Microsoft – one word. A desktop is not a tablet. My desktop never will be a tablet. Most end users will own tablets, and probably use them for most of their day to day activities. But engineering an interface that feels like a tablet for devices that are not tablets does not make me happy.
But… that comes later. First, the installation process.
The installation process is noticeably similar to the Windows 7 setup process.
Being the geek, I clicked Customize.
Well aren’t they a tad aggressive at wanting to verify everything you see with MS? All of these defaulted to On.
Do I want to send Microsoft URL’s that apps are using? Even though these apps came through the Microsoft app store, where they should have been screened already? All of these also defaulted to On.
Interesting. So if someone steals my bag in the airport, they have my phone and laptop (or tablet). Could they unlock my device with a text message from an automated system?
Do you really have to drag this entire screen up to hit the login prompt?
My application list is now something I have to drag left and right to navigate. Hit Escape to get out of this screen and get to a base home screen similar to the Windows 7 desktop.
At least the VMware Tools installed properly.
Random Observations:
You have to hit the Windows key on a keyboard to open the application search screen. You can still add them to the task bar. I was chatting to my friend who runs Ratedgamergear.com and he agreed it’s quite weird.
I had to search for the ability to power the VM off. No shut down or suspend button was visible in the UI.
The search feature looks to be incomplete. Search for ‘Computer Management’ and nothing appears.
But go into the Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, and it’s right where you’d expect it to be.
And when I add the new drive, I now see ‘Tap’ instead of ‘Click’.
The boot screen is simple and better than the Windows 7 boot loader. Note the subtle ‘8’.
The built-in app store reminds me of all of the other platform stores.
Final Thoughts:
My vision of the future involves mobile devices in use by just about everyone. To this thought, Windows 8 looks to be intriguing. However, to the power users such as myself and all of the other IT folks that I know, a tablet simply will not be the only device that I have at home. This OS looks to be geared for tablets and not workstations. We’ll see how this plays out.
