Win8, first day
Have spent most of the day getting to know Win8.
Had a bad moment when I thought the Enter key was busted, already (it's behaving oddly in the visual editor in LJ). And another when I couldn't find my transferred files. I'm very glad I bought an external HD at the same time, which saved me a whole lot of time.
Still have to figure out how to make a backup of the Windows installation itself. It claims you can re-install from itself, but I'm not certain I believe it.
Also used some recommendations from lifehacker to download some freebie options - open office, VLC, a PDF reader, picasa - to make life easier. I think I'll break down and re-organise my pics with Picasa.
I alternate between really valuing Google's tools, and hating the empire they are becoming.
Some early impressions:
- the primary assumption of Win8 is that you live to shop, and to share, online.
Obviously some people do. So Windows 8 is a great enabler of all this. To use most of the default apps, you need to get a Microsoft account. Without one, you can't use the Store, though which you Buy Stuff, because of course, you bought the computer so you could Shop, and Share, right?
There are commercial apps too - Netflix, Amazon, eBay, games. Things innocently labelled 'Music' and 'Video' and 'Games' point straight to Xbox. I thought it was bad enough loading a browser full of default links, but this arrangement takes it to a new level.
However: If you don't set up an MS account, most of these apps just become so much memory wastage, that *you* have to remove from your startup screen. Argh.
On top of that, half of them don't tell you what they do - you can't even right-click to view their properties, or the readme file. You're either supposed to try them (first one's free, little girl....) or else already know what things like 'Evernote' do. Still haven't figured that one out.
So the context and clues I used in the past to figure these items out are gone, and I'm left feeling stupid.
- the second assumption, or maybe the joint primary, is that you're online, all the time.
From long struggles with my last machine, I was careful about when I decided to go online, and very fussy over what tools had permission to access the outside world. This assumption that of course I'd be online, how can you function away from the Intawebs? another annoyance.
- the Win8 behaviour will take getting used to, which may be why the 'desktop app' is still available - without it, some people would have given up Windows entirely.
The app interfaces themselves are stripped back to bare minimal commands, so you can see more of the screen real estate. Good idea, except it raises a somewhat desperate feeling in me of where the *hell* did you put all my previous browsed windows? what do you mean I have to scroll through each one to get to the one I want? Where are my favourites? Where's my search? WTF? hell with it, gimme the desktop... and so on.
At the same time, the 'desktop' version of the browsers look dated, blocky, plain, like we've slid back to 2005 or something, except all the *useful* bits I had handy back then, like Favourites and Internet Options, are hidden so I have to hunt them down...
- the arrangment of files in my C drive is suspiciously similar to the arrangement of Sharepoint.
I've only just started using Sharepoint, and it's a very powerful suite. But I hadn't realised that basically it had colonised Windows, because that's what it feels like. (No it's not surprising that two products by the same mftr have same layout, but still.... S'point is *not* an intuitive product!)
SO: I'm sure I'll learn this verison, just as I learned all the others. It feels like going from Win 3.1 to Win95 though, where the familiar was swept away and you were left with a barren screen and a single button marked 'Start'.
This time you're faced with a screen packed with tiles with unknown purposes and powers...and *no* Start button.
I swear they do it on purpose.
To see it for yourself: htroup's recommendation of Scott Hanselman is very sound. He's now done a longer intro for non-geeks, but it's the same info.
Had a bad moment when I thought the Enter key was busted, already (it's behaving oddly in the visual editor in LJ). And another when I couldn't find my transferred files. I'm very glad I bought an external HD at the same time, which saved me a whole lot of time.
Still have to figure out how to make a backup of the Windows installation itself. It claims you can re-install from itself, but I'm not certain I believe it.
Also used some recommendations from lifehacker to download some freebie options - open office, VLC, a PDF reader, picasa - to make life easier. I think I'll break down and re-organise my pics with Picasa.
I alternate between really valuing Google's tools, and hating the empire they are becoming.
Some early impressions:
- the primary assumption of Win8 is that you live to shop, and to share, online.
Obviously some people do. So Windows 8 is a great enabler of all this. To use most of the default apps, you need to get a Microsoft account. Without one, you can't use the Store, though which you Buy Stuff, because of course, you bought the computer so you could Shop, and Share, right?
There are commercial apps too - Netflix, Amazon, eBay, games. Things innocently labelled 'Music' and 'Video' and 'Games' point straight to Xbox. I thought it was bad enough loading a browser full of default links, but this arrangement takes it to a new level.
However: If you don't set up an MS account, most of these apps just become so much memory wastage, that *you* have to remove from your startup screen. Argh.
On top of that, half of them don't tell you what they do - you can't even right-click to view their properties, or the readme file. You're either supposed to try them (first one's free, little girl....) or else already know what things like 'Evernote' do. Still haven't figured that one out.
So the context and clues I used in the past to figure these items out are gone, and I'm left feeling stupid.
- the second assumption, or maybe the joint primary, is that you're online, all the time.
From long struggles with my last machine, I was careful about when I decided to go online, and very fussy over what tools had permission to access the outside world. This assumption that of course I'd be online, how can you function away from the Intawebs? another annoyance.
- the Win8 behaviour will take getting used to, which may be why the 'desktop app' is still available - without it, some people would have given up Windows entirely.
The app interfaces themselves are stripped back to bare minimal commands, so you can see more of the screen real estate. Good idea, except it raises a somewhat desperate feeling in me of where the *hell* did you put all my previous browsed windows? what do you mean I have to scroll through each one to get to the one I want? Where are my favourites? Where's my search? WTF? hell with it, gimme the desktop... and so on.
At the same time, the 'desktop' version of the browsers look dated, blocky, plain, like we've slid back to 2005 or something, except all the *useful* bits I had handy back then, like Favourites and Internet Options, are hidden so I have to hunt them down...
- the arrangment of files in my C drive is suspiciously similar to the arrangement of Sharepoint.
I've only just started using Sharepoint, and it's a very powerful suite. But I hadn't realised that basically it had colonised Windows, because that's what it feels like. (No it's not surprising that two products by the same mftr have same layout, but still.... S'point is *not* an intuitive product!)
SO: I'm sure I'll learn this verison, just as I learned all the others. It feels like going from Win 3.1 to Win95 though, where the familiar was swept away and you were left with a barren screen and a single button marked 'Start'.
This time you're faced with a screen packed with tiles with unknown purposes and powers...and *no* Start button.
I swear they do it on purpose.
To see it for yourself: htroup's recommendation of Scott Hanselman is very sound. He's now done a longer intro for non-geeks, but it's the same info.