not run across a single new addition that made me say, "Wow! Now that is SLICK!" like I seemingly do with Android on a regular basis.
I hope Metro is not included in Windows 8 Pro/Ultimate or that it can be disabled and the old Start menu back. I'm an IT pro so I adjusted easily but it will be a nightmare to transition users, even 20-somethings, to Windows 8.
I spent 4-5 hours with Windows 8 over the weekend and I like what MS is trying to do, it just needs some efficiency tweaks.
I can now navigate through Windows 8 with ease, perhaps because I've always been a keyboard/shortcut guy. I can see why mouse-first users hate the OS.
Things I didn't like...
- The "All Apps" area (right-click on Metro, select All Apps from bottom menu) needs to be a default tile. Users will spend so much time on in here and one of the biggest complaints is that users can't find this or don't even know it exists. This screen is the closest thing to the old Start menu. Win+Q is the shortcut.
- I would prefer if the Windows key always toggled between the Desktop and Metro, not the Metro and your last-used app. The old Win+D shortcut still works from the Metro to get you to the Desktop (and pressing it again while at the Desktop still shows the desktop) but since users will be primarily switching between the Metro and the Desktop I think it would help. It would be like the old versions of Windows where the Windows key would bring up the Start menu or close it if you had it open already.
- After installing software EVERYTHING you installed gets pinned to the Metro. This is insanely stupid and I hope there's a setting to change it. I installed the trial version of Office 2010 and every application in the suite was pinned (Word, Outlook, etc) which is somewhat understandable but then all the other crap such as the Language Pack was also pinned. So by installing Office 2010 I had about a dozen new tiles pinned to my Metro.
- The bottom menu bar. Again, MS just didn't think this through. For years you right-clicked on an object and the menu popped up right where you right-clicked. This is efficient because your mouse cursor is right there so you can quickly choose the option you want from the menu. The bottom menu is the opposite, you have to mouse-over all the way to the bottom of the screen. In the situation I described above installing Office I had to right-click on the far left side of my Metro on each Tile I wanted to unpin from the Metro and then mouse over to the far bottom left of the screen where the Unpin option was on the bottom menu. And I had to do this 8-10 times. Very inefficient.
- Another wildly inefficient process is closing an app you have open in the Metro. Alt+F4 still works but the mouse procedure is as follows: Mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click-hold-and-drag the mouse cursor all the way to the bottom of the screen like iOS/Android OS. Yikes. You go from click a simple X in the top-right of the screen to that?
- If you don't have a Windows Live/Microsoft account then the stock tiles/widgets are useless. The Metro will be a full-page Start menu with your favorite apps pinned to it. You can group the tiles on the page which some users will like.
- What used to take a click or two now takes 4-5 clicks. If you're a mouse-user and at your desktop and want to view all your apps you have to mouse-over to the Hot Corner in the bottom left, click Start, right-click, select All Apps from the bottom menu. As a keyboard guy though, Win+Q gets you to the same screen from the desktop.
Things I did like...
- It maintains Windows 7 smoothness and stability. I have the CP installed on a 5-year-old Dell laptop (don't even know the specs but it's a POS) and Windows 8 runs smoothly. No hanging, no stuttering, etc.
- The Metro is NOT evil. Think of it as a full page, more visual Start menu. Getting in and out of the Metro should not be an issue (though I know it will be for many users). To me it's the OS version of iGoogle's homepage.
- It's keyboard shortcut intensive, which is ideal for me.
- Startup items are moved from msconfig to the task manager. Small but nice addition since the only reason I ever use msconfig is to tweak startup items.
- The awesome Search functionality (quick & accurate) that debuted in Windows 7 is in Windows 8.
My final initial impression is that the Metro is cool and personally I like it but it is by no means necessary. If you eliminated Metro from Windows 8 and brought the Start menu back everything would work just swimmingly. I feel like MS is trying to be different or innovative for the sake of being different or innovative. It's not like Android or iOS where something is innovative and, most importantly, makes working more efficient or easier. I did not run across a single new addition that made me say, "Wow! Now that is SLICK!" like I seemingly do with Android on a regular basis.
I hope Metro is not included in Windows 8 Pro/Ultimate or that it can be disabled and the old Start menu back. I'm an IT pro so I adjusted easily but it will be a nightmare to transition users, even 20-somethings, to Windows 8.
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