Your friendly IT folks have been feverishly testing Windows 8, the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system. Although we can’t say that it is a desktop operating system. Windows 8 was designed with mobile in mind. The new Metro interface has big icons for apps, with slider actions designed for small touch screens and fat fingers. Although the new design is clean, sharp and easier to use, Windows 8 offers almost no advantages over Windows 7 when it comes to functionality and administration. Yes, there are some cool new apps in the Windows store, but this looks more like Microsoft trying to compete with Apple rather than an original and innovative line-up. Here are some of the issues (good and bad) that we’ve been talking about:
Metro Interface – The Metro Interface replaces the start menu, which has been removed. This is a little weird since many of the apps that you may want to use (e.g. Word, Excel, Powerpoint) run in the “Desktop” of Windows 8, which is like a “Window” into the old style of desktop you are used to. This is even the case with Office 2013 applications. Most of the applications that run natively in the Metro Interface are what I would call “consumer” applications such as Netflix, Kindle, News, Bing Search, Shopping, Weather, and others.
Windows 8 On-Board Newer Mobile – Many of the new non-Apple mobile offerings will come standard with Windows 8 and we will certainly see these as more and more people “bring their own device (BYOD).” There is a version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM architecture, which is the type of processor you have in your smart phone. What they generally don’t tell you is that this version of Windows 8 can’t run the full spectrum of programs like the full-version can.
Multimedia Integration – Playing music and videos is very good on Windows 8, although Microsoft does everything they can to get you to use their SkyDrive, which is the Microsoft version of Apples Cloud File Service. Our system administrators are still getting their heads wrapped around SkyDrive, so for now, we would not recommend using it. Another service that is integrated into the OS is Microsoft’s XBox Music store. This is a direct competitor with the Apple Store and is the same model, designed to lock you into buying your videos and music exclusively from Microsoft. Although there are other apps for other services, none of them is as well integrated as Microsoft’s offerings. As an example of this “closed” system, Microsoft recently pulled an app that would play Pandora streaming radio in Windows 8. I view this as directly affecting competition of a competitor that has been doing well.
Messaging Apps vs. Office 2013 – While there are a number of Metro-style messaging apps, they are stripped-down versions of Office Outlook. While these may be suitable for some of our customers, for most, they may not be adequate to handle business communications and scheduling. Fortunately, Office 2013 works in Windows 8, but within the “Desktop” interface rather than the Metro Interface.
Notetaking – This is the one area in which that I am very demanding. I recently got an HP 900 Elite Pad and have installed OneNote, my notetaking application of choice. I haven’t received a pen for the tablet yet since it’s on back-order, but will let you know how it goes in a later review. Running the full OneNote client is promising, but the last tablet that I played with (HP Envy) wasn’t setup to handle pen, even though their literature said so. This could be the “killer app and box” for me, but the jury is still out.
Playing Well with Non-Microsoft Apps – I’ve installed a number of non-Microsoft apps and most of them have failed miserably. For example, I’m partial to Chrome – it didn’t run at all. No Pandora app either. Firefox also crashed and burned. Is this the community simply not ready for Windows 8, or is Microsoft doing something else? I don’t know.
Bottom Line – Windows 8 looks like a good interface for mobile computing devices, but offers little advantage (and some disadvantages) over Windows 7 for daily computing needs. Window 8 may be good if you’re an extreme mobile user, but if you use your computing time sitting mainly at your desk, stick with Windows 7 for now.
