Windows 8 Dev Preview.. From a Mac users perspective on a MBP

Posted by justinhub2003 on January 9, 2012 12:12 pm 37

A few days ago I installed Windows 8 Developer Preview in a Bootcamp partition on my 2011 13" Macbook Pro. I erased my rarely used Windows 7 partition and decided to give it a shot since running Windows 8 in a virtual machine is garbage and not even close to how it should half way perform.

That said, I downloaded the 64-bit developer version (w/o developer tools) from Microsofts website and installed it via Bootcamp in OS X. The install went smooth and took about 30 minutes or maybe less ( I didn't watch it). The setup procedure was very very easy. I liked the interface a ton too. Once I was all loaded up, I then plugged in my USb thumb drive that has my Bootcamp drivers for my Macbook Pro installed as without those drivers, Wifi would not work nor would 2 finger scrolling and right click. The program wont run if you just try to run it normally because its not built for Windows 8, so I had to troubleshoot the .exe file and run in Windows 7 compatibility mode. After doing so, my drivers then installed, I was able to scroll with 2 fingers, right click and my wifi was working correctly.

After just a little bit of work I was able to get Windows 8 on my Macbook Pro and running very smooth.

I am assuming things will change when the OS is released in public beta and then RTM, So I tried to judge on look and feel and OS execution rather than stability (its very unstable understandably)

Here are my impressions:

Positives:

The setup is very quick. Any one could do it. Very streamlined and also very visually appealing.
Windows 8 apps (preview apps) are gorgeous. Very colorful and simplified
Metro as a whole is absolutely stunning. Even the system preferences are very nice as far as Ui
The look of Windows 8 and the beauty of my MBP really go hand and hand together. They look meant for each.
2 finger scrolling works smoother than on Windows 7

Not So Positive:

While the OS is stunning, its an absolute nightmare in terms of navigation. Its really confusing. How to do I close an App for example? I found that pressing the command button on my MBP takes me back to the Metro UI but how do I completely close an app? Its so confusing.
The desktop feels exactly like Windows 7. Wether you want to call Metro a Ui skin or full OS is your call but having Windows 7-ish under bellys really makes is feel that way.
Will businesses adopt Windows 8? I don't think so. As it stands right now, windows 8 is a mess. It has an identity crisis. I am not sure what they are trying to accomplish. Metro while really beautiful seems very much like a Toy rather than an OS that I can get work done on.

Windows 8 has some really really good ideas. But I feel MS has one foot in the future and 2 in the past. I don't even know how to use the OS and I am a complete geek. What is Metro for and what is the desktop for ? It really feels like a UI skin and not a cohesive new Windows experience...

Whats your thoughts on it?

I also noticed that my Machines Windows Experience Index as improved in some areas on W8
win8