Going The Distance
Anti-Mac users (That’s right Apple, I said it), have long been awaiting the arrival of Windows 8 from Microsoft. They have been wondering what new features and enhancements there will be. Well I am here to give you a little taste of what is in store.
Some of you may think that Windows 8 is just another slightly updated operating system, a little tweak here, a little tweak there and done. But with Windows 8 that doesn’t seem to be the case, Microsoft has decided to pull out all the stops and try and go head to head with Apple.
Not only have they given Windows 8 a major facelift but have decided to make it the universal OS for all of their products, that’s right, Windows 8 will be PC and tablet friendly. Allowing you to sync both of them together, to have all of your addresses, files, photos and documents with you no matter where you are at. Not to mention being able to glide through all of your features and apps with the touch of a finger click of a mouse or tap of a key.
Gaining Speed
Don’t be surprised when Windows 8 becomes a real contender against Macs OS X. Within the first 24 hours of being open to the public, it saw over one million downloads. What did people get a taste of when they downloaded the preview? They saw an OS with incredible synchronization and social networking, a fluid transition between touch to mouse and keyboard and a top of the line security system.
New on the touch horizon would be multi touch feature allowing you to pinch to zoom, two finger scroll and edge swiping. This is pretty big considering that Apple has had some of these features going on for years now. But with Microsoft pushing for some intense upgrades in the hardware department on Windows 8, we can finally say that Microsoft touch pads are moving in the right direction.
Another cool thing that Microsoft has given us with Windows 8 is tiles, a social quilt in you will, of all the things that you need and love to keep up on in your life. There is a calendar tile, allowing you to see upcoming appointments, a sports tile to keep you up to date on your favorite teams, social network tile so you can see what your friends are up to, the list can keep on going and going. The best part about this? Your quilt, your way, you tailor it how you see fit.
Don’t want all the tiles up in your screen space? No problem, click on the desktop tile and it will whisk you away to a screen, ala Windows 7, complete with your recycle bin, Internet Explorer and taskbar.
To put it simply: Fast, fresh and fun.
A long Road Ahead
But there is a downside to the new and improved Windows 8, it is so different from there norm that average users might become extremely confused. Microsoft has added a lot of foreign and new features making it easier to navigate in the long run, and just plain frustrating in the beginning. All it takes is for the consumer to want to throw their PC out the window and curse the sky once, before they abandon Windows 8 altogether.
Also some of the Apps seemed to be pretty raw. Dropping some of the consistent touch response we saw in the default screen, to a very low minimum when trying to work in Apps. Not to mention, out of the default Apps people saw a lot of crashing after the first day.
So far we see a lot of good things coming from Windows 8, of course there are still some improvements to be made. Windows 8 has a little ways to go before it makes its big and final debut into the world, and this little sneak preview makes Windows users pretty anxious to see the final results.
Have you tried Window’s 8 Beta? If so, share your thoughts with us as to what features you love or hate, or an overall opinion. We always love to hear from our readers!
