Windows 8 CP

Right, so I finally took the plunge and I installed windows 8 consumer preview on my laptop. The only real issue I had during installation was that kaspersky AV refused to uninstall for some reason, often hanging during the process. But that's more of a fault with kaspersky than windows 8.


Well, from the very start, I would have to say I'm somewhat intrigued by the Metro interface. It's something they've taken from their windows7 series phones and something I've always been interested in. But how does it translate for the PC?

The answer is 'Not very well. Yet'. You can occasionally see glimpses of brilliance in the framework of windows8 but it's really more of a diamond in need of polishing than anything else. I do like the clean interface, which is basically just a pretty skin on top of normal windows. However, that's not something I have an issue with, provided it doesn't lag my computer. And so far I haven't noticed any lag with the new build.

The real issue is that so far, too many things aren't integrated properly into the metro interface. Those that are, are very very nice. But those that aren't? They're basically windows 7. One of the few things I like quite a bit in windows8 is the new calendar program (no, I won't call it an app -_-) which is modern, streamlined and pretty decent looking. It can sync with google calendar as well, which is a must for me. 

However, this isn't to say there aren't bugs in the new programs for windows 8 either. One of the biggest issues I've had so far is the difficulty in finding the settings or just be able to do things with windows8 I've always been able to do in windows. For example, in the pictures library, I couldn't find an option that would allow me to delete entire albums by themselves. Sure, I could go into the folder and delete them manually but WTF would I want to do that? That's just troublesome. In the end, I had to go out into plain, boring windows desktop to be able to delete it. It would have been better if I didn't have to break immersion to do something as basic as delete an album. Just cause apple doesn't let you doesn't mean MS has to follow.

Another issue I've had is with messenger, which is now built into windows 8. Afaict, there is no option to sort people by whether they're online or offline. I don't want to have to look through all my contacts just to be able to msg the people who are online. I'm a random sort of guy. I like to msg people for no reason just to say hello to them if they're online. 

However, I will say this. Messenger looks a lot better now. 

So far, I've checked in the shop for items that have been built for windows8. Like a lot of the other features, they're pretty impressive in terms of GUI but the only issue is that there are so few of them so far. Only 6 for the entertainment category. While I don't like to trawl through endless screens of programs, 6 is kinda...paltry. Here's hoping MS manages to entice more developers into windows8 because if it really wants to knock the socks of apple fans, it'll need dedicated programs that can handle the metro UI.


My own personal wish list for window 8 programs would of course be a damn video player that can play mkvs so I can watch my anime without leaving metro.That and a decent word editor that works in metro.