Installing Windows 8

I installed Windows 8 on a “new” used computer I got a couple weeks ago. Its a 3-year-old Thinkpad model with an Intel Centrino 2 dual-core processor, 13.1 inch 300 NIT LED display, and 120 GB solid state drive.

Installing Windows 8 was pretty much identical to installing Windows 7. I chose to do a full install rather than an upgrade, selecting the advanced/customize options when those were presented and re-formatting the partition where it got installed.

It asks to create a Microsoft account which I bypassed by skipping the option then selecting to use local login only. It also asks if you want to participate in all this stuff and send data and I always just say no, no, no although honestly there’s probably no great harm in saying yes to some of it.

After it installs is the new Start screen. Its filled with all these little tiles for things which look like nifty little features one would want on one’s desktop: “People”, “Photos”, “Messaging”, “Weather”, “News”, “Finance”, etc.

Ok, all this stuff is basically just masquerading as front ends for content and services that Microsoft wants people to use. I right-clicked on all of these tiles and selected the uninsntall option. I have my own content and will always select the most free, unbiased, Open Source alternatives available for all features including photos, messaging, news, etc.

So basically one of the big, new things about Windows 8 is the exceedingly bold extent Microsoft are pushing their content and apps on users. Of course where did they get this from but seeing what Android and Apple do? Microsoft cannot be exclusively blamed for this, its only that they are in a postion to be able to do this as an OS maker. Apple is far worse and Android via mobile carriers is for the most part worse.

Anyhow, once all the tiles are deleted I will say that Windows 8 is a nice OS. Almost all the reviews I read about it in which it was panned because of the new interface organization and addition of the Start screen indicate to me that the vast majority of reviewers are inept. There is nothing wrong with the new interface and I actually find the new Start screen, which can of course be easily customized, to be very convenient. If there’s only one shortcut key command to learn for a newbie its Win + W. Of course there are others which can make navigating around more convenient.

Sadly, the laptop I installed it on has an Intel graphics card which, although only several years old, is being orphaned by Intel. They are refusing to release a Windows 8 driver for it.

Also, when I went to the Thinkpad support site to find other drivers there was basically nothing there. I’m fairly shocked that this is the case. This is another bad new trend where hardware manufacturers are orphaning – abandoning – their products after only a few years. My Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 running Android, which is under 2 years old, has also been abaondoned by Samsung which is an outrage.

Nonetheless, on my other Thinkpad which serves as my primary desktop/office/art workstation I will be switching to Windows 8 since its hardware is supported.

Also, if anyone doesn’t like the interface of Windows 8 there’s always the excellet free utility Classic Shell which basically allows one to change the interface around to make it more “classic”. In fact many of the features it has are excellent and I always use it.

My overall assessment of Windows 8 is that its a good OS but it contains a lot of initial content in the form of tiles which only takes a minute to remove. This is no different than, and possibly to a lesser extent than, Apple and Android systems are doing, so there’s nothing particularly special about it, even though I think its wrong in all cases.

The interface has changed a little and I like the new Start screen although I will probably continue using Classic Shell which bypasses it. Hardware compatibility can be a real issue even for systems only a few years old so its worthwhile to download the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which will check compatibility for hardware and apps. If you do install it, just remember the Win + W shortcut and that you can right click many things.