The most you've probably heard about Win8 is the new "Metro UI" thing that, quite frankly is designed for a touch screen interface. You've probably heard plenty of people grouse about it and condemn it and declare they'll stick with XP/Vista/7 in protest because "a desktop isn't a tablet" or "I don't want to use a touch screen." While I can certainly agree with those sentiments (I absolutely loathe touch screens, especially the one on my dad's phone).... I have to say, Win 8 is pretty damn nice.
While Metro can't be disabled, it is easily dismissed and doing so brings you back to the familiar desktop interface. In fact, aside from logging on and turning off and a few settings you might use once in a while, you really don't have to interact with Metro at all. Also, contrary to what you've probably heard, actually using Metro is pretty smooth and intuitive. It's not touch-screen dependent and navigating it with a mouse is no more difficult than navigating the start menu.
The other thing you might notice is the venerable Start button--or rather, the lack thereof. Replacing it is an auto-hiding Start "flag" in the lower left corner. Clicking it takes you back to Metro, where a similar flag showing your desktop takes its place, to provide a quick route back (aside from the big giant Desktop tile in the Metro menu). The Metro UI is little more than a full-screen start menu. It starts showing you your most used programs, [http://webbstuff.net/evilneko/screenshot_050.png] and if you right-click and click All Apps, it'll expand to the full menu.
For those that would like to have their Start Menu back, don't worry, a workaround is available. Simply add a custom toolbar to your taskbar, and point it at the folder that contains the Start Menu--it's actually in the same place as it was in previous versions. To do this, right click your taskbar, and under the Toolbars menu select New Toolbar. You can also roll your own by just making a folder and filling it with shortcuts to whatever programs you want on it.
Other than that, it's much like Windows 7, only with convenient shortcuts and less annoyances (8 tends to remember things like "sort by type" when I tell it, 7 kept insisting on sorting by name and changing the display of folders based on their contents). For example, right-clicking the Start Flag produces a menu with lots of common administrative tools on it, [http://webbstuff.net/evilneko/screenshot_051.png] such as computer management, control panel, task manager, etc. Tools also show up in the Windows Explorer interface, depending on what's highlighted.
Performance-wise, well, it's hard to say. It's definitely not sluggish like Vista was, that's for sure. Is it faster than XP? Not sure about that. Day-to-day use is pretty snappy, but it's hard to say if it's quicker or not. And I don't game on my laptop unless I don't have a choice, so no help there. Previously, my laptop ran 32-bit XP. My desktop runs XP64.
The only disappointment I've come across, in fact, is that my video capture device doesn't work in 8, and I use it almost every day to record news shows for my dad. So, unfortunately, no 8 for my desktop, yet.
All in all it's probably the least annoying Windows yet. Coming from a diehard 2k fan and grudging XP user like myself, that's some high praise. Also, I've had 8 on my laptop for over a week now--far longer than I had 7 on either of my computers.
Microsoft is offering upgrades to 8 on the cheap [http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx]. $40 for someone upgrading from XP, Vista, or 7. Pretty generous of them to include XP users in the deal. I'm probably going to be taking them up on it, once I get working drivers for or replace my capture device.
If you want to try 8, you can grab it here. [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download]
While Metro can't be disabled, it is easily dismissed and doing so brings you back to the familiar desktop interface. In fact, aside from logging on and turning off and a few settings you might use once in a while, you really don't have to interact with Metro at all. Also, contrary to what you've probably heard, actually using Metro is pretty smooth and intuitive. It's not touch-screen dependent and navigating it with a mouse is no more difficult than navigating the start menu.
The other thing you might notice is the venerable Start button--or rather, the lack thereof. Replacing it is an auto-hiding Start "flag" in the lower left corner. Clicking it takes you back to Metro, where a similar flag showing your desktop takes its place, to provide a quick route back (aside from the big giant Desktop tile in the Metro menu). The Metro UI is little more than a full-screen start menu. It starts showing you your most used programs, [http://webbstuff.net/evilneko/screenshot_050.png] and if you right-click and click All Apps, it'll expand to the full menu.
For those that would like to have their Start Menu back, don't worry, a workaround is available. Simply add a custom toolbar to your taskbar, and point it at the folder that contains the Start Menu--it's actually in the same place as it was in previous versions. To do this, right click your taskbar, and under the Toolbars menu select New Toolbar. You can also roll your own by just making a folder and filling it with shortcuts to whatever programs you want on it.
Other than that, it's much like Windows 7, only with convenient shortcuts and less annoyances (8 tends to remember things like "sort by type" when I tell it, 7 kept insisting on sorting by name and changing the display of folders based on their contents). For example, right-clicking the Start Flag produces a menu with lots of common administrative tools on it, [http://webbstuff.net/evilneko/screenshot_051.png] such as computer management, control panel, task manager, etc. Tools also show up in the Windows Explorer interface, depending on what's highlighted.
Performance-wise, well, it's hard to say. It's definitely not sluggish like Vista was, that's for sure. Is it faster than XP? Not sure about that. Day-to-day use is pretty snappy, but it's hard to say if it's quicker or not. And I don't game on my laptop unless I don't have a choice, so no help there. Previously, my laptop ran 32-bit XP. My desktop runs XP64.
The only disappointment I've come across, in fact, is that my video capture device doesn't work in 8, and I use it almost every day to record news shows for my dad. So, unfortunately, no 8 for my desktop, yet.
All in all it's probably the least annoying Windows yet. Coming from a diehard 2k fan and grudging XP user like myself, that's some high praise. Also, I've had 8 on my laptop for over a week now--far longer than I had 7 on either of my computers.
Microsoft is offering upgrades to 8 on the cheap [http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/07/02/upgrade-to-windows-8-pro-for-39-99.aspx]. $40 for someone upgrading from XP, Vista, or 7. Pretty generous of them to include XP users in the deal. I'm probably going to be taking them up on it, once I get working drivers for or replace my capture device.
If you want to try 8, you can grab it here. [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download]
