First thoughts on Windows 8

So windows 8 has been released and I have been faced with the dilemma of whether to upgrade my Windows 7 machine to Windows 8 or skip this release. Like many developers I have learned to be skeptical of new releases of Windows, I live in fear that another Vista may be inflicted on the world. I decided to have a little look at it and thought it would be the perfect subject for my next article, so I hopped on the Microsoft Developers Network Academic Alliance and downloaded myself a copy. Then I fired up VMware and installed, the boot time was very reasonable… things were looking good at this point.

So the tiles appeared just like I had seen in the television ads, the first thing that popped into my head upon seeing the home screen was "This would be brilliant on a tablet PC", this would be the recurring theme during my time with Windows 8. So the interface doesn't do anything for me, I expected as much since I'm hopelessly tied to my desktop interface. Upon opening the desktop "app"… hold on… WHERE IS MY START BUTTON!!! That's right, they've taken one of my most used features out of the desktop version. Needless to say I was horrified, at this point they had successfully alienated me (and a lot of other people too I think), but I owed it to Microsoft to soldier on and look for some redeeming points. So the desktop has changed quite a bit, it no longer has a start button, the default window decorator has taken on a more metro feel but apart from that it's more or less business as usual.

The main changes have come in the form of apps. The introduction of the Windows Store has wrought great changes in the Windows interface, no longer is the desktop the main place to access your favourite programs, no longer is the internet the first port of call to find programs. In principle I like the app store but it provides so little information per screen and doesn't have the volume of apps that Apple store has. It also feels like they have tried to shoehorn the xbox 360 store into the operating system, oh dear, this had such potential.

The final nail in the Windows 8 coffin came when I tried to install some of my favourite programs from Windows 7 only to find that some of them no longer work. So I sat back in my chair thinking how good Windows 8 could have been and feeling thoroughly disappointed, how could Microsoft have done this to me. Who knows, future changes may make Windows 8 a useable system, but for now I think I'll have to stick with 7 as the thought of trying to develop on Windows 8 gives me a sore stomach.