I have been playing with Windows 8 now for a few days. My initial enthusiasm has waxed and waned a little as I ran across problems. I must mention that without the information available on Paul Thurrott’s Winsupersite http://www.winsupersite.com/windows-8 , I would have been more than a little frustrated at times. Tekzilla (http://revision3.com/tekzilla) and Windows Weekly (http://twit.tv/ww) have also been of great help.
Nevertheless, despite some ups and downs, the more I get used to it the more I like it. In particular, I have been trying to use the Metro interface as much as possible rather than using the familiar desktop. I really like the Metro interface even without a touch screen. In regard to this, there was a very good suggestion on Episode 250 of Windows Weekly (http://twit.tv/show/windows-weekly/250) that something like the Apple Magic Touchpad would be an ideal substitute for a touch screen.
There are always three ways to interact with the computer with Win 8 i.e. Touch, Mouse and Keyboard. In the absence of the “Touch” option, I have downloaded a full list of the Keyboard Shortcuts and the mouse works pretty much as you would expect but with the additions of “corners”.
Many of my tiles have “come to life”, but the X Box ones are still “dead”. “Live Tiles” is something I really like and in addition you can set it to show up to 7 Apps on the Lock Screen with one in full detail.
So far I have only come across a couple of significant concerns (but I am only playing around with it and not using it full time):
- Internet Explorer ( Metro) – I just can’t make sense of IE (metro) and I have set IE to always open in the Desktop. Instructions are here http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-consumer-preview-internet-explorer-10-secrets-142451
- Spell Check - There is still no spell check built into the OS. WordPad was updated for Win 7 and it also comes with Win 8 but again without spell check. However, if you download Windows Live Essentials and install Windows Live Writer (WLW), you get spell check with this program. (I am using WLW to write this blog post but you could also use it for non blog purposes and, after a spell check, cut and paste into WordPad – Or buy Office, which I suppose is the reason there is no spell check in WordPad.
Other Discoveries
I was watching the latest episode of Tekzilla and, thanks to the Tekzilla crew, I now know what the “Share” Charm is for.The Share charm is used to send links, photos, etc. to people via Email and / or Social Networks without leaving the app you have open. For Example if you are looking at pictures in the Photos App, you click on the Share Charm to send the photo to someone via Email.
However at this stage not many Apps appear in the Share Charm. I expect that this will expand in due course
I will keep “playing” and post more as I come across things of interest.