Notice that that refers to a machine with a solid state drive. I have a Win 7 machine with a solid state drive and it boots pretty damn fast already. I haven’t timed it, but less than 30 seconds.
I have a media pc that I use as a jukebox and I also use it as an interactive music stand for playing guitar. It has a touch screen that I use because it isn’t convenient to use a keyboard or mouse when I am sitting in front of it with my guitar. It would be nice to have a more touch screen friendly OS so I will likely upgrade (barring really horrible reviews).
Is it mandatory? I was under the impression that you could switch between Metro and the “regular” desktop interface. Except for the fact that there is no start button, just a “hot corner” you point your mouse at. And for some reason MS is adamantly patching the OS to defeat all the “get your start button back” hacks that have been going around since the developer preview.
$15 upgrade, hey for $15 I might even give it a try, but it doesn’t seem like MS to provide a upgrade at such a price.
IIRC almost every MS windows version promises faster boot time, and they all somewhat deliver because they are comparing to the old bloated version to the new install. I suspect boot times will creep up in time.
Yes $100 is out of the question, it would be better to put that money to a new computer.
SSD boot times are out of this world. Any comparison from SSD to a regular drive is apples/oranges.
Aside from user interface, will Win8 have substantial behind-the-scenes improvements? Work better with SSDs, for example? Could it be one of those don’t realize it’s better until it’s installed kind of things?
Funny that MS is struggling to patch away the return of the Start button. Strikes me as similar to their marketing department’s insistence that the Ribbon is “better.”
I haven’t heard a single reason for a business–large or small–to upgrade/change over to Win 8. New PCs will ship with it, and there are specialist needs (guitar players, and maybe we’ll upgrade the wall PC in the kitchen), but it sounds like there’ll be minimal penetration in the existing PC market.
Tablets and phones I understand. Could they be trying to force people to be so used to their desktop that they’ll feel they need to buy an MS tablet someday?
There is no start button, and no start menu either. The hot corner simply activates Metro, which is very pretty, but unwieldy as an application launcher. You have no choice but to use it. Most people’s understanding of how to use their computer is centered around the start menu. There will be a huge learning curve.
Metro is a great example of form over function. It looks pretty, and modern, and stylish, and it makes sense for touch interfaces. But making it mandatory for all desktop users? Absurd.
I predict it will be a huge flop for them. No business will touch this with a 10-foot pole. There’s little point to using it on a desktop, even for home users. And I don’t see a whole lot of room for Windows tablets.
I don’t think it looks pretty and modern and stylish, at all.
The tiles with solid background and white icon/font look like placeholders during development. Every time I see it I think “ok, but that’s just a mockup, it’s not really going to look like that”.
And then having some tiles look simplistic and others with graphics makes it look even worse - to me it just kind of looks weird.
When I compare that to an ipad it’s like night and day, pro vs joe.