Windows 8- First Impressions

I installed Windows 8 last night, and so far I have mixed feelings about it.  My impressions:

1.  Installation was a breeze – once I got it to work. VMWare Player just would not work with the install.  That’s not Microsoft’s fault so I am giving them a plus on ease of installation.  After this things were decidedly more mixed.

2.  Account management – Your Windows Live ID was strongly suggested as the default user account.  There is probably a way to skip that but I didn’t really look.  I am not thrilled with this idea.  I know everyone is into device convergence now, but I want some separation or at least the option of maintaining that separation.  Big minus here.

3.  Ease of use – BLOWS.  This is definitely cellphone / tablet centric.  Everything from the start menu is on the desktop, and they mimic that touch pad flick with scroll-bars.  I like the initial set of apps, but after that its kind of a cluttered mess.  Beyond that, once you open an app the only way to close it is with the windows key, and I use close reservedly.  What it really does is minimize and move off the screen like a cell phone.  Actually closing a program required opening task manager and killing it.  YUCK!  On top of that every app was full screen, so no multitasking.  YUCK! again.

4.  Apps – I have to say that all of the Apps that I tried were very good but they were all very casual, if you get what I mean, lifestyle oriented not productivity oriented.  Not useful for anyone trying to do serious work.

That’s all I have had time for so far.  As is I see some potential for the teenage XBox live crowd, but not for serious users, definitely not for the business user.  Despite that I like the look and feel.  I don’t know how to explain it really but the graphic design team did it’s job well.  It just feels inviting to the user.  That is a huge plus, but it’s not enough.