So
the guy says to G-Fly (not his real name), "What's the
difference between the 185 and 286 models?". G-Fly looks away
as if deep in thought, then rubs his chin before looking the client
straight in the eyes to say, "One hundred and one.".
So
what's the difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8?
8
has two clearly distinct components, the Start Screen (with the
Apps formerly known as Metro), and the Desktop.
The
Desktop works very much like 7 without the Start Menu. That takes a
little getting used to. If you've been loading up your Desktop with
Shortcuts and Quick Launch Icons you're ahead of the game, because
that's what you need to do to use the Desktop in Windows 8.
Clearly
Microsoft wants us to use the Start Screen instead of the Start
Menu and took it away to encourage us. Problem is, you can't run
Windows on the Start Screen. You can only run "Window".
One window at a time, just like the iPad, or maybe just like the
Surface.
Surface
is Microsoft's Tablet answer to the iPad, and guess what? It runs
Windows 8. That means you get the same look and feel from your PC
and Tablet. Windows 8 is cross-platform.
Navigating
back to the Start Screen takes a little doing. Because 8 is
cross-platform, and you "swipe" using tablets, there
aren't buttons giving you clues. You just move the arrow around and
around until something pops up. This mostly happens when you try to
move the mouse off screen.
Move
the mouse off the upper right of the screen and the "Charm
Bar" (a menu) pops up to show 5 clown sized "Charms"
(Icons). Icons on the Start Screen itself, functioning like the
Shortcuts you pasted on your Windows 7 Desktop, are called
"Tiles". From this menu you can add more Tiles to
your Start Screen. A really important Tile is "Desktop"
which will get you to the Desktop (sans Start Menu) so you can open
multiple windows. I can't even imagine people limiting themselves
to one open document, email, or internet session, but that's just
me and I work for a living.
Windows
8 is really geared towards today's computer bound yet physically
mobile market. You've got email, documents, calendar, photos, all
in one cloud place that you can access from your PC or tablet
wherever you are. You see, 8 has it's own version of iCloud,
and then some, called SkyDrive. This is where it gets
exciting.
Windows
8 is more than just cross-platform, it's cross-oceanic and
trans-American. 8 wants you to use a Microsoft Account, linked to
your same-old-same-old local PC account, so you can log on to any
Windows 8 PC anywhere.
This
isn't that new. The Dental Tech comes into the room, logs on, bang,
their Desktop comes up. Whatever PC they log on to in the office
their Desktop comes up. The office is networked and their User
Profiles roam the network. They are called, Roaming Profiles.
With the cloud, we're all on one world wide network, and our
profiles can roam with us. With Windows 8 and SkyDrive we can
have world wide Roaming Profiles.
In
Windows 8 you can sync your Settings (User Profile) to
SkyDrive so wherever you go you can use any Windows 8 PC. Just
declare the PC "trusted" and SkyDrive will download
your Settings right to it. It's a lot like online banking in that
respect. You try to log in to your bank account and if you're on a
strange PC you have to answer a question or two to have a code sent
to you via text, voice or email. No big deal.
Windows
8 has 5 flavors, and prices all over the place. An upgrade to
Windows 8 Pro for your PC is $39.99, online, limit 5, through
January 31, 2013. After that, somewhere around $200. Windows 8 Pro
Upgrade is available to owners of Windows PCs going as far back as
XP.
I
upgraded a six year old Vista Notebook to Windows 8 Pro, $39.99 for
a face-lift like that isn't bad. 8 doesn't need a whole of of PC
power to run either, after all it runs on a tablet. You don't even
have to know if your PC has what it takes, the "Upgrade
Advisor" does all that for you prior to purchase. Not a
bad way to re-purpose that old XP or Vista Notebook you have under
the short table leg.
The
difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8 is one, or not, that's your call, and that's Cocktail
Talk.
