I recently pointed out that Microsoft’s current requirements for Windows 8 don’t make it a great choice for older netbooks. Despite speculation, it doesn’t seem like Microsoft will be doing anything to make Windows 8 more effective on those devices.
The ribbon is probably one of the most highly polarising UI decisions Microsoft has ever made (well, that and the start screen), and whether you love it or hate it, one great thing about the Windows 8 Consumer Preview is that people are already working on tools to tweak the upcoming OS so it works better for them. Ribbon Disabler, a free utility that permanently removes the ribbon from all Explorer windows, is one of those tools.
If you’ve been giving the Windows 8 Consumer Preview a whirl and just can’t get past the lack of a start button or you haven’t been able to fall in love with the start screen, Start8 is a new utility from StarDock that brings the start button back to the taskbar in all its glory.
Windows 8 will launch any application from the Start screen if you type its name and hit enter. But if you want the familiarity of the Run dialog from older Windows versions, you can add that too.
Whenever I get on a new Windows machine, the first thing I do is switch off the annoying defaults which hide file extensions and conceal hidden files in Explorer. Fortunately, that task is a lot easier on Windows 8.
The new Metro UI in Windows 8 has a few familiar features but in general the replacement for the Start menu can be difficult get get used to for veteran Windows users. By default there is no My Computer option, but technology weblog NirmalTV shows how users can easily add that option to their Metro desktop.
Previous builds of Windows 8 featured a registry setting that made switching back to a Windows 7-style interface, complete with Start Menu, a simple task. Sadly, this tweak doesn’t work in the recently released Consumer Preview. However, there is a way of getting it back, if you don’t mind using a third-party tool.
If you’re on the fence about the new Windows 8 consumer preview and not sure whether all of the new features are enough to make you want to upgrade, or whether you’d like the new Metro interface, here’s a safe way to give the preview a try without risking a computer or a lot of setup time to do so: use VirtualBox.
It’s hard not to be at least a little excited about upgrading to a shiny new operating system, but the catch is that a new OS sometimes means your ageing computer isn’t up to the task. So is your current PC powerful enough to handle Windows 8? Most likely!
Although Windows 8 has a radical new interface for touch, it still supports the mouse and keyboard and in fact comes with a few new keyboard shortcuts that can make working on Windows 8 more productive and navigating easier.
