On the other hand, Windows 8 has a split personality, and the Metro Start screen may turn off those who would prefer to work in a desktop environment. Windows 8 is definitely the more modern feeling of the two operating systems. Windows 8 also looks stronger when it comes to sharing content and how it ties into the cloud. We generally like the sleek Metro interface, and the first wave of apps (both from Microsoft and third parties) look great.
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It’s a cinch to download apps, which automatically show up on your Launchpad - just like iOS.Ī lot of these changes are good. Last but not least, the Metro version of the IE 10 browser now supports Flash.Īpple reportedly reached the 10,000-app milestone recently for its Mac App Store, and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. Three newer apps include Sports, Travel and News, which are slickly designed and integrate with Bing to provide the most timely information. The People and Photo apps are particularly compelling because they tie into social networks. Microsoft is also bundling a bunch of its own apps, including Calendar, Mail, Messaging, People, Photos, Stocks and Weather. We also like the slick Slacker app, which lets you control audio playback while using other apps via a small panel in the upper left corner. The USA Today app presents headlines and videos in an elegant grid. We're not fans of having to scroll to the right to discover other categories though.Īlthough there’s only 100 of them for now, the apps themselves look great so far and mirror the panoramic Metro-style UI of the Start screen. We like that you can try apps before you buy them. Right up front are tiles for the top free, top paid and Spotlight. The good news is that the Windows Store sports a clean tile-based interface. Other gestures will be coming, but a lot of it will depend on what touchpad-makers decide to implement along with their partners. Windows 8 will support traditional multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, which engages semantic zoom on the Start screen, as well as rotate. Scrolling left and right is handled via scroll bars for now on the mouse, and two fingers on the touchpad. When using a mouse, users hover over the top left corner to switch applications hover in the top right corner and then pull the cursor down to show the Charms menu. For instance, in Internet Explorer 10 swiping up or down will display the address bar and any open tabs. Swiping from the top or bottom edge shows you the options for a given app. Swiping from the left edge of the pad lets you switch between applications, while swiping from the right displays the Charms menu (with shortcuts for Search, Share, Start, Devices and Settings). When using the touchpad, Windows 8 largely mirrors the touch-screen experience. Just use a four-finger pinch gesture or press the F4 key. But you can also see all of your pre-installed apps and items downloaded from the App Store in an iPad-like grid called Launchpad. There’s a dock for quickly accessing your favorite apps, similar to Windows’ Task bar. Mountain Lion has an interface similar to the original Lion that attempts to blend some of the best aspects of iOS with desktop computing. In fact, some hackers have already devised ways to bring the Start button back. This design decision will likely alienate a lot of users. In a controversial move, Microsoft removed the traditional Start button with a button that takes you back to the Start screen. There are also two separate settings menus. There are two separate Internet Explorer browsers - one for each mode. Unfortunately, the Metro and desktop interfaces feel disconnected.
You can pin desktop programs to the Task bar, use the improved Windows Explorer for finding files and close unresponsive apps via the enhanced Task Manager. Microsoft is also keeping the desktop in Windows 8, which is treated as an app, but provides most of the functionality to which Windows users are accustomed.
Scrolling to the right with your mouse (or swiping with your finger) lets you navigate through all of your apps. Plus, using the Semantic Zoom feature, you can zoom out to rename groups of tiles and re-position them as you see fit. Windows 8 makes it easy to move app tiles so you can customize the Start screen however you wish.
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