Andrew's ramblings

Windows 8 Preview and first impressions

Tags: General, Windows 8

Well what can one say, it is very obvious that this release is geared to tablets and touch screens. So desktop users might be very overwhelmed to begin with, but could these users really get used to this new design and way of life for Windows.

The first thing that the user is presented with is a typical non window interface, that looks like it will be removing the windows from the product name. And the start menu seems to now be the real focus of the Operating System, rather than the desktop now.

With the redesign of the Start Menu that we all have come to love and hate, seems that we may still end up loving and hating it. The first thing is that the Menu is now gadget driven, not sure if that is going to be the final term for it. But as these are called gadgets for previous versions I will go with that for now.

The windows key seems to now be the way you switch between the current running application, and the start menu or whatever it is this is going to be called when it is released. If you move the mouse over to the edge of the left screen you will get a thumbnail of the current running app or the next application, and if you click the thumbnail, this will cycle through the running applications.

The one thing that was not very obvious was closing down applications, so I had to switch to the desktop and do it the old fashioned way.

Some of the new features or Applications in more detail are:

Internet Explorer 10

To say this has been given a huge makeover is maybe not the right word, but the first time you see it it is in full screen mode with the most minimum of bars. Using the Right Mouse Button will bring up the menu so that you can type in another url, or refresh the page. And of course the was an option to run it in desktop mode, that obviously runs it like we all are used too.

I did not see or find an option to switch it back, so I am guessing that this is something that is not going to happen, or maybe still to come.

The frequent bar at the top when in the Full screen mode, or Windows 8 native view, shows all the previously previewed and the tabs, and those that you have pinned. Other than this I did not go into depth on whether this is any faster than IE9, or even more compliant to HTML5 or CSS3 as I was overwhelmed with all the changes to Windows 8 itself.

You also have the ability to pin a page to the Start Page, but didn't see any option to give it any look and feel. I am going to assume that this would be some HTML meta tag that would provide this, so whether this is the case or not it means that you would be in the hands of developers providing this for that site.

Logging On

Now I am not sure if this is going to be in the final or not, but to login to the OS, you need to login with either a Windows Live or another email address that you give Microsoft I am assuming creates an account that sends info back and forth. Now I am going to make an assumption that if it is going to be in the final release, they may be going to have a tighter integration into their Windows Live service.

Logging Off

Shows a picture with the time on the display, and I would assume that there is an option that would allow you to change this. And again in the tradition of the rest of the OS, you swipe it away to actually log onto the OS.

Control Panel

In the new look mode of Windows 8, it is obvious that everything is touch screen, and swipe or drag as we are now used to with tablets and other such devices.

The UI seems to have changed a lot, and I am not sure if this is a new control or it is the radio button, but all yes/no and on/off options are now sliders. So that you just simply slide it to the state that you are wanting.

But the one thing that I noticed was that in the more settings, you go to the standard look of what we are used too. And I noticed that there was an arrow pointing up on the left hand side, or the right side of the next and previous buttons. Hitting this gave the standard, or what almost looks the standard my computer, but they call it the Desktop, and the first thing that was very noticeable was the ribbon bar menu.

Windows Explorer

As with the Control Panel it uses the same window interface, you get to see the ribbon bar in the same manner. But what I also discovered here was that the ribbon bar is there in a minimal mode, and when you select the menu that you want or whish to see, it drops down the ribbon bar for you to select your option, and the moves out of the way when it is finished.

Certainly there appears to be a massive UI change to help with getting around what you want to do with some ease.

Start Menu

By default it comes with some interesting games, applications and utilities that you may or may not use. Moving the icons around is fairly simple, removing them is as simple as using the Right Mouse Button and unpinning the application Which also has the option to uninstall from here, as well as changing the size of the icon.

The only thing I couldn't work out was how to put something back that I had removed.

I also noticed that some sounds would still keep playing when they are suppose to be in suspension mode, so this maybe just because it is a preview release, or that the game just isn't aware it is in suspended mode.

I did also notice that some of the gadgets animate, for example the stocks and weather gadgets keep updating with information.

Task Manager

By default this will only show the running applications, but you can expand this fairly easily to show more details. And this has been given a major UI overhaul and I must admit does look fairly good, the one thing that I did not like was that the resources I could only see one at a time. When I love to see the CPU and memory and what is happening at the same time, I just couldn't see how to change this to suit what I would have liked to view. Guess that is just me being so used to the past versions.

Game - Copper

I wasn't going to mention anything about the games, but this was fairly addictive little game. The only thing is that it was just a bit frustrating playing it with a mouse, almost makes me now want a device that would support Windows 8.

Conclusion

Well I am sort of impressed with how it looks and feels, but I would be more comfortable with this on a mobile device like a tablet, or on any other Smart Device like a TV for example. I would consider that most developers and other application heavy users, may find it more of a hindrance  when on a desktop or even a laptop, unless the laptop supports the pinch and what not with the mouse pad.

Would I stay in this new look, maybe not. And the first thing I went looking for was a way to switch between classic Windows and Windows 8 and couldn't find anything, not to sat it is not there, just not very obvious or in your face.

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