Windows 8 Pro - Thoughts
I’ve been an Apple user for the last few years (phone, laptop and tablet) - I’ve found they cannot be beat for functionality and usability. There has been a lot of buzz around the office about Windows 8 so when the chance to trial a Dell Windows 8 Pro tablet came up I thought I’d give it a go. I’ve used the device for a few days now and I thought I’d capture some of my initial thoughts and feelings about the experience.
So my thoughts, in no particular order:
- I get what Microsoft have tried to do with the new interface. As more applications leverage the tile concept the interface will increase in richness. The ability to customise the home screen via policy (part of Windows 8.1 release) will also mean enterprises can utilise the power of the interface whilst creating a tailored experience for users.
- The interface still doesn’t feel as natural as the iPad. Perhaps it’s the placement of buttons but it just doesn’t flow for me - I expect this will improve with time.
- The battery life is great for a device that does so much. With the right desktop setup (dock and external monitor) this could easily be a laptop or desktop replacement.
- The thick bezel does make it look like a digital photoframe.
- Some of the apps a bit flaky - for example, the Twitter app doesn’t always refresh and needs to be killed off and restarted to load new tweets.
- The App Store is a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it doesn’t even pick up an internet connection and brings up a ‘not connected’ error.
Overall a pretty darn good experience, just a few more wrinkles to iron out - hopefully the 8.1 update ticks all the boxes.