Windows 8 Review

Well I’m one of the few in our office who likes to use Windows instead of Mac. In our industry, most Graphic Designers like to use a Mac instead of a PC – but I’ve been using PC for years and have never run into problems.

I will confess that I have a Macbook Pro laptop for mobile use (the fancy Retina Display version) and I must admit that the screen on that thing is beautiful. My desktop workhorse has always been a PC and I’ve been running Windows 8 for over 6 months.

windows_8_good

Windows 8 took me a while to get use to. The learning curve is steep, mostly because the traditional ‘start’ menu has been removed and productive use is reliant on knowing keyboard shortcuts and how the new Start Screen works.

You still have your normal desktop and file explorer which is tried and tested. In a desktop environment, the new Start Screen may seem a bit weird but after 6 months of solid use, it is actually really handy. I use it to keep all my non work related ‘apps’ such as the music player, social media, games etc away from the desktop. So the ‘Start Screen’ is for fun and the traditional desktop is for work.

windows_8_start_screen

In terms of running Graphic Design software such as the latest Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign etc) it works great. The programs open and close quicker than they did on Windows 7 and organising files is a breeze.

Overall I am very happy with Windows 8 and it makes juggling my day to day tasks a breeze. Switching between desktop and the ‘Start Screen’ can feel weird at first because you have the tendency to switch all the time (because it’s a new feature to play with) but once the novelty wears off, it really is practical. I’m keen to play around with a Windows Surface Pro when they come out and see how Windows 8 goes on a tablet.

Design: 7/10
Usability: 8/10
Reliability: 7/10
Fun Factor: 9/10

 

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