Lookout Apple Microsoft is now the innovator. That is a bold statement I just made, but take a look at what Microsoft is pulling out of their incredibly large magic hat. Creating an operating system is tough, creating an operating system that spans from phone to tablet to PC is downright ridiculous. One company is about to do it, and do it relatively nicely. There are some huge concerns that you need to know. Read on to see what I feel about the preview version of Microsoft's new baby Windows 8.
Let me start by saying you should be confused, excited, and utterly dumbfounded by what you are about to see. This is just a preview of what Microsoft is doing to transform the way you use your computer. The first time I saw the start screen to Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system I thought the PC was dead. If this was the direction everything was going, Microsoft is about to lose a ton of money. After using it as my primary OS now for 4 days I cannot describe how wrong I was. Make way for the next generation of computing. Watch this preview video below and then enjoy my experiences with the next gen operating system.
I hope that video wasn't too boring for you. It did give you a great feel for how Windows 8 looks and feels though which is what I wanted. So now let me tell you what it's like to actually use because that video was just scraping the surface of what to expect.
GETTING STARTED
Anyone running 7 can easily download the consumer preview installer here, or if you want to download it from a flash drive or CD you can download the ISO image here and burn it to disk. The product key is DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J and is rumored to be expiring March 2013. That means you get 1 year before you gotta put up some cash for the new software. Here are the system requirements that must be met for install. You must have a 1GHz processor and screen resolution of 1024 x 768. If you use the 32-bit edition you must have 1GB of RAM, and if you run 64-bit edition you must have 2GB of RAM. Touch is only enabled if the screen supports multi-touch. Also, if you want to be able to snap apps and resize them together you must up your screen resolution to 1366 x 768.
Setup really was amazing. The install is finished in just a few minutes. I downloaded the ISO and burned to DVD. The file itself is 3.3 GB for the 64-bit and 2.5 for 32-bit. During the install it has an easy step-by-step, and will allow you to create a partition for dual boot if you wish. So simple your mom could do it. If you have Windows 7 and are adventurous you could install right on top of it and all your programs will run in the desktop app just like they do now.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Now I have installed a 32-bit edition to a laptop running a 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo with 1GB of 800 MHz RAM. That is not powerful at all, but most programs ran really smooth. The major complaint I have with performance is that you don't know if something is waiting to load or is freezing. This can be a huge problem during usage. If something is downloading you get a series of dots that will fly through the screen, but if you are waiting for lag or loading there is nothing. The hourglass is absolutely gone, and occasionally is replaced with dots scrolling around in a small circle. Note to Microsoft I need to see the circle of dots a lot more. So many times I will open an intense web page or high memory app that will just freeze and all I see is my mouse moving. Remember I have a very slow computer so I don't expect it to run smoothly. In fact I just had Ubuntu 11.1 and experienced much of the same. My recommendation is to use Windows 8. I found it much more fun to use, and for now I don't mind picking it over Ubuntu.
For someone with more up to date hardware Windows 8 is a dream. On my power laptop sporting an i7 quad-core and 6GB of RAM nothing was slow. I also am running off an SSD drive at around 256MB/sec read speed. The OS loaded almost instantly from cold boot, and apps were the same. You read that right, almost instantly from cold boot. The major gripe I have is that I get 1080 native resolution and it did not recognize this. I was forced to go to a default resolution of 1280 x 800. Not sure why that happened, but I am trying to find reasons. Other than the resolution gripe, which I am sure will get fixed by the actual release of the OS later this year, I am more than pleased with the speed and feel of the new software. Now let's get into the pros and cons.
START SCREEN
When you first boot your machine up you will be greeted by your wallpaper followed by some notifications cluttered with the time/date at the bottom of the screen. Just slide the screen up with your finger/mouse and voila the start screen to the left will appear. Now you see a completely customizable set of tiles setup in a grid like display. You can move, take away, categorize, or even stretch the tiles. Some tiles like weather, mail, or people will show you live updates. This is just like the live tiles that Windows Phone uses. If you need to see all your program tiles just right click and an option will appear at the bottom of your screen. In fact there are a lot of hidden commands all over so let's go through some of them alright.
To the right, you will see the charms section. I hate the name, but you will use them quite a bit. This is accessed by just swiping your finger from the right bezel or by moving your mouse cursor to the top right edge of the screen. You can access the charms from anywhere in the OS and here is why that is important. To the left you will see the search function. Like phones are now doing, you can universally search for apps, files, or content just by typing in the search feature. Moving on the Share feature is very similar. If you are reading an e-mail or looking at a web page simply hit share and you get a similar menu listing all the apps you can share your content with. So click Twitter and you can make a post, or click mail and you can e-mail a link. The start/settings buttons are pretty obvious so I won't waste your time. Then there is the devices section. When you plug something in say a phone or a printer Win 8 automatically obtains the drivers and connects the device. Microsoft is saying up to 90% of devices will work this way, even cellular embedded modems. My HTC Trophy however was not recognized at all.
Above you will see a shot of some interesting tiles. Notice the ones with the blue backgrounds? Those are all programs/utilities that must be loaded in the desktop version of Windows 8. The old desktop you're used to in Windows 7 is now treated kinda like an app. It has it's own tile and when a utility like Task Manager is opened it loads into the Desktop app and goes full screen when you click the icon. You will see yourself going to desktop mode a lot, but for most day to day usage you can stay mostly in the tile menu which operates much quicker than the desktop app.
Now let's go multi-tasking. Above is an example of the new taskbar. Whether you are in the desktop, start screen, or app just move your cursor to the left corner or slide your finger from the left bezel on touch displays. You will notice the start screen on the bottom left as well as your most recent app at the top followed by your other recent apps. Just like on a phone Microsoft is freezing that app when you stop using it so it does not use resources. Like a phone some apps like the Music app or Slacker radio will continue to play audio, but all other features in the program are frozen. This allows the OS to run smooth even if you have an outdated PC.
APP STORE
Just like on phones Microsoft has seen the error of it's ways and will now offer a centralized store to download apps. No longer will you want to visit websites every time you want to download something. Just open the store icon and get searching. Developers will have a choice of submitting apps that are not certified, and will not have access to any other resources like people or mail; or get certification from Microsoft and deliver a safe app tested and approved. This will still give developers the ability to make apps with any content they want, or limit the content to have more access and greater appeal in the market. Either way the user will get a safe easy way to download apps with peace of mind knowing Microsoft has made it safe. The only negative I have now is that just like the phone it will get cluttered. The app store is sorted by category, top paid, top free, or all stars.
As far as the apps themselves I am excited from what I have seen so far. Above you get to see one of the few weather apps already in the market. The apps are fast, beautiful, and free until the true release of Windows 8. For now I can tell the app store is limited because of the whole free thing. No Office 15 is being shown off yet, and most of the apps already in the market are free on mobile devices already. So for now don't expect a very robust market. When making this post it seems the app store is around a couple hundred apps.
Now just because you can't download your favorite games and programs from the store now, doesn't mean you can't use them. If you pop a CD in it will still install programs, but only from the desktop app not from the start menu. This will prove to be annoying. For now remember, this is a transition happening. Microsoft can't just kill the desktop and go completely to the tile interface.
METRO UI
Last year we saw the emergence of the Metro UI in Windows Phone and more recently in XBox. The new metro font created by Microsoft followed by the new live tile interface has focused Microsoft's direction. Above I am showing the People hub which shows off the new font, as well as the way Microsoft has included services like Twitter and Facebook to enhance the UI. Just like on Windows Phone when you open the people hub you are treated to a list of all your contacts, a "what's new feed" showing your social updates, and a "Me" info section with all your personal updates. No other platform has done a better job of this than Microsoft. As you see above they really take advantage of the resolution by showing the pics/videos in the feed. I can easily scroll using my mouse or swipe using my finger. Apps like this are what makes computing fun, and why the phone is becoming more important than the PC on your desk. Using Windows 8 has made me realize the desktop we are used to is sluggish and stale. The more I am forced to use the desktop app, the more I realize how great the new metro UI is. Let's talk about where it is going.
We all remember the death of DOS right? Back in the day a PC was run completely by DOS commands. Then Windows came and transitioned everyone to the Windows interface with a mouse. By Windows 98 DOS was dead. I think the desktop is now going through the same phasing out process. With Windows 8 the transition starts by making the desktop an icon that will still run and install things just like DOS, but by Windows 9 (X, 10, whatever they want to call it) comes out I bet it's gone. The only thing Microsoft needs to make this happen is a big app store. They have to transition everyone. To many it will be irritating, and there will be growing pains, but the future looks bright. We won't need a mouse and keyboard in 10 years. That's why this new UI loaded onto PCs, tablets, phones, TVs, etc. is so important.
THE 3 SCREENS
So when Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer started using the term "3 screens" years ago when the XBox started catching on it was just an idea. Now Microsoft it making it happen. From the phone, to the XBox, to the PC; a Windows Live login and a metro interface are making all 3 components speak to each other. A TV can get media from a PC, a phone can control a TV. Now a Microsoft e-mail account get's you Skydrive with 25GB of cloud storage, a Windows 8 settings/theme backup, XBox live integration with all your devices, e-mail on all your devices, the ability to purchase media on one device and share it with all your other devices, and we are just getting started. Rumors are already being circulated Microsoft will create a cloud media service like Google Music where you can store all your media on Microsoft's servers and never have to download it to a hard drive.The code being used for Windows 8 is almost perfectly in line with the code on Windows Phone so that the apps will be inter-usable from PC to phone to XBox. The capture below shows all the settings that currently sync from one Windows 8 device to another. Add Xbox live and Skydrive and I would say Microsoft has a pretty good thing going here. Windows 8 is fully compatible with Homegroup, which any Windows 7 user hopefully is familiar with. That will give you the ability to share files or stream media content directly with any PC/TV compatible on the same local network.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
This is a transition OS much like Vista. The fact we still have to use the old desktop is a drain on the overall experience. If you use a touchscreen I don't know how you could not like Windows 8. You can tell the mouse and keyboard was an afterthought. If you don't have a touchscreen you must learn all the little keyboard commands and mouse controls necessary to be a power user. Every boxed edition sold will need a cheat sheet and to me that is a big fail for Microsoft. The interface is not intuitive enough for a techy like myself to figure it out without a run through. However, once I was used to how everything worked I was extremely pleased with the feel of the interface. It is fast even on old processors. It is far more fun than any other OS. I know I will get hate mail for this next comment. Apple your iPad is a year away from being obsolete.
So that is what I think of the OS itself. If you want to read on I am going to discuss Internet Explorer 10, the new browser included in Windows 8. If not I hope you enjoyed my preview and happy downloading.
IE10
So let me start by giving you a story. My brother and I often argue a lot about technology and what the best OS is or who the best company is. The Microsoft v Apple argument has gotten quite heated. Recently we have been arguing over browsers and capabilities. He is a web/app developer with a heavy emphasis in Java, while I am just a user heavily trained in sales and troubleshooting. So pretty much every argument is between the developers capabilities with the product and the actual user experience. Recently he has been focusing on the HTML5 crossover which is all good. Both of us can agree Flash must go and HTML5 is what will do it. So to him going to www.html5test.org and rating all the browsers is essential because he needs to know the capability of the browser. I on the other hand have a crop of websites I go to which I know will display differently depending on which browser I am using. So of course he hates IE because they are so behind on HTML5 capability not even caring about things like hardware acceleration or just flow of the interface. So here is my impression of what is happening to browsers.
I have heavily used Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and IE9. Chrome is probably my go to especially if you have a low powered PC. IE9 is still my daily driver because I think it still gives me the best access to content on the webpage even if it falters with some of the CSS or Java rendering. The acid3 tests will prove IE still has a little trouble with Java and HTML5 tests prove developers are heavily limited with IE9. However, IE10 is supposed to close that gap. It's tests are just below what capabilities Chrome and Safari have, and to a developer IE10 should be a welcomed edition. But to a consumer IE10 might be a step back for now. Let me explain.
Above is a screenshot of IE10 in the desktop version of Windows 8. Looks a lot like IE9 eh? Well, if you look at where the big colored blocks are with the headlines over them in white there is something missing. There are actually graphics supposed to be displayed with transparency over the colored backgrounds. In IE9 all of it is viewable and loads perfectly, however in IE10 nowhere to be seen. Below in the Metro interface of Windows 8 the same thing happens. In Windows 8 Metro you cannot have addons like Flash so I went to the desktop version of windows 8 downloaded all the addons I usually use in IE9 and still was unhappy with performance. So what to do?
As you can see above the metro UI is a bit different, no home or favorites button. There are tabs, but you have to right click on the page to bring them up. The pages load quick on either interface, but with heavy sites the browser will not show the page until it is fully downloaded. So you can be sitting for a few seconds before you see anything on the page. This sucked! So I battle with myself. Should I use the desktop version which will load Flash and be more clunky or stay in Metro and have a cool interface, but be limited. Neither!
The HTML5 test showed a huge improvement from 141 for IE9 to 314 in IE10, and a 100 in the Acid3 test when IE9 got a 97. So I should love IE10 according to my brother's perspective. But no, even though it loads pages quicker than I have ever seen it's still not good for the user. I have installed Chrome on my desktop for now. I personally hate that I have had to do this, but IE10 needs more work. The speed and testing shows potential for IE10, but all my websites should load properly. This can be fixed, IE10 is still a very early build. I also would still use it on a tablet any day. But for now on my desktop Chrome it is until Microsoft can workout the bugs in the rendering.
That's all for now folks. Since the browser is such an important way we use our computers I thought I would single it out here in my Windows 8 review because it is such an important part of the experience. Hope I enlightened some of you. Enjoy and feel free to e-mail me your thoughts or questions.
