Installation
After downloading the iso image from the Microsoft partner site, I was really impressed with the speed of installation when compared to what the previous versions of Windows took. The whole install took less than 15 minutes and since this version is very closely inetgrated to Windows Live once I had the Windows live id in the config was minimal. Overall I was impressed with installation speed. Ofcourse I did cheat a bit by backing all my data up and then just doing a clean install wiping all the previous data that I had.
The Good
- User Interface: The new UI is pretty cool and is totally new when compared to the older versions of Windows. The fact that MSFT has tried to keep the UI same across the Tablet and PC is something that I liked.
- Automatic Sky Drive Integration: This is a good feature if you are a windows live user and use Sky Drive for storage. There is an in built app that would allow direct integration with Sky Drive so no more opening the browser...
- Windows Mail: Like most today even I have multiple accounts and primarily use gmail and exchange accounts. In the past I had 2 options, one was to use outlook for exchange and browser for emails such as gmail and yahoo etc. Since Windows 8 comes with Windows mail which has ready made integration to exchange and gmail and other popular accounts I had my email up and running in minutes and without office (for exchange) which is a big relief.
- Windows App Store: The ability to have an app store to get apps in a laptop/pc scenario is good this was something that was limited to Tablets/Phones.
The Bad
- Step Learning Curve: While the UI has changed, if you are not a Microsoft fanatic like me who will take whatever MSFT throws your way and try to find your way then the current UI of Windows 8 has a very steep learning curve.
- Where are the menus: It is very difficult to identify where the menus are there, for example as I type this post when hit a ctrl B that is when I found a menu pop out for formatting...
- The App Store is Empty: The app store currently I would say is empty when compared to Google Play or Apple Store, this is where MSFT I feel would have to pull in a lot of effort or else we could very well have WebOS part II.
Windows 8 verdict
Finally in the last 3 days after spending about 16 hours on Windows 8 I feel this is an OS that has potential especially on the Surface probably not so much on a laptop. In all I would say Microsoft has done a good job on the OS but I would wait before I go get my hands on a Sureface, give it a good 3-6 months and I'm sure this will be a well seasoned OS like its elder brothers!!!
