Windows 8 – All In One

Microsoft is in the mood of creating completely new things and closing the older strings. First they closed hotmail and created one of the most beautiful web mail called outlook.com. Now they have launched Windows 8, which they’ve built from scratch. No signs of any of it predecessor OS versions. What Microsoft has tried in Windows 8 is a common OS for all devices, be it your mobile phone tablet laptop or desktop. Windows 8 has been created keeping in mind the touch screen and various sizes of display. If Microsoft can really achieve this then it will be a great help to people like us who work on different devices as per our needs. If the same OS is installed across devices then connecting them would be hassle free. Also it will be very user friendly since you will see the same screen on all devices. But I am not sure how far can Microsoft go on this. Only time will tell.
So let’s see what is there in Windows 8 that is not there in earlier Windows versions.

Appearance and Display

Windows 8 is all about touch. Though it works perfectly on non touch screens with mouse and key board, it is made primarily for touch screen devices. Windows 7 also used to support touch screen but it is more of mouse action than real touch screen operations. eg. In Windows 7 you have to click on the scroll bar to go previous or next page whereas in Windows 8 you can slide your finger over the screen to change the page. You can feel the difference right from desktop itself. Big square or tiles icons for each of the installed applications instead of grouping them into age old menus or the Start bar.
They still call it Start but now it is just heading and not the start of anything and everything you do on you PC. It is not necessary that Windows 8 be installed only on touch screen based PC’s, you can install it on normal PC as well. The only thing is that you may not be able to enjoy some of the touch features of it but you can still use your PC normally for all your work. Also many companies are now providing peripherals such as touch mice and track pads that can support Windows 8 features as apart of their basic package so that you can enjoy those on your existing non touch hardware. Overall, it’s a fresh and neatly designed desktop screen, arguably one of the best in world currently around. Even Apple Lion OS now looks little old.

Charms

This is a completely new thing added in Windows 8 by Microsoft and they say that it is a key feature in the newly built Windows 8. You can see Charms buttons by moving your mouse to extreme right of the screen or swipe in from the right on the touch screen. And there you go. You get the good old ‘Start’ button along with many others as well. Other buttons are share, search, devices and settings. This can be accessed using the ‘Windows’ key on keyboard. Microsoft says that the future touch screen devices will come with Windows 8 button on it, just like Apple ‘Home’ button. The search is an improved version of Windows 7 search. This can search in files, applications, control panel settings and even in metro apps. Share button as the name suggests can be used for sharing information on various application, mainly social networking or mails. Device charm will help you in setting up devices that are connected to your PC or device. Settings will help you in adjusting volume or display brightness or shutting off your PC if you are in home screen else it will show the settings of the currently open application.  Charms buttons are universal in Windows 8, means you can access them any time you want regardless of what you are currently working on. I think there definitely is some charm in these charm buttons.

ARM Support
Before Windows 8, all previous versions of Windows supported only Intel and AMD PCs or hardware. But with Windows 8 supporting ARM hardware (Advanced RISC Machine or previously known as Acorn RISC Machine) things seem to be changing for better. Mobile phones and smart devices industry is increasingly using this ARM architecture. This means you can install windows 8 on any of the mobile devices as well. And that changes the whole scenario in OS world. With Windows 8 you can practically have same screen on your phone, tablet, laptop and desktop. That sounds great, isn’t it?

Multi-tasking Multi-Monitor
In Windows 8, Microsoft has tried to change the whole experience of multi-tasking. ‘Snap Multi-tasking’ as they call it gives complete new definition to multi-tasking. You can keep two applications open side by side, resize them easily and switch between them conveniently. Also Windows 8 makes use of multi monitor easier. Now you can set start icons on one screen and open applications in another. You can even set different wallpapers for different monitors. This sounds little silly but people who are using multi monitor will appreciate this. But after all this Windows 8 cannot show you all running applications together. May be they have kept it for Service Pack 1. What say?

Windows Store
Now this is a completely known area for all smart phone or tablet users  but completely unknown for Windows PC users. Now you can download free or paid applications from Windows Store. These are made for PC or for Morden devices like smart phone or tablet. I think this is a wonderful feature Microsoft has included in Windows 8. I just hope more and more applications get added to Windows store like Apple Store.

Integrated Cloud
Since the world is moving towards cloud, Microsoft has also started making their applications more and more cloud ready. I think they’ve also started believing in Steve Jobs statement – We are in post PC era – In windows 8 you can sync your data with cloud storage like Skydrive. Also you can share photos across PCs. Office 2013 which has come with Windows 8 has the ability to store or open files from cloud storage directly. You can also sync your settings, IE History with cloud storage.

Other but Important

Striking difference between any other Windows and Windows 8 is its boot time. It takes less then 10 seconds to show up the start screen (conditions apply: need to be installed on recommended hardware). Excellent work Microsoft! Second and most important thing is that Windows 8 doesn’t cost much as compared to the earlier Windows Licensing fees. If you have Windows XP or Windows 7 licensed then upgrade to Windows 8 will cost you 40$ for web key only or 60$ with the media disk. Now the big question is how stable is Windows 8? Since Microsoft has built it from scratch it feels fresh and attractive but the question remains, is this tested fully? Reports say that Microsoft has tested Windows 8 for 1.24 billion of hours. Still I have my own doubts about the stability of this completely new product from Microsoft. Also many users continue to use older Windows versions just because they hate re-learning the new OS. But with arrival of Windows 8, you don’t have the choice but re-learn it. And this might go against popularity of Windows 8. Over all Microsoft has shown their years of experience in Windows 8 with few lapses which will get plugged in the coming service packs. (Microsoft’s way of stabilising a product)

GadgetDost Verdict:
You should upgrade to Windows 8 if you are Windows users for two things, One - This is the start of a brand OS era and you have a new product that helps you unleash it. Second – After sometime you will not have any other option but to upgrade or change to non Microsoft platform. So sooner the better!