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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Sabresiberian - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
I downloaded and installed Win 8 CP last night (on a second partition, for dual boot). I must say, my fears about how hideous Win 8 would be are gone. There are no changes that are insurmountable, or even really difficult to understand, though it takes a bit of getting used to at first - as anything new does.As far as looks - I was surprised to find the big squares on a solid background weren't as hideous as I thought they would be, but it hardly matters because you can pretty much live in the desktop environment, in which you can install whatever background you like, just as has always been the case with Windows. There are things you will want to do that will bring Metro up, but it was no problem for me once I monkeyed around a bit and found out what to do.
There is a nice guide on MaximumPC for creating and installing Win 8 either dual boot or using Virtualization, if you are interested. Note: if you are installing on a RAID, you can't resize your partitions and create a new one from Vista (not sure about Win 7), you will need to use a third party app. I'll get back with the one I used, which worked nicely.
MaximumPC has several other excellent articles about Win 8, and I recommend reading them. One article had a method for starting Win 8 in the desktop mode, not Metro, so it has less impact on your sense of beauty. (I haven't tried it.)
Do yourself a huge favor and approach Win 8 with an open mind, and the knowledge that you WILL have to do some things differently - but it really will make sense in the end. Don't insist that things should work the old way, that just leads to frustration and deciding Win 8 is broken somehow; it is not.
There are a couple of things I don't like, such as not being able to make the rectangles smaller (2 sizes only). It's a minor quibble though since I will hardly ever have Metro up. There's no changing the Metro background beyond some solid color changes with different textural artwork, but the shades chosen by Microsoft for background colors actually displayed nicely on my screen. I wasn't fond of some of the tile colors and didn't see a way to change them in my poking around, yet anyway. (I actually like the tile that you click - or touch, if you have the hardware - to bring up the desktop, which looks like a miniature version of the desktop complete with whatever cool background you have installed.) As I said though, the desktop can be prettied up just as Win 7 could, and that's what I'll have up when I'm doing something that isn't fullscreen (such as posting in this thread).
Remember, too, that what we see in the Preview isn't set in stone and final; with enough constructive input, Microsoft could well change some things before release. I want to underline the "constructive" part of that, no one listens to flaming.
Give it a shot yourself! If you have any room on your hard drive, it's not hard at all to set up dual boot.
;)
jabber - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Oh no doubt those of us that dont like will persevere because our jobs/careers depend on being able to support it going forward.However, I still feel that using Metro should be a choice.
All it needs is an option for those that want to use Metro or have a touch enabled desktop PC (yes thats you Jeff in Florida, nice to see you) to enable it and those of us that just dont have the time, inclination or need to do real work to earn a living to carry on as we were.
It's not like 8 is a total ground up clean sheet OS. Its just Windows 7 with this dog show assault course called Metro shoehorned into it.
If it was all new then I'd be more inclined to embrace it as it wasn't going to be able to change.
I'll change if I really have to due to real compelling reasons or benefits, that's life but not because some bum-fluffed faced developer at MS that's main daily IT work is typing tweets tells me to, simply on the justification that "it's cool"..
Sabresiberian - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
The program I used to resize the existing partition (because I have 2 hard drives set up in a RAID 0 configuration and Vista's "Shrink" will only work properly with a single disk. It appears to work at first, but does not.) and create one for Win 8 is called "Partition Wizard 7" Very nice, and the Home Edition is completely free. Nice little video tutorials on the site if you need help.I've never done dual boot before, so I thought I'd add a note for others new to the system. Once Win 8 was installed, my computer didn't give me an option to start on the different logical drives like I thought it would when I pressed "F8" (may be "F12" or something else on your hardware); it booted normally, I saw the Win 8 stylized fish, and then a screen popped up to allow me to select which OS I wanted to boot. Selecting "Vista" instead got me a restart into Vista.
Your computer might do something different, my mainboard is an Asus Rampage II Extreme, with Vista 64 Ultimate and now the Win 8 CP installed.
;)
klmccaughey - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Well I have had it installed for a few days now, and as a power user, multimonitor, DESKTOP user, I find it is all but unusable.The reason for having multiple monitors and desktops is to make use of that space.... SPATIALLY and not have all this crap getting in the way. It takes ages to find things you need to use, it is ANTI-productivity and a total DISASTER for business and power users.
It's basically a very smooth running piece of shit (POS).
Surely they could create a business version where we can continue to have a desktop and easy ways to jump from one activity to another.
As it is you have a tablet interface that gets RIGHT IN THE WAY of trying to do what you want.
How much money were Anand given not to give it a bad review is what I am wondering. You cannot seriously tell me people in business, programmers etc are going to be able to use this POS?
B3an - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Just STFU and go back to Windows 95 then.And oh no you have to learn new things with a new OS? Who would have thought!! Thats just shocking.
It takes about an hour at most to learn the new stuff, then maybe a week to get used to it. After that... you dont have to learn it again! And you'll find that most things are actually FASTER to do if you use the new OS the way it's intended.
jabber - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Yeah you've never worked for a company with 10000+ staff have you? Ranging from Brandi in HR to Steve in Accounts etc.Corporations dont have that amount of time and productivity to lose to an OS designed to run fart apps and Angry Birds.
It's a grown up world out there. It's not just about catering to skinny jeaned hipsters who only use Twitter and Facebook while sitting in Starbucks.
Business as usual rules.
noname3 - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
Nobody has problems learning new things; the only person with learning difficulties seems to be you, based on your language.Learning new OSes is something some of us do for a living, but to do so we need to be rewarded with increased productivity. Metro UI kills productivity and it sucks, you want to learn something useful, go learn foresting or something.
klmccaughey - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
At a guess I would say I am able to learn substantially more than you would be able to. It is not a matter of learning something new, it is a matter of the interface, as is, getting in the way of productivity.I can see how it would be great on a tablet, but for me working it is a nightmare. Judging by the reaction worldwide it seems that other professionals are seeing the same iceberg.
I like the spanglies, and I am delighted for MS that they have caught up in this respect. But someone has dropped the design ball when it comes to productivity and any vision of workflow for the average person.
Hopefully there will be a bit of a rethink on the interface so that I can continue to program in Windows (tm) using "Windows", with easy access using mouse and screens. I want to upgrade, and I have spent hours enjoying Windows 8 on my tablet, but it isn't even close to usable for my day job. That is a real shame in my opinion.
Valahano - Friday, March 16, 2012 - link
Judging from your other posts on this article, I take it that you are some kind of a big Metro zealot. It's very hip, congratulations.However, this does not change the fact that this new interface is a major step back in usability on a desktop for anything beyond viewing lolcat pictures.
But don't worry, Win 8 is really great OS in at least one aspect - the Up button is back (Ctrl + Up still doesn't work though).
BehindEnemyLines - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link
I think it's still the same Windows with all the desktop. In a multimonitor environment, you can have all your screens to be the desktop. The Start Screen is nothing more than a fullscreen start menu, and I actually find it more useful. The primary monitor will always be the screen with the Start Screen, so you can just click on the Desktop tile and use the desktop as it has always been. You can also access all of the power user resources by right-clicking on the bottom-left corner hot spot.And for a multimonitor setup, I suggest that you offset your left & right monitors slightly away from the bottom-left and top-right corners. That solved most of my problems.
I understand that businesses don't want to retrain employees, which is why all businesses should have an upgrade cycle and plan. Most businesses are NOT going to touch a new operating system at initial release. There's a ton of testing before deployment.
I had initially the same reaction with Windows 7 superbar. I thought MS was insane to remove the names from the taskbar and replace with just icons. And yet, I was amazed how much BETTER it's once I've learned it. I am just saying most things in life require some learning.