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Monday, October 21, 2013

Faith in Microsoft Restored - My Impression of Windows 8.1 (#11)

(If you missed my earlier thoughts about Windows 8, you can find them here.  There is a noticeably different tone on that post vs. this one.)

It has been exactly a month since I joined Windows 8 World.  I know this because my Office free trial ended, destroying my productivity for the day.  I've been getting good with integrating little new features while still generally ignoring Microsoft's Metro vision for how I should use my PC.  I got around to unclogging my start menu, though I Windows+D straight to desktop as a reflex anyway.  I dropped my files into Skydrive and have found most of the capabilities of Office 2013 that I already knew about on 2010. I even started using the touch gestures; sometimes it's easier to use Skype or my .pdf reader as an app if I can just swipe in an out.  I don't think the cursor's days are numbered, and my Metro start menu is still ignored, but I learned to at least clean house within my Microsoft-imposed hell.

And then Windows 8.1 happened, and my faith in Microsoft to listen to its consumers was restored.  It's not like anything was that different.  The famous start button returns, the snapping tool gets more flexible, the start menu has new live tiles and sizing options, and the Windows store isn't a mess.  On the first day, I went about business as usual, rather underwhelmed.

But then I accidentally snapped a news app in, and realized I could resize it and move it around. Now I can actually meld Metro-world and desktop world, customizing my current screen and multi-tasking unlike how I ever could pre-Windows 8.  And then I decided, "If I'm going to actually use some programs as an app to take advantage of this cool view, I might as well organize my start menu."  My search for good icons brought me to the Windows Stores, which now prominently shows ratings and recommendations, while still feeling like there is more space than before.  I downloaded apps in a frenzy, treating my PC like a phone and fiddling with the layout (I'm pretty OCD when it comes to organizing technology) until I could conceivably spend most of my time in Metro mode.  Let's be honest; most 21-year-olds could survive on just social media, Chrome, Office, Amazon, Steam and Netflix for about 90% of their computer usage.  I noticed hundreds of apps that were probably in existence before 8.1, but ones I always ignored due to that small initial hurdle of confusion.  There's a beautiful little tool called Piano Time.  I was pressing pretty 6-note chords more easily than any fake piano I've tried.  And all the apps were waiting with a "NEW" tag in my All Apps area, now reachable with a swipe downwards on the touchpad.  I felt that "power-at-your-fingertips" feeling, where everything seemed intuitive and did what I wanted it to do, unlike how I felt the entire first 29 days.

All it took to make me realize Windows 8 wasn't awful was a a slight push to get me sledding down Metro Mountain.  My main thought now is: couldn't anyone have told Microsft to make its tools more flexible?  Wouldn't serious consumer testing have shown these minuscule changes would be worth making?  And if Windows 8 was so clearly inadequate and unable to change consumers, why did it take a year to polish?  I wouldn't mull over these questions, as you'll just get frustrated.
This guy is probably feeling good
for the first time in a while.

I could tell on first boot-up yesterday, when a tutorial spoke to me like an adult, but also didn't assume I've been sitting in a Redmond office with Steve Ballmer for a year, that Microsoft was listening.  But I'd like to see the company continue to update its UI at least every few months.  Google and Apple make near-constant fixes, and users expect no less.  With 8.1, Microsoft now has the software of 2013 to match its hardware of 2013, now it just needs the customer service and responsiveness of 2013.

2 comments:

  1. Simple and easy to use. Needless to say it allows for better management by the computer. My previous laptop an old ASUS was getting barely an hour on Windows 7, when I upgraded, it went up to 3 hours. Currently running 8.1 on Lenovo Yoga.

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  2. Anatoly, are you sure that isn't mostly a function of the newer Intel chip and not the OS? I do believe that W8 unique style of organizing background tasks may save energy.

    And I was close to getting the Yoga - looks like a great hybrid!

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