Windows 8: Day 1 Review

OK, so Microsoft has just released Windows 8, the latest operating system in from perhaps the worlds biggest technology company.

Since it's Day 1 I cannot give a full in depth review but here is a review of the things I checked out so far.


Tiles

Those of you who have taken the plunge and gone to Windows 8 may have notice the desktop no longer exists. Yep, Microsoft have done away with the traditional interface and replaced it with something altogether more weird, the tiled interface.

Showing all the latest news, stock information, games you have installed and more, the tiles interface attempts  to make everything feel that little more central. The only thing thats missing  is a direct link to the system settings, Who doesn't like Control panel?


Performance

Again Microsoft have advertised a new operating system as a performance boost, but in a moment of honesty it is anything but. The boot time increases by about 4 seconds (on average) and the shutdown time is catastrophic in the fact my shutdown time has increased 400% (See end of post for stats)

File searching is a godsend however, its almost instant in its results. I love that!



Compatibility

I've seen in posts on various forums that some programs are not compatible with 8, in the case of McAfee and AMD Catalyst Control Center (AMDCCC). They ARE compatible however you need to uninstall them before upgrade or clean install and then reinstall them afterwards. (its to do with merging files and settings between Windows 7 and 8)


Overall

Visually the system is pleasing and works well, but it needs some serious tweaks to make it better. For example remove the annoying delay in shutdown, add control panel to the tiles menu (for admins) and address the issue in which the startup programs get stopped without warning.


So Microsoft, please don't advertise faster speeds if it doesn't actually happen.

WinXP* Boot = 10sec
WinXP* Shut =  10sec

Vista Boot* = 15sec
Vista Shut* = 10sec

7 Boot** = 10sec
7 Shut** = 5sec

8 Boot** = 16sec
8 Shut** =  21sec

* = 32bit System
** = 64bit System