Category: Geeks r Us
Windows 8 review: Part 1 - introduction
With the release of Windows 95, Microsoft heralded a new age in it's evolution, one where the entirety of it's Windows core was changed, down to the technical levels. With the release of Windows 8, a similar change is occurring, though in a very different way. The future which Microsoft is preparing for is not quite the one which it imagined back in 1995, and for this reason alone, the beat of Windows must change to accommodate the ways in which humans are pushing to interact with their computers.
My relationship with Windows 8 goes back quite a distance, having tested at least 5-6 builds or "releases" of the operating system. Indeed, the first leaked releases of the system began surfacing in early 2011, with build 7850, a milestone 1 compilation. My reviews of these early builds can still be found, although by today's standards they are highly incomplete. At the time, Microsoft was very secretive about their projects and what Windows 8 was truly going to be. Similar to Apple, the company would refuse to allow any employees to give out any data on Windows 8's goals, and went as far as to lock down certain functions of the operating system. For example, the entire brand new metro experience was completely hidden until build 8102, which was the official Developer Preview release back in January of this year. For the first time in the history of Microsoft, they were able to keep a tight lid on what the next version of Windows entailed, barring even well-known tech enthusiasts from understanding the true aspects behind the future of Windows. As another cycle of testing comes to a final halt, however, I can officially say that this next release is over, and I can now provide my personal perspectives on what is to come in the future of computing for Microsoft.
Windows 8 is as much of a depart from the traditional ways of computing as it is an improvement over how people used the desktop in Windows 7. While the entire "desktop experience" is neither gone nor completely faded, there certainly exists a push towards reminding PC users that it is reaching it's inevitable end. While this might not come for a few more years, the need for users to embrace the future of Windows computing is important, otherwise Microsoft's new strategy might not succeed. For those who have been with Windows 7 for quite some time, this transition is much easier than for Windows XP customers. Windows 8's changes, for the most part, try and retain a subtle backwards compatibility with Windows 7's interface, if not in an obvious way. The new types of apps, which Microsoft used to dub as "metro apps", will eventually replace traditional desktop programs, or so intended by Redmond. The other aspect of this strategy comes into play with the new tablet-form devices, which are supposed to ultimately converge the form of a desktop with the versatility of touchscreen tablets. As a result, we have the start screen, which now completely has replaced the start menu. Yet the desktop is still accessible, allowing one to feel at home among the familiar grid of clutter we all love from installed programs. Although the start button is gone from the taskbar's left corner, pressing the Windows or control+escape key yields the start screen. In windows Explorer, the presence of ribbons was an expected change from the ones added in Wordpad and paint inside Windows 7. Simply stated, the evolutions in Windows 8 could be considered both expected and unexpected at the same time, at least from the vantage point of strategy and future computing outlook.
Of course, there will be a lot of confusions which many will undoubtedly face whilst attempting to use this new release of Windows. Over time, a rather stale perception has developed amongst every day PC users: The expectation that every second release of Windows will be terrifying and unstable. Does windows 8 create such an image? Will you, dear reader, be able to adopt to the vast amount of changes included within the depths of Microsoft's vision? Yet most importantly, how will Windows 8 shape the landscape of not only assistive technology, but also the future of computing? The perception is yours. Let us dive right in to what you will experience now that the final release has hit the PC market.
Part 2: considerations, configuration
The system requirements for Windows 8 have remained unchanged from that of Windows 7. In fact, I would be as brave as to suggest that it will run faster on even older hardware than Windows 7 could ever dream, though this statement cannot be said too boldly as each system is different in design. I have Windows 8 running on each of my computers: A 2010-era Macbook pro 13" with a 2.4 GHz processor and 4 GB of ram, a 2009-esk Toshiba netbook with an atom CPU and 2 GB of ram, and my latest 2011 Mac Mini with it's dual-core 2.3 GHz Sandy Bridge processor. In addition, I installed the OS on my Thinkpad x201, which sports a 2.3 GHz older core i3. On all of these systems, the operating system ran beautifully, without any major hardware incompatibility issues. Systems which used bootcamp (the 2 Macs), do feature a few glitches, which will be detailed later. I expect that Apple will release a new version of the Bootcamp tools sooner than later, allowing for a much smoother transition for those who are freshly starting with installation.
On netbook systems, Windows 8 performs worse than Windows 7. Key presses take some heavy lag, and the system feels like a bird trying to flop with broken wings. Furthermore, one is unable to run any of the metro apps (more on these in the next part), due to the low resolution screens which Netbooks contain. This situation may be slightly better on the later dual-core models, however unfortunately the netbook generation has passed long ago.
Clearing up the confusion: Windows 8 editions
Before I go into great details on how the install process works for Windows 8, I want to relieve some of the confusions which will undoubtedly exist amongst newcomers. Windows 8 technically comes in 3 flavors: Windows 8, Windows 8 pro, and Windows 8 RT. Windows 8 RT is something which no person can purchase, at least not in an installable form. One of Microsoft's greatest shifts with Windows 8 is their support of a completely different type of computer form, the tablet. Tablets run on a different type of CPU, called an ARM processor. Windows 8 RT is designed for these computers, and comes pre-installed on them after purchase.
The confusions will greatly stem from differentiating between the 2 "main" versions of Windows 8, and the RT release. Specifically, all 3 of these support Microsoft's new metro design, however some Windows tablets cannot run regular desktop programs. Instead, the only place you will be able to install apps on these tablets will be the Windows store. The major confusion is in play with the way Microsoft is planning on selling both RT and regular Windows tablets. One of these (RT) is based on this arm processor, while the other, those tablets which run standard Windows 8 and pro versions, use the same internals as found in any desktop or laptop. In terms of marketing, both of these device classes run a Windows 8 interface, complete with even the desktop and programs such as notepad, wordpad, and paint. For consumers and readers like yourself, though, some disappointment might come in the form of believing that desktop programs can be run on a tablet, when in reality it might fail to start at all due to the processor difference. I will delve deeper into the Metro experience later on in the review, however it is sufficient to say that the confusion which we will see from this non-separation of windows 8 devices will be massive.
The difference between Windows 8 and Windows 8 pro are trivial at best. One does not support bitlocker, among domain joining and other tools. Just as in the XP days, consumers should not worry too much on which they get, as even the standard form of Windows 8 will be able to have all the tasks consumers would want to achieve. If you are a Media center user, however, you will only be able to install the Media center feature pack when running pro. The same goes for if you wish to use remote desktop as a host, boot from a virtual hard disk, and use hyper-v to virtualize older Windows versions. I suspect that most probably don't even have to worry about these features.
Installation: Streamlined for Efficiency.
While the Windows 8 installer works similarly to the way older versions of Windows installed under the hood, Microsoft has placed considerable effort into making the setup process easier to understand, even for new users. Once you launch the dvd from within an older version of Windows, you are presented with a simple dialog, where you can click install now to begin setup.
For the first time, Microsoft is also offering a web installer for Windows 8. This utility downloads all the files, and automatically inserts your product key, so you are not asked for it during installation. Chances are that most people will use this installer instead, especially when purchasing a windows 8 upgrade key or an online copy of Windows 8. This is the beginning of a shift towards web-installers, similar to the way Apple only offers Mac OS through an app store.
Once you are in the setup window, you are asked if you wish to install updates for install. Afterwards, your choices of upgrading or performing a custom install are presented.
Still Running a good old copy of Windows XP? Fear not, as Windows 8 will actually allow you to migrate your personal files and documents from xp to the new OS. Depending on the version of Windows you are running, you can be presented with 3 different options:
Keep personal files - this one allows you to have every item from your documents and music/pictures to be transferred over from your version of Windows.
Keep personal files, apps, and settings: This could be considered the standard upgrade process. It will migrate not only your settings, but also any programs which you might have installed. Please note that the compatibility wizard will look for any applications which potentially will not work on Windows 8, prompting you to remove them before continuing. This includes most screen readers if you are blind, along with possible antivirus programs.
The last option, Keep nothing, will place your old version of Windows in windows.old, allowing you to remove it later after manually transferring settings.
Of course, a custom install is still possible. Here, you are presented with a partition list just as before, and Windows will still be moved to a windows.old folder. This is the best option for those who wish to install from under a current Windows release, especially for those who have no sight and might find it difficult to talk with a sighted person through the setup process.
Windows will restart a few times during the installation, which should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. In fact, installing Windows 8 is equal to, if not less, than installing Windows 7. Even the out of box setup experience, which is the stage you get to next, has been greatly simplified. While a screen reader or magnifier is not available when booting from a DVD of Windows 8, it can be launched during this second stage of install. Simply hit Windows U, or Windows + Volume up to launch narrator.
Coincidentally, this is also the stage of setup you will be at if you just purchased a Windows 8 PC or Tablet, allowing you to easily enter your initial settings. You have the choice of either an express or custom setup path. With express setup, you simply setup your account and computer name, and are good to go. Custom, on the other hand, will allow you to set options such as using location services, user account picture and colors, along with notification settings. By default, these are all set on, though you can always change them in PC Settings.
For Windows 8, it is highly recommended that you use a Microsoft account to sign in. With the release of this operating system, the company is dropping all instances of the Live name. You could still choose "local account" to create a user account which is not linked to any cloud service. Even if you decide to go with a Microsoft ID-based user account, it's files will still be kept on your computer. This means that should your computer be offline, you can still log into Windows with your Microsoft password, and your changes will sync online the next time you connect. The content which syncs to online is highly diverse - including desktop settings, wallpaper, new apps downloaded an their settings, and even small options such as installed keyboard layouts. If you have another Windows 8-based computer, these changes will be automatically pushed to it, which will make your experience of changing computers more seamless.
Once setup has completed, you will be placed into the new "metro" environment, where a grid of icons shows the apps on your computer. What is this new start screen and interface all about? Find out in Part 3!
Windows 8 review, Part 3: The Metro Compromise
In the first part of this review, I mentioned that the new Metro interface Microsoft has created runs side by side with the desktop world we have come to know and love. Clearly, while the Redmond-based company is focusing on expanding to tablets, a part of their goal includes maintaining compatibility between both the future and past. In Windows 8, this pays off in a very bizarre way, with a mixing and matching of 2 very different interfaces. While Microsoft itself frowns upon the word Metro, I will use this term throughout this review to create distinctions between what exists.
It could be stated that Windows 8 is still a version 1.0 product, especially when it comes to this new environment. Unfortunately, there now exists a giant gap between the new and the old. This is demonstrated by the presence of 2 control panels, the inability of newer metro apps to interface with files on the desktop, and on the flip side, for desktop applications to share content via the new mechanisms in place. However, let's not get too ahead of ourselves.
When you are booted into Windows 8, the start screen will always be your first point of interaction. Here, all of your programs and apps are displayed in tile form. I must stress the difference between an app and a program. An app is what one would consider very web-based, and the type of software which runs on any mobile operating system today. A program marks the traditional style of interfaces - very menu driven, with toolbars and buttons. Both of these are presented on the start screen, with programs you install receiving their own group. Tiles on the screen can be dragged around with your mouse for easier organization, and can also be resized either through a right click or with the mouse. Keyboard users can hit shift+f10 or the applications key to resize, uninstall, or run a program as an administrator. One key difference between app and program tiles is the ability for apps to display live content. For example, if you have unread mail, the mail tile will always flicker through messages, and similarly the messaging tile will show chats which you have not read. All of these provide a "one-glance" experience, where you can gain a lot of information on what needs to be done at the time just by looking at your start screen. It's a concept which certainly is not present on any other platform besides Windows Phone 8, and no doubt has been inspired from that system.
Similar to the Windows 7 start menu, you can begin typing and find a list of results right away. Unlike the start menu search ability, however, Windows 8 categorizes results into settings, files, and apps you have installed. This means that if you typed in "pandora" on the start screen, and clicked or tabbed into the categories list, you could choose "store" to search the Windows store for a pandora app. This separation might be difficult to get used to for some, as Windows 7 presented all the items in one easy to navigate list.
The First Compromise: Start Screen items
Using the start screen is very easy, and I suspect that many will get the hang of it right away. Although it is much simpler than the Windows 7 start menu, and could even be thought of as very "2-dimensional", it can get cluttered very quickly. This is less of a case when using it for apps, however programs will place useless group items on the screen. These could include such things as uninstallers, readme documents, and anything in general which would be present on a start menu. While previously these would be considered very useful, the fundamental issue lies with the lack of first-letter navigation on the start screen. Since it is also a very full-screen experience, start screen groups are not like start menu ones; You cannot open or close them, for example. Each item is displayed in the grid, with 56 or so shown on one screen. While you could go through every item, and "unpin from start" each of which you might not need, this is a rather consuming task. It should be noted that unpinning an item from the screen will still allow it to show up in search results. Sadly, desktop programs have no way of letting Windows know to not place certain elements on the start screen.
Charms: Are they Lucky?
Another key importance to the new Metro experience is the creation of Charms. Swipe in from the right of your screen with the mouse, and a bar will appear with options to search, share, use devices, and open settings. You could similarly place the mouse on the right side of the screen and right click with it, or, if you prefer, simply hit Windows+C to bring up the charms bar.
Charms are always universal -- that is, you will always find those 5 no matter where you open them -- yet their functionality is not always useable. You could open the metro web browser, choose the share charm, and send a link over to mail. However, if you were to use firefox or a desktop browser, you would get a message telling you that sharing is not supported in desktop programs. This is because charms are specific to the metro design. The great thing about them, of course, is that if you were to install a twitter app, you would be able to share content to it right away, without having to manually copy and paste a link to it. The devices charm allows you to send content to a device, such as a printer or fax. Similarly, settings and search perform contextually depending on the app you are in. To bring up settings easier, you can always press windows+I, and windows + K to bring up settings and devices, respectively. Windows key + W will also bring up the search box, with focus on whichever app you are in.
Compromise #2: Being left uncharmed.
A lot of newcomers to Windows 8 might find the idea of this a bit jarring. IF you buy an app from the store, charms will undoubtedly be useful, especially if you want to print a page or item. However, on the desktop side, you would have to press print from the menu, rather than using the charms to send content to a device. It's a super confusing mess, especially because a lot of people might use the store to find apps, the majority of which will be the newer metro-style type.
Metro apps: worth it on the Desktop?
This leads me to another interesting question. How much will desktop applications be used if you are on a regular computer? Most PC users today will be running Windows 8 on their primary non-touch devices. On these, desktop programs are still the way to go, as they offer the familiar interface you use everyday. On the newer Arm tablets and those convertibles which feature support for both programs and apps, a mixing of the 2 could be useful depending on the environment. This, to most, is a very jarring experience on it's own. Not being able to send content from Internet Explorer to Outlook 2010 or 2013 through a charm might frustrate people, as it's a desktop program. In the same light, the inability to browse the files on a computer with a metro app such as photos will lead to even more confusion. My recommendation, therefore, is that people stick with a majority of one software type. There are some instances where grabbing a metro app could be useful. Take the Pandora search example earlier. If you wanted, you could still use Pandora's app to listen to your favorite tunes while working in Microsoft Word, or playing a game. If Foursquare releases one of their own, you could use this to checkin from your desktop rather than using the smartphone. There are a few cases such as these where using an app over a program might prove productive. In others, such as deciding between a desktop or metro Twitter tool, the choice is more obvious.
The Mail app: Presenting it all full-screen
One important factor with apps is that they always run in full screen, with no presence of a bar or menu. You can trigger an "app bar" from any app, by swiping up from the bottom of your screen, or pressing Windows+Z. This opens up a menu on the bottom of the "page", allowing common tasks for an app to be performed. Metro apps are visually beautiful to look at, as they are clutter free and offer an organized, easy to scroll interface to work. In the mail app, for example, your folders are displayed on one side, and the message list on the other, with the message being place on the bottom in a pane. For screen reader users, these are more like HTML 5 apps, as they are navigated with standard tab+shift tab, along with arrow key commands. In fact, thinking of an app as a website is a highly good analogy, since they sort content into a web-based design.
The mail app itself is very simple, and in some ways intuitive. It requires the use of a Microsoft Live account, which could be one of the first gripes, especially if your hotmail account is filled with spam which gets sent into your inbox. You can add other accounts in the settings window, which is a great example of where invoking the charm with the mouse or windows+I is useful. Messages can be sorted on a per account basis, which can come in useful and creates less clutter. In general, the interface of Mail is simple. Click on a message and it appears in the pain. You can even use keyboard shortcuts such as control+D to delete Control+R to respond, and so forth.
When composing a message, your folders are always displayed, allowing you to switch between views quickly and efficiently. It integrates with the people app, allowing you to paste in contacts into the to and CC fields.
If you were looking for advanced options, such as filters, don't try to find them somewhere deep within the mail app, it just won't be there. This is a very simple mail client, and will get the job of reading and replying to messages done for most people.
Compromise #3: The Internet Explorer Confusion
The metro VS. Desktop personality crisis of Windows 8 gets worse with the presence of 2 browsers. If you were to launch Internet Explorer from the start screen, you would be using the metro version of the browser, which has no menu bars, is full screen, and cannot run plug-ins or add-ons. Flash is built in to this browser, which can be useful for websites which present videos. Should you use the run dialog to quickly jump to a website, though, you'll find out that the regular full-featured IE is run instead. There is nothing wrong with the metro version, of course, but the 2 are not compatible. If you save log-in information or cookies in one browser, it will not be there in the other, and you'll have to log-in again on both for the website. It's almost as though the 2 are separate completely, even though they share the same name. When it comes to memory usage, the Metro IE outwins the desktop version by far, though it also has the annoying habit of restoring every website you opened at launch, since apps resume from their saved state. There is no Control+O open dialog here, or any dialogs for that matter - asides the presence of back/forward buttons and your address bar, it's a very clean interface.
The Windows Store: What's in store?
Every company, it seems, has their own app store in some form. Google has the Play store, apple the App store, and even Blackberry customers have their own market. Windows joins the crowd with it's own Windows store, which is simple and easy to navigate. When you launch the app, you are dropped into the "featured" category, with an updates link at the top alerting you to any new apps which need updating. You can pick other categories, such as top free, new releases, social networking, and other categories. Again, it's very minimal, and gets the job done with letting you find and install apps you want. Some of them also include an accessibility rating, which allows those who use assistive technologies to know whether a program is compatible or not with screen readers or magnifiers. However, even those apps which have "yes" by their name for accessibility can often not work, and it's honestly a trial and error process for knowing how each app works. For example, the Pandora app is actually very usable with all major screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, and Window-eyes Beta), and each of these reports the same amount of information on it's contents. The station list is not accessible with titles of stations in all cases, suggesting that your experience on accessible apps from the store will be similar across whichever screen reader you use. Desktop programs are also allowed in the store, though with severe limitations - such as the inability to host trial or free programs. Presumably, photoshop and other desktop programs will be in the store for those who wish to buy them conveniently.
Bing apps:
I decided to categorize these in one sections, as news, weather, sports, and bing are all in the same app umbrella. The bing app allows you to search for any term, and shows trending results in it's tile. The news app, meanwhile, displays a panning list of top news, and does allow for customizing categories and locales if one wishes. These are all html-based apps, and the settings charm lets you customize certain aspects of your experience. In the weather app, you can clear weather searches, while news allows you to select a locale for viewing of items. Sports goes even as far as to letting you customize the refresh interval for the app, which defines the amount of time it fetches data in.
Messaging: Conversations Made Easy!
I wanted to touch on the Messaging app, as it's one which I use daily for my chatting needs. It works surprisingly well, and creates a chaotic mess within the people app with the amount of contacts it adds to your list. Once you open it up, a list of your conversations is displayed, along with a new message button. Choosing new message will actually open up people, where you can select from the hundreds of contacts you might have accumulated from all over chatting services. For me, Facebook and Windows Live are all hooked up to messaging, and combine to create a rather large list of people. To add accounts, use the setting charm. For now, only Facebook and Messenger are supported, though I'm sure it would be easy to add other services in the future.
Other Metro apps:
There are a few other preinstalled apps that come with Windows, and it's worth it to give a quick rundown on these, as they are well-designed. In the calendar app, you are presented with a list of days. Selecting a day will pop up a new event dialog, where you can specify options such as meeting times, length, and can even send invites to people from your contacts to share it with. For a "web-based" calendar app, it certainly is not bad.
By default, Music and Video are set as the media playback program in Windows 8. This can be quite an annoyance, as they can take a while to load and display clutter such as the Zune store for purchasing Music. It's highly simple to reassign another player of choice for music files, either from default programs or by manually right-clicking a file and choosing open with. Still, the presence of the music app is a bit less useful on the desktop side, unless you have music that you wish to buy from the store or have already used it for previous purchases. The app is highly accessible, allowing you to preview tracks and use your XBox payment information to make purchases.
Playing XBox games is also possible with the games app, and this could be thought of as Microsoft's take on Apple's Game Center. The idea is that some apps will be in the store which will allow for leaderboards and score matching across the desktop and XBox consoles.
Final thoughts on Metro:
As mentioned previously, desktop users will most likely not use many metro apps, unless it's for a practical reason. There are at least 3 compromises which I have detailed, and many more minor annoyances within Windows 8 which are a sacrifice to this duality which Microsoft created. If you use your standard Windows 7 apps, keep using them on Windows 8, and you will probably not have to face the Metro confusion. However, if you are more inclined to purchase apps from the store, you might have to put up with the transitional differences between running something designed primarily for touch versus the classic computer. In fact, let's discuss compatibility and usability of other system functions in the next part of this review.
sorry to ruin the flow of your review. I have a Thinkpad X60, with an Intel Core Duo T2400 CPU, Intel GMA950 graphics, a 60gb hard drive, and 3gb of ram. Right now, it's running XP Pro, and I see no reason to change that. But if I di want to try Windows 8, would it run here. What about on an X61, with a core 2 duo and 4gb of ram? I don't have that, but that's about as far as i'd go in the line, since it's the last with a pcmcia slot, and dialup for backup..
Anyway, the installation does sound interesting. It seems that a blind person can install 8 on a new machine. But can we upgrade from XP, completely on our own? I, for one, don't like the idea of cloud computing. I'm fine with saving my favourites online, but don't wish to save my documents, music, etc. Will 8 force me to do that, or will it just save settings? Is this flickering of aps accessible for the blind, or will it be just another destraction? In general, the start screen sounds like a cluttered nightmare, making me think of Facebook.
I don't even think I use aps. The closest I come is Windows Live Messenger, AIM, and GMail Notifier. They should keep the os for these touchscreen devices separate from that for regular computers. As for charms and the example of Internet Explorer and Outlook, has no one ever heard of simply copying and pasting? It's the same with printing. What's the big deal if you have to go into a menu to print? thankfully, I use GMail, so avoid the whole mess of client-based mail. It also seems that I'm lucky to be using Firefox and not Internet Explorer, as they seem to have made a mess of that. That said, how do you open urls in the metro version if there's no ctrl-o dialogue? The Bing aps do sound quite interesting. Can all be used with screenreaders, and if so, are all of their features accessible? As it is, I currently use Windows Live Messenger for MSN, and AIM for Facebook. It would be nice to have them both together.
Overall, from the review, at least, it seems as if Microsoft is complicating things yet again, making them pretty for the dumbed down computer user, discarding clean interfaces, and even the graphical but still usable ones from the past. Then again, that all began with the introduction of Windows in the first place! For now I think I'll save myself the headache and stick to xP. But it's good to have such reviews on here, for an objective look at the system.
I'm impress with the price and the simplicity of windows 8 versions. I might give it a go, jumping from xp to windows 8. It cost me cheeper to do so than to upgrade it to windows 7. :-)