Windows 8: Get ready for the biggest change since Windows 95
So you may have heard the buzz about Microsoft’s newest operating system but are not sure what is new and if you should upgrade. The release date is Friday Oct. 26 and it will be a change.
Windows 8 was first announced January 2011 at the Consumer Electronics Show and development has been in development since 2009. Microsoft just released its last developer release before the final version comes out later this week but Microsoft has said that its final release will be quite different then its most recent developer release. So the only thing we can report on is what we see from the developer release.
Like most companies Microsoft hopes to blur the lines between mobile devices and your computer. To do this they are reinventing your desktop by taking away the start menu and replacing it with an app based start screen. It is quite different from what you have seen in previous versions of Windows OS but I think it could be a really efficient change. We are moving into a era where we are using more apps and online cloud services and very soon we will not need things like the start menu.
That being said biggest problem with making a lot of changes to something that is critical to most people’s day to day activities is that it may take awhile for people to adapt to the changes. People love new things, but when a new thing takes them a while to learn how to use, that is when most people would rather just not upgrade.
Many people when they upgrade to Windows 8 are going to be looking for the all familiar start menu that all of us have seen for our whole lives and will learn pretty quickly that they have some getting used to.
After using Windows 8 for a week I have become very familiar with the newest operating system but I must say that at first the operating system interrupted my usual work flow.
Those of us who are very tech savoy love PC’s for one big reason, the amount of control we have over every part of our computer. I always have customized my Windows operating systems to work exactly the way they I want them to. For instance when I upgraded to Windows 7 I got adapted to the launch bar and I stopped using the start menu all together. This transition allowed me to work much quicker once I got used to it and I think the same thing about Windows 8. When you get used to it, you will see that it is the fastest and easy to maneuver OS yet.
My advice to you if you are thinking of upgrading is to go ahead and make the upgrade and get used to the new setup, it may be annoying at first but I promise it will pay off in the long run.
I know that I will be upgrading on the 26th but I am not sure that too many will be doing the same because this is quite a radical change and it could take quite a bit of getting used to. With Microsoft’s recent 22 percent profit drop in the most recent quarter they are looking to bounce back this quarter with the release of Windows 8.
Still not sure about an upgrade? Need a little more incentive? Microsoft will be giving those who are running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 a special upgrade price of $69.99. You will end up saving yourself $130 off the full price.
Erik Hoffman is a web designer and computer consultant. He has run a computer consulting company for the past four years where he enhanced businesses by designing and developing user-friendly websites that have helped companies reach targeted revenues.