Windows 8 Review

News about Windows 8 Tablets, Apps and all other things Win8

Air Soccer is a Metro style app for Windows 8 and it is exactly what it sounds like – a simulation of the air hockey arcade table game. However, instead of one disc to hit the puck with (ball in this case), each side has 3 discs. This game is clearly meant for tablets, even though it can be played with a keyboard and mouse (mostly the mouse actually). So if you are planning to try it out, you must keep this in mind. Now let’s get started right from the top.

There are multiple things to pick and choose from before you start the game. On the top you will find options for choosing your team. Almost every playing country is represented in the app, which is nice, and they are divided geographically by their continent. So if you want to choose France, you will have to click through Europe and scroll through to find France. Once you have clicked through to the continent, you will be presented with a group of country flag icons for that continent. You can easily switch to other continents from here by scrolling/swiping sideways just like on your Start Screen.

Then you have your field selection. You can choose from green, grassy fields to abstract, galactic fields. Right below you get to select your ball. You have options from several different types of balls and they are all very nicely designed. You can choose to play against the computer or you can pick a two player game where you and a buddy can play together.

There’s also a tournament option at the bottom of the screen but when clicked it comes up with the following message:

“Tournaments, Leaderboards and Multiplayer are not available yet. Stay tuned for updates”.

This basically means they are still working on the app and will probably finalize it after Windows 8 is officially launched.

To start the game, click either ‘1 player’ or ‘2 player’ according to what you want. If you are playing against the computer and have chosen ‘1 player’ — you will have to choose an opponent as well. This will lead you through the same process that you went through for selecting your own team. It bears mentioning here that selecting different teams doesn’t really make all that much of a difference right now.

As you start the game, you will realize that scoring a goal is much harder that it seems. You have no control over how the six discs bounce around and you cannot reposition any of them at any time. This is a turn by turn game, so you cannot make real time decisions. If you have ever played ‘Carrom’, this will seem familiar.

Pros:

One detail I like about the game is the background sound effect. For each team you choose, you will hear chants taken from stadium full of supporters for that team. The most obvious is when you choose ‘USA’, you can actually hear the crowd going ‘USA! USA!’ and also singing along to ‘na na na na, hey hey hey, Goodbye”! Other nice touches include real football rules that will get you yellow cards (and may be even red but that didn’t happen to us) and whistles down.

Cons:

The Artwork of individual discs is good and sharp, but the fields don’t really match up. May be the developer should work on backgrounds a bit more and make them match the foreground game pieces.

Since Windows was just beginning to be something more than a crutch for people who didn’t want to learn to use the DOS command line, Windows Media Player has been able to play DVDs.  Version 6.1 introduced the feature to Windows 95 and it has been standard ever since.  All that will soon be changing, however, as Microsoft tries to squeeze customers for a bit of extra money by removing the ability to use the popular media except for those customers who purchase not just Windows 8 Pro, but also the optional Media Center Pack to go with it.

The idea is apparently to reduce costs.  Not everybody needs to have access to such capabilities, after all.  Owners of the new Ultrabooks made specifically for Windows 8 couldn’t load a DVD if they tried, short of installing a peripheral for just that purpose.  The result of removing this feature is that Microsoft avoids having to license decoders and saves a few bucks.  Theoretically there is definitely nothing wrong with trying to keep the costs down when dealing with a system as large and complex as Windows.

Does it really make sense to remove such basic functions in an effort to pinch pennies, though?  This move is quite reminiscent of the Windows 7 Starter Edition, which worked just fine in many ways but removed such highly visible and situationally valuable abilities as the option to change one’s desktop background in order to coerce customers into upgrading.  Given that we expect Windows 8 Pro to be running around $100 more than the standard edition of Windows 8, this is no trivial upgrade.

Yes, the end-user can get around this shortcoming in a number of ways.  The ability to play DVDs can be acquired through any number of software packages including some that are already often bundled together with new PCs such as CyberLink’s PowerDVD.  In my opinion, unfortunately, introducing a problem for users, after years of it being a non-issue, just to force those users to either figure out a less convenient solution or pay you a premium, is insulting at best.

I’m not making a case for DVD playback being a major selling factor in any version of Windows, let alone Windows 8.  It may even be that the DVD as a format is on its way out now that more advanced options are becoming more popular and mobile computers are increasingly doing away with optical drives entirely.  To offer the operating system on a computer that has the physical capabilities required for DVD playback only to tell the user that they will have to cough up an extra $100+ in order to use that hardware is a move that will end up costing Microsoft far more than it saves them unless they can keep the change relatively quiet or persuade OEMs to pick up the slack through bundled software.

This isn’t just a matter of phasing out obsolete technology or switching to a modular system, it is reducing the value of an otherwise great product (Windows 8) for the sake of upselling.

It seems that there is a bit of a privacy concern coming up in the current preview version of Windows 8.  Namely, the operating system stores contacts pulled from all sorts of communication networks, from Facebook to Hotmail, in an obscure but unencrypted cache located on the machine.  More than that, this cache persists even when an account is logged out or the machine is powered down.  This means that anybody with an Administrator level account on a given machine can gain access to any user’s contacts complete with name, email address, pictures, and other stored information.  Naturally there has been some talk.

Obviously the most important thing to keep in mind when reading this is that the currently available version of Windows 8 is still the Beta.  We are not playing with a finished product no matter how well it performs and how powerful it has proven to be.  This means that there are likely to be security holes and bugs floating around that will be dealt with before release.  Chances are very good that this will be one of those things that just never happened to be addressed prior to the Windows 8 Consumer Preview’s release.

That aside, let’s assume that this problem persists all the way through to the street release.  It is realistically only going to be an issue in a situation where another person has administrator access to your personal computer.  If this were to happen then either your physical machine has been compromised, in which case your contacts should be the least of your worries, or somebody has a way into your system from the outside, in which case your contacts should be the least of your worries.

Regardless of best practices, most users do not change their passwords regularly, have different passwords for each site, have any sort of secondary security beyond an alphanumeric password, or really take any real care with the security of their information unless forced to.  That is where you will have the biggest breakdown.  For somebody to gain access to an administrator account on a Windows 8 machine means that complaining about what they find cached when they are in there is overlooking the more pressing issues.

If users are genuinely concerned about this problem, there is the option to flush all caches on logging off from the system.  This can decrease the usefulness of the Windows 8 Contact List since it takes time to rebuild that sort of thing, but the option is there.  More importantly, if security is a concern, there are a number of services and tools available to help with encryption and information security.  For the most part there is a bit of a learning curve, but it really does not take that much extra effort to stay safe.

Does Windows 8’s more recent preview build have a security hole?  Yes, to some extent.  Whether or not that hole is filled by the Win 8 Release Preview, this is already no greater a risk than you are running on any other system.  It will only be a problem if you’re already compromised.

It’s been a little while now since Microsoft implied that they might be interested in entering into the eReader market with Windows 8.  Apparently this was more than just a passing comment, given their recent acquisition.  Microsoft is now the owner of 17.6% of the Barnes & Noble subsidiary created to handle the Nook line.  This has some immediate implications, both financially and in terms of Windows 8 user experience, but it might have an even greater impact down the line.

Among the more short term effects that this $300 million investment will have is the creation of a Nook app for Windows 8 Metro.  Under the terms of the agreement between these companies, Microsoft will be providing direct assistance and support including their own employee time and expertise to get the new Nook app up and running.  While there is no intention to bundle the app with Windows 8 or Windows RT, having that sort of backing will likely result in a far better user interface than the bookseller would be able to field on their own.

As another result of the investment, Microsoft has settled their ongoing patent lawsuit against B&N over the Nook.  Microsoft will now be receiving royalties based on Nook device sales, though presumably small enough payments that it will not negatively affect the profitability of the devices.

In the longer term, Microsoft is now in a position to make a major play for eReader and budget tablet markets when they decide the time is right.  The Nook line is the second most popular eReading option in the US and the most recent incarnation of its E INK reader is widely considered the best on the market.  While the Nook Color and Nook Tablet have not held up nearly as well in the face of the competition, they have still enjoyed enough success to be noted as decent options in 7” tablet shopping.

By creating versions of the Nook that run Windows RT, Microsoft would have the opportunity to highlight the speed and versatility of their software while also increasing the exposure of their tile-based user interface.  Creating a cohesive experience is one of the company’s major stated goals.

Building a version of the Nook Tablet that runs on Windows 8 would have the potential to make an even bigger splash.  Thus far the Nook options have made almost no impact on the sales of the dominant Kindle Fire.  The Fire controls the overwhelming majority of the Android tablet market only months after its initial release and shows no signs of losing popularity.  Creating a Windows tablet vs Kindle Fire situation using familiar brand competition might breathe new life into the market and take the focus away from Android in a major way.

We cannot say for sure how Microsoft will choose to use this new connection to the reading world.  We can definitely point to signs that they intend for it to become a bigger thing as time moves on, however.  It would not be surprising to see a Windows 8 Nook early in 2013.

The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 has been great.  It has given us all a chance to get to know the operating system a little better.  While this has resulted in the expected crop of doomsday predictions for Microsoft among people unhappy with the Metro interface and its emphasis on touch-based interface, it has also seemed to create an even greater increase in the number of people coming to accept the new OS as an improvement.

Now we will be getting a chance to try out a nearly complete iteration of Windows 8 in less than two months.  During a Tokyo-based developer event, the president of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live division tweeted about a Windows 8 Release Preview happening during the first week of June.  The phrasing is interesting and may indicate an accelerated time table for the Windows 8 launch.

Traditionally, this particular reveal would be referred to as the Release Candidate.  Many will recall that Windows 7 went through a series of such candidates before it was ready for official distribution.  While calling this a preview could easily just be an acknowledgement of the naming scheme used in the previous Developer’s Preview and Consumer Preview, it likely also indicates a degree of finality.  One way or another, Microsoft is compelled to get their product out the door as soon as possible and any fixes can be made through Windows Update at launch, should the need arise.

This does not necessarily signal an inferior product.  Anybody who has spent a fair amount of time with Windows 8 so far will be sure to note that while the UI may take some adjusting to it is otherwise an extremely powerful operating system that already performs the majority of its function quite well.  Some have already begun using it as their primary desktop OS in preparation for the launch of the finished product.  The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 has already been the most downloaded pre-release OS in Microsoft’s history and as such we can probably assume they have a fair amount of data collected to contribute to the debugging process.

Windows 8 is already running slightly behind the schedule that the Windows 7 release kept to.  This could cause problems as time goes on, so a rush would not be at all unexpected at this point.  In order to be ready for holiday sales this year, Microsoft has to have the RTM build done no later than October.  Nobody wants to repeat the experience of Windows Vista, which failed to ship before January.

Assuming that Microsoft stays true to the sort of schedule used in the Windows 7 launch, look for the Windows 8 Release Preview on Tuesday, June 5th.  It will be free, available to the public, and should give an even clearer image of the final product than what we have to look at today.  It may also be the last big chance for pre-release input from consumer users and as such should not be missed.

In keeping with the emphasis on Windows 8’s ability to restore itself to its default state at a moment’s notice, should the situation demand, they have spent a fair amount of time playing up the importance of the SkyDrive program.  Taking a page out of Dropbox’s book, SkyDrive’s current implementation allows users to store up to 7GB of data for free with minimal intrusion or effort required.  This allows users to have access to their most important data regardless of time, place, or technical difficulties.  Even if you have to completely wipe your hard drive or buy a new computer entirely, everything in your SkyDrive folder will be there.

With recent updates, developers have been assured that so long as their Metro apps are capable of opening and saving documents they will be fully compatible with SkyDrive.  The same will be true through the Windows 8 Desktop, along with Vista and Windows 7, thanks to the downloadable app available through Microsoft’s site.  Since we are basically talking about a synced folder this is hardly surprising, but it is important to have the confirmation given both previous SkyDrive practices and the way Google Docs works.

The Google Docs comparison is especially important for two reasons.  One, SkyDrive’s ability to allow users to edit their MS Office documents online and in collaboration with other people puts it directly in competition with Google Docs.  Two, Google has finally released Google Drive, their long-awaited cloud storage solution.

While there is currently some controversy regarding the TOS for Google Drive, it is safe to say that this will be clarified in the near future.  Most of the issues under attack are simply rights that any such service would need to have in order to make documents accessible and sharable through cloud storage.  Disregarding that situation, it is actually a rather interesting offering.

Here is a breakdown of the most important features:

Microsoft SkyDrive Google Drive
Free Storage 7GB 5GB
Compatibility Windows, Mac, iOS, Windows Phone Windows, Mac, Android
Largest File Supported 2GB 5GB
Annual Paid Storage $10/20GB; $50/100GB $30/25GB; $60/100GB

In most of the ways that matter, the two services are roughly equivalent.

Having spent some time testing, SkyDrive is definitely the more pleasant service to use in most ways.  It is quick, unobtrusive, and generally painless once your account is set up.  Even that part is not particularly problematic.  Google does have a few things going for them, however.

Google Drive is available on Android, which some people will find a big plus.  With Android devices holding more than half the smartphone market for the first time, this will matter.  Google also has an unsurprising edge when it comes to search capabilities.  Currently the ability to search documents in SkyDrive is limited to MS Office file formats.

This said, it is doubtful that many people using Windows 8 for the first time will mind the idea of having their files already accessible any time they log into a Windows 8 machine using their Live account.  The simplicity and integration will be a huge incentive.  It is also so tightly tied to the Windows RT experience that Microsoft knows they cannot afford to have anything go wrong, which can’t help but keep things running more smoothly.

If choosing right this minute, you’re best off just using something compatible with your favorite mobile device.  They’re not different enough to matter in huge ways.  It is somewhat hilarious that one of the primary selling points for a Microsoft product is its iOS compatibility, but until Windows 8 brings that integration to the user base at large that’s the most obvious advantage.

With the anticipated release of Windows 8 just months away at this point, it is about the right time to be getting some more substantial information about the launch plans.  Microsoft doesn’t disappoint, even if what we’re given is somewhat less than impressive.  The big talk lately has been about the fact that MS announced the version breakdown for Windows 8.

There will be three available options for the new OS.  Customers will be able to choose between Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro on their Intel based devices, while Windows RT will handle the ARM side of things.  Naturally plain old Windows 8 will be the basic option while Windows 8 Pro offers the more extensive capabilities and configuration options.

At first glance this seems like a fairly standard breakdown.  If anything, it can’t help but come as a relief after the Windows 7 launch presented customers with six barely distinct editions, not to mention the variety of upgrade pack options and derivatives that came along later.  What this does that might have interesting effects on consumer response, however, is visibly split the product line.

There was always going to be a distinct difference between what is now being called Windows RT and the rest of the options.  Different architecture and performance options mean different approaches.  Now the naming scheme seems to indicate discrete operating systems.  Windows RT does not necessarily imply a part of the Windows 8 family at first glance, after all.  This could be a risky move considering the already well documented backlash against the Metro UI, though it may of course also provide some buffer against total failure of the upgrade if Windows RT tablets bomb.

Windows RT will naturally be pre-installed on those devices that use it.  Customers will not be pulling copies off the shelves.  That leaves us with Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.  We’ll leave out the Enterprise version since it should amount to essentially Windows 8 Pro with bulk licensing.  This means upgrade options should be relatively painless.  Anybody running Windows 7 will have the option to take advantage of in-place upgrade paths already present so long as they want Windows 8 Pro.  In general this will be possible when upgrading to basic Windows 8, but anybody currently on Windows 7 Ultimate or Professional who wants the basic option will have to go with a clean install.

We don’t have much detail just yet on what exactly the differences will be between each of these options, but there should be regular updates on the Windows 8 situation moving forward.  I’ll try to keep things up to date here, so check back for anything major that Microsoft announces or lets slip.

So, there are over 4,000,000 Windows applications floating around right now, according to Microsoft.  Given how widely used the operating system has been in the past couple decades, nobody is really surprised by this as far as I can tell.  With Metro changing things up, however, Windows is having to start from scratch in a way.  Yes, the Intel based Windows 8 devices will have backward compatibility, but if the focus is to be brought onto Metro then there needs to be some real effort made to flesh out that ecosystem.

Right now, there are relatively few Metro apps in the store.  What apps there are do happen to be free though, which gives us a chance to try them out.  As such, we can point to a couple of the best options that people might want to consider grabbing at launch time, even without knowing how much the selection will soon expand.

Evernote

If you’re going to be making use of multiple devices, and the whole point of the Metro UI push is to create a consistent experience across as many devices as possible, then having something like Evernote will come in really handy.  It does nothing but store and sync notes for you.  Every note gets a title and a date stamp for organization and you can arrange them into albums as needed.  Most importantly, it works even when you don’t restrict yourself to Windows since apps are available pretty much everywhere these days.

Elements Weather Forecast**

Elements is probably the most useful weather app that I’ve seen for Windows 8 so far.  I’m particularly fond of the quick 3-day forecast on the Start Menu.  AccuWeather does a pretty good job in general, but I find the interface a little more pleasant in Elements and it is definitely less cluttered.  Can’t really see anything else working better unless you have a strong desire for access to radar maps, which Elements admittedly lacks.

Kindle Reader

This is an obvious one on any tablet, but you’re going to need something to read on.  Amazon is increasingly the best option anybody can hope for as far as eBooks go, so the Kindle App will be the best choice unless you have an existing library somewhere else.  Right now there is only a preview version up and running, but even it works amazingly well.

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If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share.  While the selection is not, as I noted previously, anything like what we have to expect it will be by October, this is a great time to check out some of the apps that Microsoft apparently feels best showcase the potential of Windows 8’s Metro style.  There is plenty to try and more on the way.

**It is only fair to note that the writer of this blog is indirectly affiliated with Jujuba Software, the creators of Elements Weather Forecast. He was not at any time involved in the creation, testing, or feedback of the software and no positive review was requested.

It is hard to imagine anybody developing tablet apps for a living who has not managed to get their hands on an iPad yet.  Let’s face it, that’s the only way to tap into the market at this point given that developers are reported to make almost five times as much on their iPad offerings compared to Android equivalents.  It was only a matter of time before somebody took advantage of this fact, and Splashtop is doing exactly that.  It is now possible to run Windows 8 right on your iPad, albeit through remote desktop streaming.

Splashtop’s Remote Desktop software isn’t precisely new and exciting at this point.  It is one of the best, most affordable options for remote streaming to and from practically any computing device, but that isn’t what makes this announcement interesting.  In order to make Windows 8 development go a bit more smoothly, they have begun offering the Win8 Metro Testbed.

This will allow users to experience not only the basic look of Metro on the iPad, but replicate the entire experience.  Splashtop is currently the only way to add in support for things like Windows 8’s touch gestures in such a way as to make actual testing and debugging possible far in advance of actual Win8 tablets hitting shelves.

This is not going to provide a perfect picture of the Windows 8 experience, of course.  Even on the best of networks there is likely to be some delay in response, since the actual processing is being done on the PC you are streaming from.  This doesn’t detract from the usability as much as you might expect, though, unless you run into an especially poor connection.

Windows 8 is expected to be the next big thing in tablets, and Metro is pretty well proven already when using All-in-One PCs with touch screens.  This might also serve as an interesting introduction for consumers who want to get a feel for the new tablet OS using something they already own.  The app is fairly expensive at $24.99, but that allows for unique interface feature access that you can’t get through any other streaming software on the market right now.

To get everything set up, you will need a PC with Windows 8 installed.  It is simple enough to do in a small partition of an existing environment.  Splashtop recommends a computer with a 1.6GHz+ Dual Core CPU and at least a full gigabyte of RAM.  The software you install on the PC itself is free and available from the Splashtop website.  There’s really no simpler way to get a feel for Metro in the situation it was designed for.

Windows 8 already does a fairly good job of allowing for development using a number of programming languages.  That is one of the biggest advantages it brings for developers, and will definitely do a lot to draw people into designing Metro UI applications.  Despite the success so far in making this work, the company is looking to draw in more support and therefore more developers.

The new Windows runtime that powers Windows 8 manages to support development in C++, Javascript/HTML5, Visual C#, Visual Basic, and XAML.  At the moment, most of the interest seems to be in .Net options, if the MSDN forums are to be believed, but there may come a time in the fairly near future when XAML begins to lose its appeal and clearly Microsoft is hoping to be ready.

At the April 3rd Lang.Next comference, Martyn Lovell (Development Manager for the WinRT team) made an appeal for developers to create new languages with WinRT in mind.  He explained that the overall philosophy of WinRT’s production has been to have native, managed, and dynamic languages all receive attention and support.  The philosophies explained at the September 2011 BUILD conference remain in place, they are just being elaborated on and explained more thoroughly as time goes on.

There will certainly be at least some delay in many instances while people wait to see if Windows 8 catches on.  There is no shortage of critics willing to express their opinions about the inevitable failure of any desktop operating system that accommodates touch interface.  We can definitely expect that to turn around if the explosion of Windows 8 popularity expected by Microsoft manifests.

The biggest advantage Microsoft has always had in trying to create something like this, which can at once compete with both iOS on tablets and manage to provide superior function on PCs, is in the ability to fold in their existing developer base.  If they can get everybody on board, especially with Metro and the Windows 8 app store, then it will be difficult for anybody else to compare.  Given this, it is not particularly surprising to see this sort of request being made.

The Metro style UI, despite being incredibly polarizing, provides an excellent touch interface that translates extremely well to mouse use.  Once there has been more time for the consumer base to get used to the new look, I think it is fair to say that it will be widely embraced.  The performance improvements alone would be enough to make significant headway, but Windows 8 brings the first major change of direction in use style that we’ve seen out of Microsoft (or at least the first since Windows introduced a graphic interface to replace MSDOS as the default).  Customers are going to eventually move toward the new idea and developers who are ready for them will benefit.