Windows 8 Arrives at TechByter Worldwide

If these words don't frighten you, then this article is one you'll want to read: "The Windows Developer Preview is a pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers. These downloads include prerelease software that may change without notice. The software is provided as is, and you bear the risk of using it. It may not be stable, operate correctly or work the way the final version of the software will. It should not be used in a production environment. The features and functionality in the prerelease software may not appear in the final version. Some product features and functionality may require advanced or additional hardware, or installation of other software." Two days after the pre-beta was released, I installed it.

I had intended to include this segment on next week's program, the 25th, but decided that enough people have enough interest in Windows 8 that a first-look report was appropriate now. This is by no means an extensive review and Windows 8 won't ship until late 2012, more than a full year from now. The production schedule could slip so that Windows 8 won't ship until 2013. I mention that to emphasize how early Microsoft is in the production schedule.

Click for a larger view. There are 3 flavors of the preview: 64-bit with developer tools (4.8GB), 64 bit without developer tools (3.6GB), and 32-bit without developer tools (2.8GB). I decided to install on an older 32-bit notebook computer so I didn't have to choose between including or excluding the developer tools. The 2.8GB download took the better part of an hour. During that time I prepared the notebook. (This does not mean that I took it into a dimly-lit room and spoke gently to it about the wondrous event it was about to experience. It does mean that I prepared space on the hard drive for a new operating system by deleting Linux from the machine. [Ouch!])

If you're thinking about Windows 8, here's what you'll need:

I have everything but the touch screen.

At 4:50 one afternoon I started the installation process. By 5:10 Windows 8 was installed and I had set Windows 7 as the default. On booting to Windows 8, I was asked to name the computer. Then ...

The following comments are essentially stream-of-consciousness (think "Virginia Woolf").

Windows 8 is Installed, so Now What?

The installation was impressive. Astonishing even. Less than half an hour and I took the long route but I'd like to see if Windows 7 is still working. I can log off but I see no option to restart the computer. Once I've logged off, I see no option to restart the computer or log on. I can look at the pretty picture but that's it. I click; and click; and click; and right-click; and double-click.

Ah, finally! A double click causes the panel to slide up. Now I can reboot. Could Microsoft have made this any more obscure? Possibly, but only with a lot of hard work. I select "Restart".

The startup screen looks a lot like GRUB. Maybe this is leftover from when Ubuntu was on the computer but I don't think so. Selecting Windows 7 boots to Windows 7 and everything that's supposed to be there is there. WOOT! Back to Windows 8.

Hmmm. It thinks I'm in Anaheim even though I changed the clock and weather applets. I guess I shouldn't expect those to communicate with the Control Panel. Lots more clicking and I got the weather panel back. This time I removed Anaheim but I know it won't communicate with anything else. At least now it'll show me the weather for where I am.

So where am I? Where are all the features that Microsoft borrowed from Apple? Gone, apparently, as they've tried to make a desktop computer work like an Iphone. Or maybe a Windows Phone. Hello, Microsoft! A desktop computer is not a phone and less than an hour into the discovery process I'm beginning to be sorry that I replaced Linux with Windows 8.

I finally blunder my way to what looks like a Windows 7 Control Panel and type "location". There is is: Region: Change Location. Seems to me that it shouldn't take 20 minutes to find this. Oh, wait. Location is only for country. What about Location settings? No, here I can turn on the Windows location platform but not tell Windows where I am. I'm pretty sure that I'm not in Anaheim. The Time Zone panel says I've managed to set it to Eastern but I still don't find any way to tell the system that I'm not in Anaheim.

There's an icon on the phone (sorry, on the Desktop) that says NearMe and when I click that I'm shown businesses in Anaheim. I right-click and I can see a map. Apparently this Mickey Mouse version of Windows thinks I'm at Disneyland because it shows me on the map that I'm standing on Katella Avenue just south of the park. There's still no apparent way to tell it where I really am. I try F1 through F12. Nothing. Escape. Nothing. Right or left clicking zooms in on a map I don't want. Oh, wait, there's a left-pointing arrow near the top left. I'm back in Anaheim.

The system thinks I'm 2245 miles from where I am. Maybe turning off the Windows Location Platform will convince it otherwise. Nope. Still Anaheim. I give up.

Next-Morning Analysis: My mantra needs to be This is pre-beta software on a pre-beta operating system. Clearly this feature will eventually have a way for the user to specify a location if the hardware geo-location component doesn't or no such hardware component exists. I spent too much time looking for something that wasn't there yet.

For more than a decade, right-clicking opened a Context Menu. Now it seems to do nothing. I'm lost.

Next-Morning Analysis: Right-click doesn't work in Metro but it does work as expected on the Desktop, which still exists.

The desktop has crap all over it and the crap is different-sized crap. I presume there's a way to change it but that certainly isn't obvious. Some people will be distressed that Solitaire is missing but now there's Zero Gravity. I tried that but I have to use finger gestures to play the game. I don't have a touch screen but I do have some finger gestures for Microsoft. Now that the game is started, Alt-F4 (the universal "quit" key combo") does nothing. Left or right click? Nothing. Ctrl-Alt-Del provides access to Task Manager. Kill Zero Gravity. Done.

Next-Morning Analysis: The interface will be great for tablets and phones. For those who use desktop systems or notebooks can turn this feature off. Currently that requires a Registry edit and it's an all-or-nothing change. And regarding Solitaire—I'm sure it will be there in the shipping version.

There's an icon called Store. Nothing there. I can't fault Microsoft for this. It's a feature that isn't ready and this is pre-beta software. And I can't get out of the store. Oh ... If I press the Windows key, I get the desktop but the Task Manager shows that Store is still running. Is there ANY way to close an application in Windows 8? I haven't found it so far.

Next-Morning Analysis: Apps aren't intended to be closed. They're just suspended and take no CPU time although they do continue to reside in memory. If more memory is needed, Windows will flush the application. I first encountered this kind of behavior more than a decade ago with a Palm device. Although jarring at first, I think I'll get used to it quickly but I'd still like a way to terminate an application other than via the Task Manager.

At This Point I Was Fondly Recalling Windows Me

Windows Me is recognized, even by Microsoft, as the worst version of Windows ever. Vista was a distant second-place stinker. A couple of hours in, it seemed that Windows 8 would surpass anything Me or Vista could do to smell up a room.

Next-Morning Analysis: This is a pre-beta operating system. This is a pre-beta operating system. This is a pre-beta operating system. This is a pre-beta operating system.

So it's time to take a deep breath, visit the Windows Developer Center and listen to a talk by Microsoft Windows and Windows Live President, Steven Sinofsky. Maybe I'm missing something that should be completely obvious.

Windows 7 is being used on 450 million computers and has finally surpassed Windows XP (which I still use at the office). Sinofsky characterizes Windows 8 as a "bold overhaul" but he also says that all features of Windows 7 are included in Windows 8. We'll see.

The changes, according to Sinofsky, are in 4 major areas:

(1) The Windows 8 Experience

Is Windows 8 bigger and slower? From my experience, no. It's actually surprisingly fast even on a computer with modest hardware. So that's a win.

Login from the lock screen on a Touch device you don't need a password. Instead, you touch specific locations or make specific motions on a photo. Cool but only if you have a Touch device. I still don't like the tiles because I don't like a cluttered desktop but maybe this will work out once I figure out how to modify what's there.

For Touch device users, Microsoft has copied the Ipad pinch function. If you're using a mouse and a keyboard, you should be able to do everything you can do with a Touch screen and maybe you can but I haven't yet figured out how.

(2) Metro-Style Applications

Everything is full screen. Everything. I'm used to seeing many applications on the screen and this seems like a gigantic step backward. Different is not necessarily good or bad; it's just different. Given the way I work, when I often need to see several application windows simultaneously, this would be a problem. I suspect there will be a solution.

Click for a larger view. The view for developers is an interesting one. The tools that Microsoft is making available for developers to build applications is astonishingly Web-centric with Javascript and HTML 5.

This is not a topic that's of interest to most of the people who read the TechByter website or listen to the podcast, so I'll end the discussion of what will excite developers.

For users, keep in mind that Metro applications require a screen that's at least 1024 pixels wide and the side-by-side functionality requires at least 1366 pixels.

(3) Hardware

Earlier I mentioned that Windows 8 works surprisingly well on small, wimpy devices even at the pre-beta development point when the code can reasonably be assumed to contain a lot of debugging code.

Windows 8 supports ARM processors, the ones that you'll find in handheld devices. Depending on the system you have, Windows 8 will start in as little as 5 seconds and a new "connected standby" mode that allows for instant-on functionality shuts the system down just as fast. This makes longer battery life possible and that's important as notebooks and tablets become more widely accepted.

My notebook starts (following POST) in about 23 seconds. By comparison, Windows 7 on the same computer takes 45 seconds.

Acer, Asus, Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo, and others are all currently making or planning super-thin notebook computers and tablet computers that will work with Windows 8.

Next-Morning Analysis: This may be the most astonishing aspect of Windows 8! It's scalable. Essentially the same operating system (and the same user experience) will be available on a phone, a netbook, a notebook, a tablet, a desktop, and a server. Despite my misgivings about some aspects of the user interface, this scalability has earned my respect.

(4) Cloud-Based Services

The future is clearly "cloud-based" computing even though I don't care much for the term. I would call these applications "server-based".

This is a sea-change for computer users but it's going to be a tough conversion for some people. "Everything you know is wrong" comes to mind and what's coming from Windows 8 is both frightening and awe inspiring.

Other Stuff

What's Next?

The next morning I unplugged the network cable and tried to start Windows 8. The Lock Screen told me that I was not on the network and that I should use the password that I used most recently. I did. Six times. No luck. When I reattached the network cable, the same password worked. Clearly this is a bug and clearly it will be fixed before the release candidate (RC) and maybe even before the beta version.

PEBKAC Error Alert! As it turns out, this was a stupid error on my part. The laptop's NumLock function was on and my password contained letters that were in the numeric keypad section. When I plugged in the network cable, I also plugged in a standard keyboard.
PEBKAC: "Problem exists between keyboard and chair." This error is closely related to the ID-10-T error.

Windows 8 is currently in pre-beta form. At this stage, the Windows 7 preview was technically limited to developers but the code was leaked almost immediately. Microsoft decided this time to make the pre-beta public from the start. Good choice. The next milestone is the true beta release (date uncertain) followed by release candidate (RC; only 1 RC is on the schedule; date uncertain) and then the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) code (date uncertain) and finally general availability (GA; date uncertain).

According to Steven Sinofsky, the driver is quality and not the calendar.

Windows 8: ? CatsPromise and Challenge

When I mentioned on Facebook that I had installed Windows 8, one person commented, "Now you test it for a week or two and write a long, glowing encomium on TechByter, I presume." Nothing would make me happier because I know that I'll be using Windows 8 sooner or later but at the time I said "The 'glowing' would be more like radioactive waste."

One thing that's important to understand, though, is that Windows 8 is not yet even beta software. Some features that are present now may be absent when the application is released to manufacturing (along with most of the bugs). Some features that aren't yet present will be there at RTM time. It's clear that Windows 8 will be a much better operating system for those who have Touch devices. For those who don't have touch devices—we'll see.
For more information, visit the Windows 8 website where you can download installers. Don't install Windows 8 to replace your existing Windows XP or Windows 7 (or even Vista). Until you have a Touch-based device you may not want to install it at all. I've now used Windows 8 for less than 2 days, so there's a lot to learn. Today I'm unhappy with some of what I see but I do see a lot of promise.

Stay tuned.

Two Monitors are Better than One

If you've never used a system with two monitors, there's some chance that you consider people who use two monitors to be a bit daft. I thought that at one time but then I got a second monitor at the office. At home, I decided that I could make do with one monitor if it was large enough. Bad choice.

I bought a 24" (diagonal) monitor for use at home but was always running out of space. I often have two browsers open and applications such as Adobe Photoshop are much easier to use if some of the clutter is on a second screen. For several months I used an old 12-inch screen as the second monitor. It was helpful, but I wanted matched monitors.

So I bought a second 24" monitor. Wow! It's now 42 inches from the left side of the left monitor to the right side of the right monitor. My primary monitor was a ViewSonic so I selected a second ViewSonic hoping that they would be a reasonably close match.

The primary monitor is controlled by a Pantone Huey calibration device (looks like I'll need to upgrade to the pro model to control both screens) and I had trouble getting even an acceptable match between the two monitors. The new monitor is visibly brighter than the older monitor but I eventually achieved an acceptable balance. But then every time the screen went to sleep it discarded the settings. It didn't forget the settings; to restore them, all I needed to do was open the monitor-based control panel and close it.

But that wasn't good. ViewSonic agreed and told me to send the monitor back. I paid for overnight shipping to California thinking that this might cause ViewSonic to understand how critically I needed the monitor. For the next four weeks (FOUR WEEKS!) I had a single monitor. When ViewSonic shipped the monitor back to me, they sent it FeEx ground. That's a 5-day trip from California.

The good news is that everything is working fine now and of course there was no charge for the repair. But still the company's we'll fix it whenever we manage to get around to it attitude is more than a little galling. I've used nothing but ViewSonic monitors for nearly 20 years but lately I've heard from others that the company's customer service has slipped badly.

The next time I need a monitor, it may be a Samsung.

Why Two Monitors Beat One Monitor

Click for a larger view.If you click the image at the right to see a larger view, you'll notice that there's a lot going on. I have an e-mail program, a Web browser, and a code editor open on the left screen. On the right screen there's a clock, an instant-message client, and a password manager.

When I use applications such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, the second monitor is a good parking place for tool bars, palettes, and other program components that I need access to but want to have out of the way of the graphic or publication that I'm working on.

During the four weeks that I had only a single monitor I was constantly frustrated by the need to minimize one window to have access to another window. What I learned is that no single monitor, no matter how large, is ever a match for two monitors—at least for me. I find the physical separation helpful. When I drag a window or an application to the monitor on the right it remains in my peripheral vision but it's there just for occasional use or for reference.

If you ever need to have a help file open while you're using an application (perhaps trying to learn a new Photoshop technique or trying to figure out how to perform a task in Word) you'll immediately realize just how helpful that second screen is.

As everyone around him at the office added a second screen and proclaimed how much better everything worked with an extra monitor, one co-worker resisted the addition of a second screen. Finally he agreed to give it a try.

That second monitor is still on his desk and he has never expressed a desire to have it removed.

Short Circuits

Mozilla, When Will you Fix the Memory Leak?

Firefox has always had a problem with memory usage and despite the fact that Mozilla has promised version after version to fix the memory leak, version after version the memory leak continues.

Click for a larger view.Mozilla says "For most users, Firefox doesn't use an abnormally large amount of memory. For others, however, Firefox's memory consumption is a major problem." The trouble with that point of view is that I've never found anyone who uses Firefox that describes the browser's memory usage as "normal".

Again quoting Mozilla, "Plugins can cause Firefox to use more memory when they're used and may not release their memory until Firefox is closed. It's a good idea to make sure you're using the most recent version of every plugin by visiting Mozilla's Plugin Check page. To save the maximum amount of memory, uninstall any unnecessary plugins.

"Normal Firefox memory usage reported by Windows might be as high as 100-150 MB. These numbers will vary because Firefox is configured by default to use more memory on systems that have more memory available and less on systems with less. If you experience substantially more usage than this, there may be a problem, or you may just be viewing pages with large amounts of data."

"As high as 100-150MB"??? Here's what I see: 4 to 6 times what Mozilla claims.
600MB

These promises of lower memory usage date back to Firefox version 2. The current version of Firefox is version 7.

How to Lose Customers and Devalue Your Stock

Netflix, which has been a high flyer for several years, has stumbled badly. Apparently the company thought that a 30% rate increase wouldn't affect customer loyalty. Have these guys looked at the economy lately? For me, the 30% increase meant that I dropped streaming and I'd already reduced the number of concurrent DVDs from 3 to 2.

About 1 million of the company's 25 million subscribers have simply canceled the service and Netflix stock is now under $170 per share. That's down from more than $300 per share as recently as July.

This is the first time the Netflix customer base has declined. The company had tried very hard to please customers—at least until that price increase came along. Now the company says it expects to continue losing customers for a while.

The company's survival certainly seems not to be in jeopardy but its star is more than a little tarnished.