Windows 8.1 is here and this is what Windows 8.0 should have been.
All the usual IT reviewers are out on the day of the launch and they are cautiously optimistic about Windows 8.1.
Gizmodo says – Windows 8.1 Review: Little Changes Make a Big Difference
TheVerge says – It’s take two for Microsoft’s ambitious operating system.
PCWorld says – Windows 8.1 – The great compromise
Engadget says – Its Windows 8.1 preview from June 31st is good enough – and they have little to say at launch
Supersite is more diplomatic – Windows 8.1 is a meaningful and welcome upgrade to Windows 8
InfoWorld, in contrast, pulls no punches – With Windows 8.1 now generally available, focus shifts to fixing the mess Steve Sinofsky left behind.
NYTimes David Pogue says – Windows 8 Finally Starts to Reconcile Its 2 Worlds
This reviewer gives David Pogue the last word because he comes closest to hitting the Windows 8 nail on the head. Windows 8.1 offers a number of notable and welcome improvements to the Metro Apps but Redmond is left with two OS with little integration between them [integration is so poor David recommends splitting and selling the 2 versions of the OS]. In sum, the Windows 8.1 apps finally show-off the Metro-style interface in a good light. But there are still problems integrating with the 4 million programs that run in the Desktop interface.
This is the point that David makes – there are really two and nearly separate operating systems in Windows 8.1 – the vastly improved set of Windows 8.1 apps and the Desktop environ and programs that have been given more room to co-exist with the Metro OS. But essentially these are two separate OS with very few points of integration. More about this crucial point shortly.
Nonetheless, every Windows 8.0 metro App has been improved:
Weather tile can expand to show 3 cities at once and 3 days of forecasts.
Calendar can provide all of your days events in tile, with improvements in detailed layout.
New Help+Tips app provides Metro interface tips and navigation aids finally.
People has new features + customizations but loses direct Flickr and Facebook links in favor of their own apps.
New Health+Fitness app has a number of diet and exercise aids and tips.
Bing takes advantage of its smart search capabilities to display a full screen of images, text and videos on a topic.
Mail has much improved layout and better Outlook integration.
New Alarm app is a clever alarm clock service.
Windows Store is completely revised with more customizable options and live updated info.
Games, Camera, Music and Video apps have both layout and feature improvements.
As well there are key improvements to Skydrive, Skype, and Snap View. First, Skype replaces the old Messaging App with more phone oriented features plus an easier accessed video call interface. SkyDrive integration lets you sync more content such as Internet Explorer tabs and your full Metro app library between PCs. You can also save all your Camera pictures and all your files to SkyDrive automatically. But perhaps most important, Skydrive not only nows what is on your local drive but can also display it. This becomes the Metro version of Windows Explorer.
Snap View – Most important new feature in Windows 8.1
Finally Snap View now allows as many as 4 concurrent Metro apps to run on screen depending on screen-size. More importantly users can slide the grid dividers between apps by mouse or touch screen operation. But Desktop programs are not allowed to appear in Snap View. This is a fundamental problem addressed below.
Metro Interface Gets Out of the Way of Desktop UI
Perhaps just as important, the Metro interface now gets out of the way of the Desktop. For example much is made of the fact that the Start Button is back on the Desktop appbar. But clicking on that just takes you to the Metro Start screen, The real convenience is the fact that users can customize settings so that Windows 8.1 logon takes users directly to the Desktop. And that is just the start of available customizations. The corner Metro Charms can be turned off. The new Apps view can have Desktop app icons placed in front of Metro Apps.
But WindowsDesktop users see that Metro Apps still have a higher priority than Desktop – yet it is Desktop programs, 4 million strong, that make Windows such a major player. Why have all the major improvements in Windows 8.1 been lavished on the Metro interface ? Why has so little been done to integrate the two interfaces. Why is David pogue right – even after the second take, these are two separate interfaces almost two different parallel but never well synced interfaces and learning experiences. Obviously, Steve Ballmer never told his users and developers why – and a new CEO will get to try to resolve this critical issue.
But right now, even after the Windows 8.1 upgrade, note how poorly the two Windows 8.1 interfaces are integrated. First the improved Snap View only allows only Metro Apps in its Windows panels – not Desktop Programs. This makes copy and paste operations between Metro app and Desktop program [or vice versa] an awkward operation. And just forget drag and drop operations between the two interfaces despite the natural touch screen operations and the ease of use benefits of drag and drop.
And how do you exchange information programmatically between a Metro App and a Desktop program in a live and direct operation? Not so easy. Okay, how about firing up a Metro app or changing a Metro Tile from a Desktop program or vice versa – again these are programming operations not for the faint of heart. And there are really no great examples of Metro App and Desktop program integration in the existing Microsoft apps and programs.
It is almost as if the Metro Apps without their menus and icons have eschewed the navigation richness of Desktop programs to the detriment of both. Yet clearly Metro apps have great business potential because they resemble so closely the portfolio panels and business portals of many critical online and business tracking programs. But for some reason, Microsoft, the masters of BI and Business programs, Sharepoint and other data sharing+displaying technologies apparently see no reason to integrate the Metro and Desktop interfaces. So this leads to a Business accounting.
Windows 8.1 and the Business Ledger
Computerworld recently describes how Windows 8 remains a tough sell in Business. And Techradar tracks why Microsoft has to watch that BYOD and new iPad 5 rumored features from Apple doesn’t accelerate the trend away from PCs to smartphones and non-PC tablets in both business and consumer computing. Given these dangers, how does Windows 8 measure up? Here are some tracking points.
1)Windows 8 is much faster on bootup, shutdown and even programmatic operation given the same PC hardware configuration than Windows 7 PCs.
2)From our own experience on 6 PCs, Windows 8 PCs are much more reliable than Windows 7 with no crashes whatsoever in a year of operations versus crash once every 2-3 months in the case of Windows 7 PCs. And the same programs like Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, MySQL, LAMP, Adobe Dreamweaver,TechSmith Snagit and half adozen other frequentlyused programs also crash less often on Windows 8.
3)Security on Windows 8 is just as good as on Windows 7 but that may be due to the use of the Chrome and Firefox browsers over IE and Apache Server over IIS on both Windows 7 and 8.
4)The new Intel Haswell and Atom chips now extend the battery life into the 8-12 hour best tablet performance range while matching weight and exceeding performance speed in the case of Haswell powered laptops. PCs not only have a huge number of apps advantage over iOS and Android but also a distinct computing power and range of available peripherals lead as well in the case of Haswell powered PCs.
5)Meanwhile Atom based hybrids are matching or challenging device costs versus tablets in the case of PCs while offering the business productivity advantage of keyboard and mouse. This gives not just a performance advantage over both Android and iOS tablets and other devices but also a compatible apps/programs advantage with common X86 instruction set. This is no small deal for both developers who are using a familiar code base and users who are seeing familiar UI and program interfaces.
6)PCs now have a distinct touchscreen advantage over Macs and even iOS and Android devices. With the new Wacom Bamboo stylus available on some ultrabooks, touchscreen operations for spreadsheets, database/data-entry applications, plus most graphic design and BI apps are so much more productive -like 30-60% faster task completion. This is a large work productivity improvement waiting to be capitalized upon.
So given these Windows 8 factors it remains a mystery to this observer why there is not a Redmond priority to integrate Metro Apps with Windows programs. Let users and developers choose which interface is to be used first – Metro’s graphically rich styles but navigation poor opportunities versus Desktop programs sometime baroque and Rococo menus and iconbar driven intense interface. Integration has been done reasonably well with the Cloud and Skydrive to both Metro and Desktop interfaces. And Skype in messaging is starting to follow the same integrated path. And Windows Phone 8 is making a programmatic integration with Windows 8 . So why not link in the wealth of Desktop programs which remain vital and improving by integrating them well with Windows Metro apps?
In sum, integration between Metro Apps and Desktop programs is the crucial missing ingredient in Windows 8.1. Perhaps the tenor of the new Microsoft CEO will be measured by his/her response to this challenge. It will tell volumes about that person’s ability to get the diverse Redmond design and developer community to row and work well together.