Previews of the desktops, laptops, and tablets that will run Windows 8 have been, at worst, interesting curiosities, but generally have been much more than that, loaded with touch screens and ultrathin form factors. However, Microsoft desperately wants people who own older Windows computers to upgrade.
Those are effectively Mac OS X point upgrade prices for a major operating system upgrade. Not only that, but if you're considering buying a brand-new Windows 8 machine, this is a low-cost way to take the OS on a test run. But, RT also won't suffer the same malware concerns that full Windows 8 will because of its different chip architecture. The only two versions available to the public to download will be Windows 8 Basic and Windows 8 Pro, which this review is based on.
Installation The Windows 8 installation process is remarkably simple, and belies the massive changes you are about to wreak on your operating system. Run the installer, drop in the license key when asked, and allow the computer to reboot. On the Toshiba DX built for Windows 7 but running the Windows 8 Release Preview that we upgraded, installation took around 10 minutes -- not including the hinkiness we encountered with the Microsoft-supplied USB stick. The syncing process took longer, and getting the RTM to the same point of usability as the RP was added took almost another 20 minutes.
Microsoft said this was longer than normal, but not out of the realm of possibility. Microsoft documentation notes people installing Windows 8 over Windows 7 will get to keep their Windows settings, personal files, and programs. If you have a preview version of Windows 8, you'll be able to keep your personal files, but apps will have to be downloaded again from the Windows Store. Fortunately, your previous apps should be saved in the Your Apps section, at the top edge.
Settings such as picture passwords and Facebook will carry over, since they're attached to your log-in account. Google log-ins apparently will not, and must be re-entered manually. People with Vista will be able to carry their Windows settings and personal files forward to Windows 8, but not their programs. If you're running Windows XP, you're even more restricted, and can only take your personal files with you.
Microsoft has a Compatibility Center Web site to check your hardware before your purchase an upgrade.
Interface Microsoft has never been accused of doing anything the easy way, and that's doubly true for navigating Windows 8. The complaints and compliments about the definitely different Windows 8 interface are varied, but basically boil down to two aesthetic sensibilities.
We believe that Windows 8's new Start screen presents apps in an elegant interface. It challenges current common wisdom about apps and their icons, and reimagines the icon as an integrated extension of the app itself. The Windows 8 tile is a widget-esque surface that can stream real-time information from the app. Tiles are arranged in groups on the Start screen, and you can drag them around to create new groups. You can also pinch to zoom out and get a global view of your groups, from which the groups themselves can be reorganized.
This semantic zoom creates an easier way to navigate through content-rich apps, and across the dozens or hundreds of apps you're likely to install. Furthermore, Windows 8 takes advantage of your screen's edges to stick menus in an accessible but out-of-the-way place. There's almost a zen approach to it all. Everything feels connected as you flip between recently used apps, as you use semantic zoom to navigate above and then within an app, and as your right-edge Charms bar provides an actual unified place to tweak settings, search in-app and across Windows 8, and share content.
You navigate Windows 8 through the Charms bar, which has no true analog in Windows 7. It's the navigation bar that lives at the right edge of the screen that intertwines OS navigation with OS functionality.
From the Charms bar, you can Search apps, files, and settings; Share content across apps; jump to the Start screen; configure external Devices such as multiple monitors; and change Settings both for Windows 8 itself and any app that you're in at the moment. By putting these five key features all in one place, Microsoft has supplanted the catchall Start menu of previous Windows editions with something more nuanced, but with a broader mandate. All apps have settings, goes the logic -- therefore, you should be able to access those settings in the same place, regardless of app.
In practice, this is generally smooth with moments of clunkiness. No matter what app you're in, your Windows 8 settings are always accessible from the bottom of the Settings sidebar. However, the specifics of an app naturally are left to the app maker. In Microsoft's Weather app, your toggle from Fahrenheit to Celsius lives not in the Settings sidebar, but in the also-hidden bottom-edge options. The left edge allows you to swipe through your previously used app, although you can turn this off if you'd like.
Swiping in from the left edge and then making a quick U-turn back to the edge reveals a sidebar of thumbnails of your previously used apps, including the Start screen. You can cycle very quickly through previous apps, making this one of Windows 8's better navigation options.
So, while it's logical of Microsoft to restrict the side edges to the operating system, and the top and bottom edges to the app, the practice is not intuitive in all cases. Microsoft provides a helpful, necessary tutorial when you first install Windows 8 that demonstrates this, but it doesn't show you the top and bottom edges, or the left edge. Because Windows 8 is intended as a unified system for both PC and tablet, it works almost as well with a keyboard and mouse as it does with touch.
While the mouse may eventually go the way of the fax machine, it's doubtful that Microsoft intends to kill it off while encouraging so many non-touch-screen owners to upgrade to Windows 8. So, as with seemingly everything in Windows 8, this, too, serves two masters.
Sure, it gives you the precision required for image editing, but it's also Microsoft proclaiming Windows 8's usefulness. Windows 8 can do it all, Microsoft says: you get touch, mouselike precision, and keyboard hot keys. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email.
Notify me of new posts via email. Home About NG2. NG2 Blog. Computer Catch a Cold? Tips for Avoiding Viruses ». Improved Search Searching in Windows 8 is already easy; simply start typing from the Start screen and voila, all your apps, settings, and documents are instantly displayed in their respective categories.
Improved Desktop Experience With Windows 8, Microsoft boldly combined the traditional desktop interface with one optimized for tablets. Improved Apps Windows 8. Chkdsk is a utility that tries to fix file-system corruptions. To fix problems, you still have to reboot in Windows 8, but the process is much faster. Microsoft has upgraded the Windows Backup and Restore features of Windows 7 with a new, easier-to-use Windows 8 tool called File History. Mucking around in the Control Panel can sometimes be a pain, but in Windows 8 you can access some basic tasks via the new Settings app in the Modern UI.
You can use the Settings app to adjust your system date and time, reinstall Windows, manage your HomeGroup, or access Windows Update. The search tool in Windows 7 is fairly powerful, letting you search for apps, as well as search inside files and folders. The new search function in the Windows 8 Modern UI adds to this by letting you search the content inside touch-centric apps.
For most users, personalization in Windows 7 means pinning apps to the taskbar, changing the desktop wallpaper, and selecting a user-account photo. A new secure-boot process, enabled by default on all new Windows 8 PCs, will prevent unauthorized operating systems and malware from loading on your machine.
Windows Explorer also has native mounting of ISO files, a one folder up button like the old days of XP thank God , and a really cool "quick access" toolbar in the left-hand corner that lets you add your favorite shortcuts to the title bar. It also has a new file copy dialog that makes it easier to manage move-and-replace actions with lots of files. Microsoft's finally redesigned the task manager, and it looks pretty great.
You have a very simple task manager for basic task killing, but if you're a more advanced user, you can bring up the detailed task manager filled with information on CPU and RAM usage, Metro app history, and even startup tweaking—so you can get rid of apps that launch on startup without going all the way into msconfig.
Remember Microsoft Security Essentials , our favorite antivirus app for Windows? Well, now it's built in to Windows 8 as Windows Defender. It has nearly the exact same interface and feature set; the main difference is that you no longer have to install it. Along with these cool features, Windows 8 also comes with other features we've come to know and love to see in desktop and mobile OSes alike.
It's got system-wide spellchecking, so you don't have to rely on a specific app to keep your writing top-notch, as well as a system-wide search feature, that lets you search anything from your music library to your contacts to the web itself. It also has a really cool feature for desktop users that lets your run the Metro UI on one monitor while running the traditional desktop on the other not to mention better support for multiple monitors in general—like having the taskbar on both screens.
It also has a really cool feature called "refresh your PC", where you can do a clean install with the tap of a button. Whether you're selling your machine or just want a cleaner, faster installation of Windows, you can do it all in one click. You can even set refresh points, similar to restore points, so you can refresh your PC to the way it was at a certain point in time.
This is a condensed version of everything you'll find in Windows 8, but the best way to see the new features is to experience it for yourself. You can buy Windows 8 right now from Microsoft's online store, or if you're still unsure, you can check out the Release Preview for free though it doesn't have everything we've outlined above, as it's still a "preview".
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