A few observations since I went (mostly) all in with Windows 8 at home:
- I love the SkyDrive integration, both with Windows 8 and with Office 2013. The experience of working with files here or on my phone is easy and addictive.
- My irritations have been fleeting. Most of them have had to do with how to get to familiar places like Control Panel and Search. Of course, once you get used to a new way to do it, those irritations disappear. I did need a few hours of use before I was comfortable with the infrastructure.
- I’m not doing much with the live tiles on the Start menu, but I haven’t used Windows 8 on a touch device daily yet. I will say that I haven’t considered it any particular handicap to use a mouse.
- I really dig the new File History backup system. It keeps an hourly incremental backup, rather than writing big file sets like Windows 7 did.
- Windows 8 runs significantly faster on my little beater netbook than did Windows XP.
As I wrote not long ago, Microsoft hasn’t done a good job telling this story. I’m not sure how I would have approached it differently, but it’s clear the narrative hasn’t resonated. Who knows what will happen? As for me, I rather like the new Windows ecosystem. I’d like to see it get some traction.
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Bo, I agree with you completely. I watched as Win8 was developed; I read the developer blogs and participated in the beta. I installed Win8 on my desktop at home and I really do enjoy using it. The multi-monitor support has been wonderful with three screens. The File History and Storage Spaces have me reconsidering my Windows Home Server (replacing it with a RAID enclosure attached to my desktop). I’m even starting to use the Start Screen because of the ease at which I can see the status of multiple programs (email, app updates, and weather, mostly).
I’m digging it. Drop that Surface RT to $299 next, Microsoft!