Windows 8 (2012)

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File:Mum tries out Windows 8 (2012) on a Surface Pro (2013)

Development[edit | edit source]

Windows 8 is the successor of Windows 7. Windows 8 was developed by Microsoft and is part of the NT family of the Windows family. It was announced at the CES event of 2011 and the first pre-release build was released in September 2011. In October 26th 2012, the RTM of Windows 8 was released to the public.

Reception[edit | edit source]

When Windows 8 was released, users notably disliked the new Metro (now called Modern) interface. The metro interface is a full-screen start menu comprised of coloured tiles linked to an application. Although there was still a desktop application, many users can edit the registry to allow the computer to boot straight into the desktop environment. It was criticized for being designed for tablets rather than computers.

App Store[edit | edit source]

A new feature introduced in Windows 8 is the Microsoft Store similar to Linux environments such as Ubuntu. The store is linked to the user's Microsoft account, and there is a variety of paid and free applications and games available. Again, this seems to be designed for tablets rather than PCs.

Windows 8.1[edit | edit source]

An update to Windows 8 was released on 17th October 2013, it addresses some of the issues that critics had with the operating system. However, the main issue, the lack of a Start Menu was never addressed. The most notable feature is a start button on the desktop and the main menu. Diana has tested this build, although it was only for an OS Destruction video.

Metro Interface[edit | edit source]

File:Windows8.png
Metro interface (from the "Developer Preview")

The most controversial component of Windows 8, mainly deriving from its confusing nature and somewhat unappealing design. Many criticize it as being designed for tablet use, of which it can be installed on a Microsoft Surface Pro. Pre-installed applications and installed programs, these can be organized to the users liking.

On the main menu, there are numerous Metro applications, including Internet Explorer (desktop version available), pre-installed games, News (of which has a progressing slideshow of recent news) and Desktop. You can link e-mail accounts from popular services for use within the Mail app.

OSFirstTimer Related[edit | edit source]

Diana has twice tested Windows 8, once on a physical PC, and again on a Surface Pro. The first Windows 8 video was the first video uploaded to the Philip Adams' channel entitled OSFirstTimer. This was said to be an unfair attempt due to the timing of the video and was redone in a second episode, at the top of this article. Diana described Windows 8 as "cartoonish" and "childish" with no appeal on her first attempt (Mainly referring to the start screen which in later videos she refers to as "wall street" due to the tiles moving to display different info). Ben Adams according to Phil said it looked like "an interactive playschool website". Diana believed that Windows 8 was a step backwards even stating she thought it looked like the first Windows ever. She struggled to close the store apps and transitioning between the start screen and the desktop due to it being so unintuitive and different to Windows XP's single desktop layout. In Diana's second attempt her view was less critical and stated that she believed it worked much better with a touchscreen, although also stated she still didn't like how the OS looked. Diana's main complaint in the second attempt was the fact the "shut down" option was hidden in the charms bar.

Diana ranked this as the third worst operating system she had tested. (2012)

Diana eventually upgraded to Windows 8 in 2013 after many years using Windows XP as her main OS, however, she used the Classic Shell start menu as opposed to the Windows 8's flat start screen.

File:Top 3 Worst And Best Operating System User Interfaces (1985-2012)
Note this was only when she had tested 12 operating systems.