Adapting to the Modern User Interface 

 My personal experience with Windows 8 

Getting Started

I bought Windows 8 for my Sony Laptop two days after it was available to the public. Since I had recently bought my laptop two months before the operating system was released, I was eligible for the $15 Windows 8 upgrade offer. Being a Windows fan-[girl], I was excited about the new controversial operating system. I downloaded it as a clean install directly after I bought it.

The installation took 15 minutes.I was impressed by how vivid the colors became and how simple the setup process was. As soon as I finished adding my personal account information, I was automatically thrown into the Modern UI (Formally known as Metro). Because of many days of research, figuring out where my desktop was and how to work my way through the start screen menu wasn't as troubling for me as it was for other less experienced Windows 8 users. After about an hour of fooling around and clicking random buttons, I fell in love with Microsoft’s new creation.

The Adjustment

After about a day or two I received an e-mail from Microsoft stating that I should learn a new way to use Windows. I was greeted with links to posts about the new personalization options and the many ways that I could make Windows 8 “Mine”. The first thing I did after receiving these e-mails was click the download link for the new Windows Media Center that was available for Windows 8. Why? Just because, that’s why—I have no particular reason—It was new, free and I wanted it.

I spent most of my time on the start screen than in my actual desktop. I liked the idea of running my applications full screen, than being distracted by the task bar and other windows. It was sleek and it gave a minimalist look and feel to my overall browsing experience.

My favorite app to be in was surprisingly Internet Explorer 10.By making this web browser the only one I used in months, I have noticed that Microsoft has taken a giant leap for better performance. Both the desktop and Modern UI version is fast, fluid, more secure and it hasn't crashed on me once.

The only downside to IE 10 is its support of HTML 5 and its lack of support for Flash. Sites like Word Press, Yahoo and a long list of other flash based websites will not show up correctly in both versions of IE 10. With everything going great for this new updated web browser, there had to be a downside. So to fix my problem (I was getting annoyed at not being able to see my Word Press dashboard), I downloaded Google Chrome. This was a quick fix, however, I still use Internet Explorer as my default web browser.

While I’m still talking about quick fixes, the loss of the start button is sort of a low-blow for a recent Windows 7 user, so I used the start screen menu and desktop to my advantage. I had set up everything the way I felt comfortable; adjusting tiles, customizing my desktop, placing folders where I feel they should go, deleting a couple of things. After about 30 minutes, I had nothing really major to complain about.

Why Do People Hate Windows 8 So Much?

Now I must admit, this new version of Windows does have some flaws, but once you figure out how to use it on the PC, it is a step forward for Microsoft. Windows 8 features both a desktop and tablet like experience for the user, I think it’s great. I love going into the start screen and using the apps on my non-touchscreen laptop.

And I know that the start button is gone— that’s what the start screen is for. Use the start screen to your advantage; customize and set it up the way you feel comfortable, place your administrative tools on there if you have to. Everything is still there, you just have to search for it a little. I understand that Windows 8 is a little complicated and that Microsoft did not take PC users into too much consideration regarding navigation and such , but if you weren’t ready for something different, why did you waste your money? You knew Microsoft was going to mess up somewhere, come on now, its Microsoft.

Anyway, Windows 8 is not a total failure, it’s actually a step up in my opinion. It runs better, it’s extremely light and not a burden on your hardware, you get better use of your ram because the Aero Glass is gone, your desktop apps (like explorer and the task manager) are more detailed, I could go on forever. I don’t get why people hate Windows 8 so much, but I do know one thing, it’s not going to end up like Vista—an operating system that actually does suck rocks for numerous reasons.

Why I Left

Leaving Windows 8 was hard for me because I knew that it had the potential to be a great operating system, but I had a strong sudden urge to leave. One morning I woke up, thought to myself a little, saved my Windows 8 product code to my memory stick and proceeded to restore my laptop back to factory settings.

I guess one good reason why left was because I missed the simplicity and style of Windows 7 too much. Also, some great features that came pre-installed on my laptop wasn’t supported in Windows 8 and that became frustrating after a short while. I truly missed being able to charge my portable devices without having to turn on my laptop—It was extremely convenient. Since I had Windows 8, I couldn’t do that anymore and that was very unfortunate.

Certain websites either could not show images, or links correctly and other sites simply did not support Internet Explorer, stating that my browser was “out of date”. This really bothered me because that meant I had to download chrome and switch back and forth between two web browsers to get what I wanted done—This was annoying. Windows 7 seemed like the right way for me to go at the time.

Not to mention some applications are not supported either, even though Microsoft said that Windows 8 will be compatible with anything that can run on Windows 7—That is a lie—I cant even run some of my Sony apps on my computer without having to update everything manually from the Sony website—Sometimes, you’ll get an error if you don’t.

These are only minor complaints. My opinion of the operating system itself still has not changed—Its wonderful. However, it is in need of improvement—but with a few updates and some tweeking, Windows 8 will be a force to be reckoned with.

Why I Came Back

I downloaded Windows 8 again because of one thing; better performance. I love how Microsoft payed attention to speed and durability when it came to creating this operating system.

First I’ll talk about speed—Its fantastic. With Windows 7, 8 Gigs of RAM and a CORE i5 processor, my boot time was about 6.8 seconds. 7.2 on a bad day. Not terrible right? Windows 8 boots to my login screen in 3.7 to 4.5 seconds tops. To me, that’s amazingly fast.

Also, Windows 8 has great facilities for allowing my applications to automatically sync data between devices using the cloud. That’s great for users who transition between their tablet and desktop PC (and perhaps their phone), as well as for tech support, who can just replace a broken device instead of worrying about data loss.

Microsoft has even made an effort to increase the security of your system. Recent tests have show that with IE’s detailed protection settings and a stronger always updated Windows Defender,Windows 8 can handle mostly anything that threatens it.

Another reason is stability. Windows 7 has really set the standard for system reliability. Short of hardware or driver problems, the old blue screen of death is almost never seen anymore. Windows 8 takes this to the next level. The same changes to the application development model also improve system stability. Applications can’t run over each other’s data easily, and the new Windows API just does not allow the kinds of craziness that have caused unstable systems over the years. If you stick with native Windows 8 applications, reboots (other than for patching) and crashes should be extraordinarily rare. There are more features that I could talk about—But I’m pretty sure that you guys understand that the good in Windows 8, pretty much out-weighs the bad.

What I Look Forward To

Windows 8.1 is coming soon. I’m excited about the first update for Windows 8 users—I really do hope that Microsoft fixes the minor issues That I’ve stated in this post. To me, Windows 8 is a great OS and I cant wait to know whats in store for it this summer. I am fully aware of the leaked builds of 8.1 on the internet, but I don’t know how to use Virtual Box and I’m not trying to fry my system, so 8.1 is well worth the wait. Plus, I hear that the update is free for Windows 8 users. What I really look forward to the most is looking at how this great operating system will turn out in the end—I’m a big Windows fan, so everything new that Microsoft comes out with has me begging for more.