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I have to say, that I when I heard that Microsoft was making a version of Windows to unify devices, I was a bit skeptical. I have since changed my views. I have installed this on a 2nd gen Asus Zenbook (that's non-touchscreen, for those that don't know). It's wonderfully simple to figure out, even with the new Start screen. Let me do my best to describe what I think.
Apps:
I upgraded from Windows 7 Pro 64-bit to Windows 8 Pro. All my original applications and windows software is still working, including Visual Studio 2010, Eclipse (including Java and Android development kits), pidgin, MySQL, MSSQL, the GIMP, Chrome, Firefox, LibreOffice and Cisco VPN (although, I did need to run a reinstall on the VPN drivers). I have since installed the Netflix and Hulu Plus apps from the Windows Marketplace. I haven't had much of a chance to go through the marketplace for Windows 8 applications, but I can give better reviews on these.
The only issue I can find with the apps is how everything scrolls left and right. Very little scrolls up and down. There is the plus that I can search through all of them from a single unified location. Which brings me to my next point:
"Charms" screen:
Either hovering over one of the corners to the right of the screen, pressing the Windows key (also known as "Super", but I will refer to it from now on as "Win") + C, or on many touchpad enabled devices, swiping the touch pad on the right hand side, will open it. This gives you your basic search, share, start, connected devices list, and settings. I'll tackle each one at a time.
The search option seems pretty simple at first. It allows you to search through apps and files. Okay, easy enough. The search also gives one the ability to search through the store and through apps. I can search Netflix for a movie or Hulu Plus for a specific episode of South Park, all from the desktop. This is quite handy for when you don't want to go through the start menu to look for something.
The share option is meant to be used from within Metro apps that support the share option. This is meant to be app specific, and everyone will need to figure out whats apps support it and how. I'm sorry I don't have more information.
The start button does exactly what you think it does: opens the start screen (which one can do by clicking in the very far, lower left corner of the screen as well).
The devices list will list out all USB devices connect to the computer and give you the options to safely remove, just as this list has always done, only from the taskbar.
Settings opens up the new Windows Settings tile, which to me is a bit lacking. It's one thing I think they could have expanded a bit more, honestly. For one thing, Control Panel isn't there. To get to the Control Panel. To get any admin options, or to the control panel, one can go into Windows explorer (Win + E) and click "Control Panel" in the ribbon, right-click in the lower-left corner for the list of stuff, you can go into the start screen and start typing "Control Panel", or hit "Win+I" for another settings screen to access the control panel. As a power user, I've found little shortcuts here or there, but for standard users, this change will be a huge pain, if they ever used any of these services.
Yes, you read that right in the previous paragraph, there's ANOTHER settings screen, which you can open via "Win+I". This will give you options to choose settings specific to the desktop (Personalization), access the Control Panel, look at your PC configuration, and get quick help. At the bottom, there're icons to change other settings for things like wi-fi, sound, etc (essentially another taskbar location) and access power (restart, shutdown, sleep, etc). There's also an option to go to personalization settings the same as if you went into the "Charms" menu and click "Settings".
Now, time to tackle the biggest change in Windows 8: The start screen.
Start Screen:
This screen is where the Windows 8 specific apps reside. They are laid out as tiles as you install new applications and software. ALL apps and software can be pinned here (currently, I have Chrome, VS 2010, Filezilla, Pidgin, MySQL pinned right next to Netflix and Hulu Plus). It's an interesting mix of old and new in one screen.
The most helpful aspect of the Start screen is being able to search without really thinking about it. Want to find something? Simply hit "Win" to open the screen, and start typing the name of the app. I found this to be an easy way to "Add features to Windows 8" without opening the Programs and Features list in the Control Panel. This search also allows for searching within apps, the store, etc. If you don't want to search, and you merely want to look for it yourself, well, this is where things get a bit hairy.
You can open the search, and not type anything, and start scrolling through the apps. It's side scrolling, as with anything else in the start screen, and to me, it's a mess. Microsoft tried to sort everything into the same start folders as they were before, but everything is tossed up as icons. Imagine going through an iPad or Android apps list with 100 things installed, because it's ALL THERE. I have yet to find a way to sort this, but if I find a way, I will update this review. Let's just say, you're not going to want to find things yourself in this way.
Now, onto the one thing I've found that makes development a bit easier. Say you're making a Windows 8 application. You're in the desktop with Visual Studio open. You build it, and run it, and have it open. Great, so what? It looks fine in desktop, how will it look on a phone? Well, you can "Pin" them into areas on the left and right, and it will then show you the thinner, tall version of a phone's interface. RIDICULOUSLY helpful for finding phone interface flaws (although, I keep doing it more with my desktop, but I'm sure I'll get use to it). This also give you the ability to test out different sizes and "resolutions". This can be helpful to the user, as well, for multi-tasking a Windows 8 Metro/Modern (whatever it's called now) app alongside the desktop. Running something in Metro/Modern that you want to see while typing something on the desktop? Pin the app to an area and keep it open.
Finally, onto some of the oddities I've found in my short time with it. I've already mentioned a few things (like the kludge of the start screen if you're manually searching for something). Esc doesn't always take you out of an app. to switch from app to app, you have to hover in one of the left corners, then swipe through to see all running apps (Metro or desktop). This is also the only place you can CLOSE these apps. You can always use Alt+F4, but there's no easy "Close" button. You have to hover over the icon in this left screen, right-click, and close. Alt+F4 has become my best friend. Alt+Tab still works like you'd expect to switch from software to software, so at least there's that. Also, the only place you can "Shut down" is from the settings menu (Win+I), it's no longer in the start screen. That only allows one to log off, or lock the computer. It's a minor annoyance, but one I can see coming up with some users.
All-in-all, I give this OS upgrade a 5. Sure, there's some minor niggles, but for the most part, it's a great, unifying UI that gives people and developers to take mobile and traditional apps wherever they go. I give it my full approval.
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Simple Add-On to Make It Like Win 7
So I just bought a new HP desktop 3 weeks ago that is fairly well tricked out: Pavilion h8-1233, Core i5-3550 10 GB RAM 2 TB hard drive AMD Radeon HD 7570 video card It came with Windows 7, which is what I wanted because I was reading very uncomplimentary reviews of W8. However, I learned that Microsoft is providing $15 upgrades to W8 thru Jan 2013 for anyone buying a new PC with W7, AND that HP is offering a $15 rebate to anyone that purchases a new HP (with W7) that upgrades to W8 during that same time period. It was a compelling proposition. Zero cost and I will have future-proofed my OS for a few more years. And W8 supposedly runs faster than W7, although I had no complaints at all with W7 on this new machines. I was still on the fence though, because that stupid metro interface with the tiles does not appear to be very customizable, and is not geared to using a mouse but rather a touchscreen. What to do? The thing that pushed me over the edge was reading about a $5 piece of software that brings back your start button and automatically boots your computer to the desktop (not the metro tile start page). This software is called Start8 by Stardock. Google it and check out the demonstration video. So, how did it go? Not too bad. It took me about 20 minutes to download the 2 GB W8 software file (bought it directly from Microsoft), then it took about 15 minutes to run the compatibility check and uninstall 2 drivers and the antivirus software that were 'not compatible' with W8. The actual install took about 25 minutes, which involved several reboots but no actions needed on my part. When it booted up the first time, I had to log into my windows live account, which is not connected to any of my other accounts (facebook, etc.) so that was kind of a waste because none of the live tiles displayed any personal information. It apparently couldn't even figure out where my computer is located, because the weather tile kept cycling through different locations around the world. Anyway, I had to then spend another 30 minutes downloading and installing several rounds of windows updates, new drivers, and new antivirus software.I then downloaded and installed Start8 from Stardock, went quickly through the setup, and am up and running with my W8/W7 hybrid. I have rebooted several times since then and it successfully goes right to the desktop. I can still move the cursor over to the right corner and get the charms bar, and go to the metro start page if I want to, but for now I don't see the need. Is W8 better than W7? Not with a high-powered desktop with no touchscreen. Am I glad I did it? Sure, I paid $5 to get the latest OS which will hopefully receive a few improvements and refinements. Or, if W9 really works much better, I will (hopefully) be assured an easier upgrade to that. I also added a photo showing the start button here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/permalink/moL8M8MU76PB1Q/B008H3SW4I/ref=cm_ciu_images_pl_link
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Reasonable Priced Windows 8 Upgrade
