In-Depth with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview
by Andrew Cunningham, Ryan Smith, Kristian Vättö & Jarred Walton on March 9, 2012 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Microsoft
- Operating Systems
- Windows
- Windows 8
When it released the Consumer Preview, Microsoft published a supplemental PDF highlighting some of Windows 8's potential benefits for enterprises, a demographic whose importance to Microsoft's business and historic reluctance to upgrade make it an important but tricky group to target. Many of the items in the PDF were either features introduced in Windows 7 (like the DirectAccess software), things that we've already covered (Metro, IE10), and things that pertain more to Windows Server 8 (BranchCache, AppLocker), but there were a couple of interesting new features I wanted to take a look at.
Windows To Go
This new features allows a copy of Windows to be installed to an external USB drive, but its functionality is somewhat limited—Microsoft intends it to be used in “alternate workplace scenarios” where a copy of Windows installed to a computer’s hard drive wouldn’t be appropriate, such as for a temporary worker or an employee who roams between multiple machines. As such, the software has some limitations compared to a locally-installed copy of Windows.
- First, for security purposes, access to the computer’s internal drives is disabled when booted into Windows To Go.
- Hibernation and Sleep are disabled by default to prevent data corruption, though they can be re-enabled from the Control Panel.
- While BitLocker can be used to encrypt a Windows To Go drive, it will require a password, and won’t be able to take advantage of any installed TPMs.
- The Windows Recovery Environment isn’t available.
- Windows 8’s “refresh and reset” functionality isn’t available.
Assuming none of these limitations dim your enthusiasm for the feature, a Windows To Go drive can be created by the Portable Workspace Creator included in Windows 8. Once created, the drive can easily be moved from computer to computer—at first boot on a new system, Windows will scan the computer’s hardware and install drivers as it does at first install. The drive can then be moved from computer to computer quickly and easily.
We don’t know anything about the Windows 8’s licensing situation yet, but given this feature’s enterprise-centric nature, I’d expect it to be included only in the higher-end product tiers—if Windows 8 product editions are similar to Windows 7 editions, I’d say this would be one restricted to the Ultimate/Enterprise SKUs.
The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)
The Windows ADK is Microsoft’s suite of Windows 8 deployment tools, and it takes the place of the old Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) and Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK). These tools are typically used in conjunction with Windows Server roles like Windows Deployment Services to create and deploy customized OS images to large numbers of PCs, but savvy home users who can wrap their heads around the tools can also use them to create customized install and diagnostic media—for the purposes of this review, I won’t get very far into what these tools do or how to use them, but if there's sufficient interest I would definitely consider writing up a guide for novice-to-intermediate users once we get to the RTM version of Windows 8.
The software, which can be downloaded for free from Microsoft, requires .NET Framework version 4.0 and can be installed on computers running Windows 8, 7, Vista, or any of their corresponding server versions.
The Business Perspective
Having worked in a few IT shops, I'd like to think that I have a modicum of insight into how they think. Let’s look at Windows 8 from the perspective of a business: many of them skipped deploying Windows Vista entirely, which means that many of them have replaced, are replacing, or will soon replace the decade-old Windows XP on their systems with the well-regarded Windows 7 before XP’s security patches and support dries up in 2014. An operating system rollout like this requires a lot of effort, both on the technical side (testing application compatibility, replacing or upgrading equipment) and the “people” side (convincing management of the benefits of upgrading and the pitfalls of failing to, soothing and possibly retraining nervous users). It’s a process that makes IT managers skittish, and this is exacerbated by the long period of stability provided by XP’s long shelf life.
When comparing Windows 7 to Windows XP, the benefits were (are) numerous and fairly obvious: a newer, more secure operating system with plenty of new features to please both users and system administrators. A more aesthetically pleasing OS that is more modern under the hood, but is sufficiently similar to XP in look and feel that most users won’t need a substantial degree of retraining (not like the jump from, say, Office 2003 to Office 2007). When comparing Windows 8 to Windows 7, you do see some underlying technical benefits, but the gap is not nearly as wide, and the risks associated with moving to the brand-new interface will scare people. Add to this the fact that Windows 7 will be receiving security patches until well after the release of Windows 9 (or even Windows 10, assuming Microsoft sticks to both its three-year development cycle and its 2020 end-date for Windows 7 extended support), and I think we'll be seeing quite a few businesses sit this one out.
Now, none of this is to say that this is the best or correct way to evaluate Windows 8 in your business, but it’s certainly representative of the way that many IT managers and administrators think, and a lot of them are going to see sticking with Windows 7 on their desktops and laptops as a way to stay reasonably current while not shocking their users with a brand-new interface—it offers most of the technological benefits without any of the potential user-facing headaches.
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Andrew.a.cunningham - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Hopefully some of those multi-monitor and "four corners"-related issues get worked out in the release candidate. It would help a lot.Impulses - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
I'm not holding my breath for that... It took them until Windows 8 to add basic taskbars for the extra screens, it'll probably fall to 3rd party developers to make the whole Metro/Desktop paradigm usable with multiple displays, just like we relied on them for multiple taskbars, better wallpaper support, etc.Exodite - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
Well, I don't know if my 2c is worth much but the answer to that would - in my opinion - be 'why should we?'.I don't /have/ to use Windows, it's a personal choice.
If the UI, or anything about the user experience in general really, ends up being a bother for me I can quite easily migrate to another platform.
I suppose this is a good thing, if taking the long view. Microsoft might inadvertently encourage diversification of the desktop computer space by making W8 horrible to use for a notable minority.
B3an - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
@Andrew and everyone else who worked on this - great article :)It's nice to FINALLY see a very detailed article that shows all the improvements in Windows 8. Too many people are focused on just Metro. I'm sick of having to write long posts explaining to people how to use Win 8, and why it's faster and more powerful for most tasks if people would actually just learn new things, and then having to mention all the new features to the desktop. Now i can just refer people to this article ;)
Great work.
jabber - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
Don't have time to learn new stuff that's not putting money in the bosses wallet, just need to get the work I'm paid to do done ASAP. That's why Windows 7 worked so well.Companies don't pay folks to sit and learn learn new software or want to hear them bleating on about how they don't know what to do.
Too much like hard work. Sorry but that's how it is. Business as usual is king.
I too can see some great improvements in 8 its just that it (as in Metro) is NOT designed for a standard run of the mill PC environment.
Windows tablets are not going anywhere. That ship sailed for MS years ago. It's the Zune all over again in that regard. So just keep it for phones and maybe adding a little fun to those desktop all in one monstrosities that HP etc. make.
B3an - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link
I'm so glad MS have not listened to people like you with Win 8. If they did then im sure we'd all still be using Windows 3.1.And your comment makes no sense. Win 8 is faster for work when you actually get used to it, so in the long run this will pay off as people will be more productive. And people have to learn new software all the time, like the Ribbon in MS Office.
Magnus101 - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I am on a multi-monitor setup and I tried the dev version in Virtual Box last month.I had to turn off Windows 8(had to do a different setting for the virtual machine, I think).
Couldn't find where to power off.
Found out by a video that I had to hoover in the right hand corner, but that didn't work. I thought the version I used had dumped that ability (the youtube video was quite old).
So I had to look up a shortcut to open up the start menu and finally get it to shut down.
Of couse the problem was that I used multiple monitors (use 3) and that I coudln't "snap" to the point where the start menu was.
This shows how extremely bad this is.
Another idiotic thing with metro is that programs behaves like apps on a mobile phone. They don't really shut down unless you force them to.
I tried one of the metro games where there was some music playing. There was no option to quit the game, so when I left it, the music was STILL playing in the background.
I had to force close the damn thing to stop the music playing!
And I find absolutely nothing that makes my experience better with metro than the Windows 7 taskbar. Less clicks and more things in a smaller place is ideal for me. Not to mention that the horizontal scrolling is idiotic in metro.
Look at how Unity in Ubuntu was received when it was released. People fled to Linux Mint, where there are options to use the "old style" desktop.
One thing that was really good with Windows 8, though, was the new Explorer with many enhancements and actually more space (the bottom part is free compared to win 7).
I just wish there would be a "Windows 8 desktop" version where the users like me who don't have a windows tablet, Xbox 360 or a windows phone could enjoy the other enhancements not letting metro totally destroy the experience!
I guess 80-90% will still use older windows version even at the end of 2013 if nothing is done about this crap. Things like metro or unity just doesn't work on a normal Pc and aren't well received by users!
faizoff - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
You might want to try out the Consumer preview since you've tried the metro apps on the Dev preview. They mention in the article about closing out the apps. They aren't that difficult to close now. Though shutting down and restarting the computer is still a chore.PopinFRESH007 - Sunday, April 15, 2012 - link
Hovering the mouse over the left most 80 pixels to pop out the multi-tasking tray and then click-holding the app and dragging it down is a whole lot more work than clicking a little red x.faizoff - Friday, March 9, 2012 - link
I'll have to read this thoroughly when I get home. I find myself really liking Metro even on a PC. I don't see myself getting it when it comes out for the PC though. Only way I'm getting it is when Win 8 tablets come out.Skimming through the comments, I had mentioned about the restart and shutting down annoyance. I found a shortcut that allows to place a tile on the metro screen thereby clicking only once to shutdown or restart the computer.