Falling in LIKE with Windows 8

It’s often part of our human nature to be uneasy with change. But when it comes to Microsoft operating systems, there is a reasonable amount of precedence on which to base this uneasiness. Windows Vista still gives me fits. And now we are stuck with Windows 8.

We all knew that it would be different, even drastically so. The interface looks so much like the Windows phone OS, with its flat meaningless icons and unsettling color palette. Why would Microsoft commit to this direction? It’s not as though the Windows phone was a huge success, or had a significantly large install-base.

Yet even with all those detractions, Microsoft deliberately added one more: making even the most basic interactions non-intuitive…no, counter-intuitive.

I like to think that I am fairly proficient with computers, but when I first started working with Windows 8 I was faced with an operating system that stymied me at times. Experience with previous versions of Windows and even other operating systems failed to give me context. Finding once familiar ways to get the simplest things done became a tedious challenge. I even started trying to navigate through using the Windows Shortcut keys. (That’s typically the symbolic key between the ctrl and alt keys that no one ever uses.) It didn’t make things much better.

Then something happened. It might have been Stockholm Syndrome. Like anyone buying a Windows computer, phone, or gaming system, I was forced to acclimate to Microsoft’s new interface. I dealt with the seven stages of grief and came out achieving acceptance. What caused me to embrace this operating system to which we are now captive?

It was engaging with Windows 8 on a touchscreen. 

Suddenly it made sense. My previous use of smart phones and tablets caused my fingers to interact on their own accord. I got it. What’s more, Window 8 started to change how I regarded traditional peripherals. Using a mouse now seemed cumbersome, as it brought me out of direct engagement with the screen. It was slowing me down. If I could think of using the screen like a tablet with access to a physical keyboard, I was on track. In reality, this was the experience I had actually been wanting for years. The difference was that it came by nontraditional means.

Being an avid PC and console user, I’m quite accustomed to buying hardware based only on the then-nebulous promise of what it can do. By that I mean that there is seldom software at day one that can fully take advantage of the new system’s power: to integrate the unique platform features, or push the device to its limits. With Windows 8, the opposite is true. I think we have witnessed the release of an operating system in search of hardware that was not readily available. Windows 8 absolutely works best in a touchscreen environment. The problem is that not enough touchscreens were present amongst customers. Microsoft did a poor job communicating that this was how they meant it to be used. Unless you were already using it on a Surface or other Windows tablet, it felt like a harsh punishment. As a result,“I just want my Start button back” became a rally cry.

I mentioned that Windows 8 was an operating system that I really wanted without realizing it. This is because I am subject to our cultural phenomenon: a love of tablets. As anyone that owns a tablet can tell you, they are incredibly portable and very useful for accessing information from the internet, viewing all sorts of media, and quickly responding with limited amounts of text. They are a blend of the best aspects of computers and phones, all in one. Of course, unlike a phone, they don’t replace the need for voice and text messaging. And, unlike a computer, they do not replace the ability to run power-intensive programs or facilitate heavy editing and content creation.

In Windows 8, we witness the potential to have the ease of a tablet with the power of a PC. I think in the long run, Microsoft will have been vindicated and not reviled as they are now. As for me, I finally look forward to my Windows 8 experience.

Like I have a choice.