Windows 8 To Go Workspace Creation Guide

The following guide will allow you to configure a USB device that is Windows 8 To Go ‘Ready’.

This guide is designed for users who are not yet running Windows 8, and whilst it can be followed if you are running Windows 8 IF you have Windows 8 Enterprise then a much simpler option is to use the ‘Windows To Go Creator Wizard’ (accessible from the Windows 8 Enterprise Control Panel or search) which automates:

• USB Device provisioning process,
• Windows 8 Instalment (you still need to have the Windows 8 Enterprise install media for this)
• Bitlocker enablement options that can activate Bitlocker automatically during the Windows To Go creation process.

As you are creating a portable instance of your Windows 8 Operating System which is likely to contain private data we strongly recommend you activate the built in bitlocker drive encryption technology.

The process below does not allow you to enable Bitlocker during creation, it requires you to enabled bitlocker drive encryption AFTER creating your ‘Windows To Go Drive’ from within the Windows To Go workspace.

You can download a PDF version of this guide for ease of reference from here: Windows To Go Creation Guide (220 KB PDF)

This process requires Windows 8 Enterprise install media and does not work with other versions.

For a Windows To Go Feature Overview and more information please visit the Microsoft TechNet site.

Preparation Phase:

Step 1. Get the imagex.exe from the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK):

1. Download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 (1.7GB) http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5753
2. Download WinRAR, then uncompress the AIK ISO file that you downloaded, browse and extract the Neutral.cab file.
3. Uncompressed the Neutral.cab with WinRAR, and extract the file name F1_imagex.
4. Rename the file F1_imagex to imagex.exe.

Step 2. Get the install.wim Windows 8 Enterprise Install File:

1. Download or get your copy of Windows 8 Enterprise
2. If you have this is ISO format (if you downloaded from MSDN for example) use WinRAR to uncompress the Windows 8 Enterprise ISO file.
3. Browse the uncompressed Windows 8 Enterprise files going to the \sources\ folder, extract the install.wim file that it should be in there.

Copy both the imagex.exe and the install.wim files to a separate directory.

USB To Go Creation Phase:

Step 1. Configure your USB drive:

1. Open a Command Prompt (in Administrator Mode)
2. Run the following Commands allow each to finish before proceeding to the next:
   1. DISKPART
   2. LIST DISK (Note down the Disk number of your USB Device, ie: Disk 1 in my example below)
      

      
      

   3. SELECT DISK 1 (Replace 1 with the number of your USB Device from the step before)
      
   4. CLEAN
      
   5. CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
      
   6. SELECT PARTITION 1
      
   7. ACTIVE
      
   8. FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK (Format process may take few seconds, longer if you opt to do a full format by leaving off the ‘QUICK’ option)
      
   9. ASSIGN
      
   10. EXIT
       

Step 2. Install Windows 8 Enterprise onto the USB:

1. Open a Command Prompt (in Administrator Mode)
2. Browse to the folder that has the Imagex.exe and now the install.wim
3. Run the following command: imagex.exe /apply install.wim 1 D:\
   (Replace D with your USB drive letter)
4. This write process will take a bit of time, progress is displayed.
5. Once the write process has completed configure the boot record in the Windows To Go USB drive. Type the following command: bcdboot.exe D:\windows /s D: /f ALL
   (Replace D with your USB drive letter)

Volia!

Now you should be able to boot to your external Windows 8 Enterprise USB To Go device and complete your installation. Some helpful hints on how to configure the traditional desktop Start Button etc available at Windows 8 Desktop Prioritisation Guide

Windows 8 Desktop Prioritisation Guide

As promised a guide to how you priorities the boot order to your conventional Windows desktop and return certain critical efficiency assets most notably the Start menu. Remembering that we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater so the following maintains 100% the Windows Modern UI in all its tiling glory.

You can download a PDF version of this guide for ease of reference from here: Windows 8 – Desktop Prioritisation Guide (234 KB PDF)

Why is this needed? As I said in my earlier blog ‘Microsoft leave the Control Freekery for the Fruitcakes‘ the Windows 8 Modern UI is ill-suited to workstation environments. The uncharacteristic step by Microsoft to throw users uncaringly into a whole new world of their Windows 8 Modern UI (User Interface) and at the same time cut them off from the comfort of a the Conventional Desktop is the most ill thought through and poorly thought through marketing faux pas since their Vista launch horror. Why throw away the trust and familiarity of the Conventional Desktop, when those characteristics actually represent the gateway to adoption of the Modern UI is beyond me. But then I guess that is why Steve Sinofsky was seen making such a fast exit, and good riddance to his Steve Jobs attitude to bullying consumers through product changes. What would have been more engaging is the Modern UI and the Conventional Desktop introduced as distinct principle software environments for different device formats.

1. The Conventional Desktop should never have had its start menu removed, it alienated users immediately from any sense of a familiar introduction to Windows 8 where they would inevitably explore end up exploring and getting familiar with the Modern UI on their own terms.
2. The boot order should have been set as an elective as part of the install wizard, and in the same way allow users the flexibility and choice to safely adopt Windows 8 without the fear of being forced into the unknown and steep learning curve of change which we humans are inherently wary of.

So this Blog redresses this by giving you back that familiar and reliable fully empower conventional desktop environment from where in time you can build out your skills into the new world of the Modern UI.

This guide will step you through what I have now found as a robust process to re-establish a Windows 8 conventional desktop for power users and real multitaskers. I am hopeful that this will become somewhat redundant if Microsoft redress some of the Steven Sinofsky aberrations. Some of this will work with Windows 8 RT, but find that Windows 8 RT is largely on Tablet style devices that it suites very nicely so the priority is very much the Modern UI over the Conventional Desktop.

So let’s get started.

This assumes we are starting from a clean installation of Windows 8 Pro or Enterprise.

1. Reinstate the Start menu – Download Classic Shell (http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/features.html) Full details and alternatives summarized in my earlier blog ‘Windows 8 – Boot to Basics’
2. Download the attached file which I have had to give a .DOC extension so you can download it (NRG Menu Settings.xml.DOC) but it is in fact an XML file with XML script of the configuration I use in the Classic Shell that will help you get going. Right click on the link and save the file to your hard drive then remove the .DOC file extension to leave a native XML file you can then import it into Classic Shell from the Backup option in the settings menu. This will:
   1. Configure your Start menu with a Windows 8 look and feel.
   2. Automatically set your OS to boot to the Desktop. (You can always return to the Modern UI by hitting the Windows key on your keyboard).

So now you have a Conventional Desktop with a core asset returned to its usual location, reducing the laborious screen switching to the Tiled interface or heavy-handed use of search.

For some that will be enough and you will be capable of doing your own Conventional Desktop modifications from hereon.

Those of you who would like some more tips I can recommend casting your eye over the following that will ensure your desktop experience does not regress into Frankenstein moments by popping into Modern UI applications not best suited for large non touch screen environments.

Re-set Default Programs – One of the issues with Windows 8 is you will find many file types are automatically set to launch with Modern UI applications. The following steps will allow you to ensure you will priorities your desktop applications.

1. Install desktop applications so that you can re-assign file types to use the Conventional Desktop programs over the Modern UI apps. Some applications you may find useful will include:
   • Adobe Acrobat Reader – PDF file reader www.adobe.com
   • VLC – Films and video http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
   • SkyDrive Desktop App – http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/skydrive/download
   • Skype – You will need to get the Windows Conventional Desktop version. The Skype site has a habit of trying to force you to the Windows App Store where you can only get the Modern UI version which is what you DO NOT WANT! See my blog on Skype for some guidelines as to Windows 8 issues ‘Windows 8, Microsoft Account & Skype – A Tsunami of support in the making!’
2. From your re-instated Start menu go to ‘Control Panel\Programs\Default Programs\Set Default Programs’ and click through your newly installed programs to prioritise them. Some key ones I would suggest include:
   • Those listed above
   • Windows Media Player – Playing & managing music
   • Paint – Image viewer and basic editor.
   • Windows Photo Viewer – To view and print images instead of the Modern UI Photo Viewer.
3. The other big one is Internet Explorer – make sure the dropdown election is set in the ‘Internet Options > Programs’ to always use IE on the Conventional Desktop. I also tick the ‘Open IE tiles on the Conventional Desktop as well so even if I am in the Modern UI I will prioritise a desktop instance of IE.

   

4. An alternative way is to use File Explorer and right click on the individual files want to assign to a specific program and click ‘Properties’. On the general tab will be an option to ‘Open With:’ and a ‘Change’ button. This is a little more long winded than the earlier step but gives more control.
5. A clean way to reduce conflict with Modern UI apps and also save a bit of disk space is to uninstall the Modern UI variants. (The reality is I have removed all my Windows Modern UI apps as they serve no purpose and only add to network congestion in the background. All the news and other functionality apps I bypass as the websites are richer using the Conventional Desktop IE v.10 as our counterpart Conventional Desktop programs).  This is likely to include as a minimum:
   • Video Player
   • Photo Viewer
   • Mail (this will also remove Calendar, Messaging and peoples hub) but assuming you are running Microsoft Office as a power users these are fripperies you will not need and only serve to duplicate content on your hard drive and increase network activity if you do.
   • SkyDrive (Modern UI version only)
   • Skype SkyDrive (Modern UI version only)

    WARNING – Do not install the same apps both in the Modern UI and on your Conventional Desktop, this can cause conflicts such as with Skype also you will find you end up duplicating data and network activity. Windows 8 is chatty enough on the network without adding to it!

This is something I have been asked by just about every user I have helped convert to Windows 8, they miss the convenience of having some of those core gadgets ‘just there’. Key favourites include the Calendar, currency conversion, weather. Post it’s and power monitor. You are in luck head over to 8Gadgetpack at http://8gadgetpack.bplaced.net/ . It’s not quite a full Windows 7 gadget style experience more Vista with the sidebar limit, but you can remove the sidebar and have just the gadgets on the Conventional Desktop.

Conclusion

What you should now have is a fully tuned up conventional desktop environment (with a few utilities if you elected for them) that will allow you to leverage the full potential of Windows 8 whilst maintaining the luxury of the Modern UI tile environment 100% intact. The key difference being you have prioritised the Conventional Desktop experience over a touch screen experience with no compromise.

Windows 8 – ‘Virtually’ a Painless Transition

The advertising will have you believe it is the advent of a brave new world with the (not quiet all new) Windows 8 Operating System, the biggest change in desktop ‘Yardy, yady, ya’….

What follows is by no means exhaustive in detail, and assume a modest degree of comfort configuring PC’s. There are more detailed tutorials covering many of the discrete steps summarised below that you can reference online ie: Full Windows 8 install screen by screen, or YouTube videos that can help give insight into what you can expect. Please ensure you have taken whatever steps you need to feel comfortable proceeding with the steps summarised below.

You can download a PDF version of this guide for ease of reference from here: Windows 8 – ‘Virtually’ a Painless Transition Guide (825KB PDF)

What most users I have come across want to know is:

1. Do I upgrade?
2. Do I do a fresh install?

Well Option B is the answer which for many throws them out of a comfort zone. The thought of running an in situ upgrade and Voila is all too tempting BUT as IT aficionado will tell you, Operating System (OS) upgrades carry with them baggage. Baggage being artefacts and a bloated hard drive full of highly fragmented files that undermine future performance and stability. Read on and find out how simple and secure it is to get the best of BOTH worlds.

NB: This is ONLY applicable to users with PC’s running CPU’s that support SLAT. (Please see my earlier blog Windows 8 Client Hyper-V – Why SLAT? for information on this)

Assuming you have SLAT support, proceed….

Ingredients:

1. Printed copy of this Blog (Your PC is going to be offline so you may need a copy of the following steps), or if you have your Windows Surface Tablet to hand bookmark this for reference as you install Windows 8 for yourself. Yes this can be viewed on an iPad but that somehow doesn’t quiet feel so good and lacks the convenience of a kickstand
2. Windows 8 Operating System installation disc, serial number to hand.
3. Download onto the PC you wish to replace with Windows 8 a copy of Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell AWSOME Disk2vhd utility that creates Virtual Hard Disks (VHD’s – Microsoft’s Virtual Machine disk format) of physical disks (PC’s or Servers) for use in Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx
4. x1 external USB hard drive (USB v3 not the old USBv2). Suggested size is 1Terrabyte (TB) you can pick them up from PC World or online for under £100 and they work well as a backup device for future peace of mind.

   (If your PC has a Hard Drive LARGER than 1TB then you will need an external Hard Drive of 2TB+, a bit more expensive but necessary).

5. PATIENCE, read the instructions through BEFORE starting so you know what is coming. Forewarned is to be forearmed, we like NO surprises.

Recipe:

This is a 4 phase process that builds in a belt and braces step 1, followed by a dynamic second step that I suggest you do overnight so you do not end up losing patience and interrupt the process as it takes time. Phase 2 allows you to safely move to Phase 3, to install Windows 8 and finally Phase 4 the set-up of your Windows 8 environment with your old PC running in a virtual instance on your Windows 8 desktop using Client Hyper-V so you can migrate settings and reference your old PC at your leisure

1. Safety Backup Phase – Take x1 USB hard drive purchased according to the requirements above and the PC you wish to upgrade to Windows 8:
   1. Insert the USB cable so that the USB drive appears in your ‘Windows File Explorer’ on your PC.
   2. Open up the USB ‘Windows File Explorer’ and Create a new folder, give it a memorable name I use the format date+name ie:’20121105 Backup Files‘. It makes it easy to list and also reference.
   3. Manually copy ALL the data files you have created and hold so dear from your PC onto the USB hard drive into the folder you have just created.
   4. Make a record of ALL your installed programs and check you have installation media to reinstall them if desirable. Do this from either the Start > Programs menu or Start > Settings > Control Panel > Programs and Features or use the ‘MSINFO32.exe’ utility from your start menu or command line to list and print out details.
2. PC Virtualisation Phase – (Recommended you do this so you can leave it running overnight) With your USB still plugged in and having downloaded the Disk2vhd utility:
   1. Re-boot your PC.
   2. Make sure it is connected to a power supply.
   3. Ensure your PC’s power settings are NOT set to allow the PC to sleep or hibernate. From your Start Button go Settings > Control Panel > Power Options and tick the ‘High Performance’ option to be safe.
   4. If you know how, disable ANY applications that Auto start to reduce activity.
   5. Disconnect any network cables and WiFi.
   6. Run the Disk2vhd utility you downloaded.
   7. In the top dialogue box select where you wish to create a VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) of your PC. This should be your USB hard drive.
   8. In the lower half of the Disk2vhd utility screen tick the box’s against ALL the hard drives EXCEPT the USB external hard drive (this is often the last in the list, but CHECK).
   9. Click the ‘Create’ button.
   10. Go to bed….
   11. Fingers crossed when you wake up you should see a ‘Completed’ message on the Disk2vhd utility.
   12. Boot down your PC.
   13. Disconnect your USB drive.
   14. Place USB drive somewhere SAFE.
3. Windows 8 Install Phase – Not a whole lot to this. Insert your Windows 8 DVD and re-boot your PC, following the prompts to install Windows 8. Critical choice is to do a Clean Install NOT an upgrade.
   1. What you should see after some pre-amble screens is the following, you want to select the second option as highlighted below:

      

   2. If you see the following dialogue box at any point then you have an Upgrade install version of Windows 8 (you cannot do a Fresh install with this disc):

      

   3. Assuming you get to the screen in a. above you want to select the Advanced Drive option:

      

   4. From the next screen you proceed to DELETE each of the partitions on the hard drive:
      1. Highlight the partition and select DELETE:

         

   1. As we have already both copied our files to the USB and created an image of the original drives we should be safe that all our data is recoverable (this is not a guarantee, but has always worked for me!), proceed and select ‘OK’ :

      

   2. Repeat the steps above till you have deleted ALL the partitions and are left with a screen similar to the following, then click ‘Next’:

      

   1. The installation phase now commences:

      

   1. The rest of the steps are quiet self-explanatory, just follow the prompts.
   2. When you get to the ‘Sign Into your PC’ screen you have the option to use a Microsoft Account (formerly known as a Live ID / Passport /Hotmail amongst others). This has its advantages, but also commits you to a single identity for certain other Microsoft services. You can always elect to do this later if you are not sure and select to create a ‘Local PC Account’. See my blog on the implications of using a Microsoft Account on Windows 8.
   1. By the end of this process you should have a nice clean install of Windows 8.
   1. Congratulations J
4. Co-existence Phase – You will now configure Windows 8 so it can instantiate a Virtual instance of your former PC using the new Windows 8 Client Hyper-V:
   1. Enable the Client Hyper-V feature on Window’s 8:
      1. From the main Windows Tile Home Screen ‘Charms’ menu:
         1. select ‘Search’
         2. Highlight Settings (highlighted in red below)
         3. Type in ‘Programs’ in the dialogue box (highlighted in Green below)
         4. Click on ‘Programs and Features’ in the search returns (highlighted in Yellow below)

         

      2. This will open up a dialogue box, click on the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ in the left hand menu (highlighted in red below):

         

      3. You will get another dialogue box, make sure ALL the options are selected in the Client Hyper-V section (highlighted in red below), it is useful to also do the items in the yellow box as so many applications require these today you will have to do this at some point, but it is not essential.

         (If you do not get the option to run the ‘Hyper-V Platform’ then your PC does not support virtualisation or SLAT and you have overlooked the notice at the start of this blog. Drop me an email and I will try and get back with alternatives, but I hope at least you can proceed with the manual file backup noted above).
         

         

      4. You will now see the following screen and your PC will re-boot at least twice, let it finish doing its re-boots:

         

   2. Attach your USB Hard drive that contains the VHD you created in Phase 2 above.
   3. Configure Client Hyper-V with your VHD:
   1. Open Hyper-V manager. (Do a search from the Search option from the ‘Charms bar’, or if you have followed my guide ‘Boot to Basic’
      http://blog.nigelgibbons.com/2012/09/20/windows-8-boot-to-basics to reinstate a Start Button then you can more easily access it that way).
   2. Click ‘New’ in the right hand menu as highlighted in Green Below and this will pop out a menu from which you should click on ‘Virtual Machine’ highlighted in Blue:

      

   3. The ‘New Virtual machine Wizard’ will start, click ‘Next‘ till you see the screen below and then fill in the form field to give your Virtual Machine a name.
   4. At the next Screen ‘Assign Memory’ you will be asked to assign RAM. A minimum I would recommend for any Windows VM is 1024.
   1. At the next Screen ‘Configure Networking’ by default unless you have configured a Virtual Switch you will only have the ‘Not Connected’ option. It is probably a good idea to select this to start with, you can always attach the VM to a network later by creating a Virtual Switch form the ‘Virtual Switch Manager’ option in the Hyper-V Manager right hand window.
   1. At the next Screen ‘Connect Virtual Hard Disk’ you should select the second option to ‘Use an Existing Hard Disk’ and browse to where the Virtual hard Disk (VHD) file is located that you created in the earlier steps.
   1. The final screen confirms you settings, click ‘Finish‘ and you will be taken back to the main Hyper-V Manager screen where you should see your PC listed, in the image above I have redacted the names of my VM’s but this is where you should see your VM.
   1. If you highlight your VM and click ‘Start‘ highlighted in Orange in the left hand window of the Hyper-V Manager it will start your VM.
   1. Click on the image of the booting VM in the lower window (Highlighted Yellow above) of the Hyper-V Manager will open that window up as a Console Session and allow you to access you old PC.

By now I hope you will be enjoying a clean Windows 8 PC environment WITH your old PC fully functional so you can temporarily still operate (albeit in a reduce screen size) as you proceed to install your applications and configure your new Windows 8 environment. Of course you also have all the files you manually copied over for quick and easy re-population of your new Windows 8 environment with your personal files.

Windows 8 – ‘Boot’ to basics

As promised in my last blog ‘A Desktop Demotion‘ a note to cover a much demanded subject to address questions I have been getting from all quarters such as:

• How can I boot to a desktop in Windows 8?
• Can I get the Start button back?
• Do I have to use the ‘metro’ interface?

The good news is life can return to normal for multitasks with tried and tested efficiencies built around a desktop existence. AND you can get the recreational side of life when you have time for it!

The answer is to hail over to one of a number of third party utility sites and download (often for free) a tool to do the following:

1. Allow you to boot straight to desktop.
2. Activate a Start Button and familiar cascading menu’s
3. Maintain the Windows Modern UI unaffected but as the option rather than the prime.
4. Do the above and maintain it in theme with Windows 8

Having reviewed a number of utilities I have found that there is one that sits heads and shoulders above the rest for its conformity to the original Start button and menu format and its simplicity of management – Classic Shell http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/features.html

I attach a file with a .DOC extension (NRG Menu Settings.xml.DOC) that is in fact an XML file with XML script of the configuration I use in the Classic Shell that will help you get going. Right click on the link and save the file to your hard drive then remove the .DOC file extension to leave a native XML file you can then import it into Classic Shell from the Backup option in the settings menu. The ability to export the settings is a nice touch as it makes it easy to carry across devices and saves setting it up each time.

This is the best I have tested so far in terms of fidelity with the Windows 7 Program Menu, and has a ‘Metro’ style skin that makes it feel like a natural part of Windows 8 than regressive Windows 7.

For completeness other options I tested (comments current as of the time of writing) include:

1. StartMenu7 http://www.startmenu7.com/index.html – Very customisable but cuts you off from easy access back to the Windows 8 Start screen. After installing the utility you can no longer trigger the Start screen thumbnail in the lower right corner.
2. Vistart http://www.lee-soft.com/vistart/ – Similar to 1 above but does not have right click customisation or flexibility to change look and feel to fit with Windows 8.
3. RetroUI http://retroui.com/ - Whilst this allows users to whilst it allows users to remove the booting to the Metro screen, it does not do a great job of addressing the absence of a Program Menu on the desktop.

For you developers out there I would highly recommend a business case for adding one of these utilities to the App Store (assuming Microsoft permits it) I think it will sell or be downloaded for free like gangbusters.

If you are a proud owner of a Microsoft Surface though you will not be able to use these utilities as the Surface runs the RT version of Windows 8 and does not support x86 code applications. Applications must be written to support the underlying ARM processor chipset. There are a few hacks that you can use to get the semblance of a start menu back but options are limited, the main one is putting a shortcut to the c:\Program Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ on your task bar. If I find any more I will update this post.

Windows 8 – A desktop demotion?

Having road testing the Developer and the Customer preview I have been reserving comment on the new user experience till I could qualify against the Gold Code which I have now been running since it has been released to Partners. I have been testing on the Samsung Series 7 Tablet, which is perhaps the best profile and featured device out there to do credit to Windows 8 pre-Windows 8 hardware release.

It is hard to separate and commentary of Windows 8 from the hardware it is running on as its whole orientation is so dependent on the new tablet medium and touch interface. Whilst the Samsung Series 7 does a good job it revealed some interesting factors to take into account when considering next generation Windows 8 Tablet hardware.

I have tried to void any negative impact the hardware may have had, as no doubt the use of a Windows 7 platform could be classed as not a fair shake down for Windows 8. That having been said on the whole I did not feel any real detraction from the Windows 8 touch experience from the Samsung device. That having been said the Samsung Series 7 Tablet did flag up some glaring cut corners, poor design and other hardware tactile issues that OEM’s need to address if they are going to hold a light to the prospect of the Microsoft Surface Tablet. These included:

· For a mobile desktop solution it does not come in one convenient portable bundle but x6 pieces of kit:

• Tablet itself.
• Docking station
• Bluetooth Keyboard
• Bluetooth Mouse
• Stylus
• Power supply

1. The Tablet has no convenient storage slot for the Stylus, so it becomes a prime candidate for getting lost.
2. A Single USB port making the whole experience of re-installing an OS somewhat ‘creative’ to say the least.
3. Pointless plastic ‘plug’ for the USB slot. Whoever thought of that should be sacked for environmental pollution, I do not know any user who has replaced it after first use, and have no idea where the piece of plastic now resides. After all you don’t see such frippery in notebook USB ports etc?

Back to Windows 8; at least Redmond did not try to go all marketee’s on us with another ‘Vista’ nomenclature.

That having been said there are far too many similarities to Vista’s early on-ramp messaging for comfort. For those of you who remember the Vista pre-launch marketing and launch events you will recall the predominance of UI (User Interface) and consumer eye candy at the expense of any purposeful enterprise features. That by no means meant there was any absence of great enterprise functionality, it was there, but hidden under the preverbal rock. The parallels I am seeing are primarily the blinkered focus on the New Windows UI (formerly known as Metro) in much that I read on the Microsoft blogs and in the press. This is not helped by the force feeding of the New Windows UI with no option to bypass or switch it off without third party utilities. (More on third party Windows 8 usability utilities in a later blog.)

Microsoft if you are reading, reflect on the Vista faux pas and do not neglect the enterprise and desktop functionality requirements of power users for the sake of eye candy and cajolement into the New Windows UI (User Interface) by removing the Start Button, and options to control the new Windows UI . I know few enterprise customers who are comforted by the New Windows UI at this stage of its evolution, regarding it as another control surface that needs to be managed to align enterprise users to purpose. A straw poll of Enterprise customers would indicate Windows 8 is on their radar like a storm front not a safe harbour, to be steered around on the good ship Windows 7 .

Don’t get me wrong Windows 8 is a fantastic step-up up in terms of a range of features and functionality big wins:

· Boot time

· Systems security

· Storage management

· Many other areas

But the one backward step for many will be the removal of choice for all but the more adventurous in the Windows UI. Very un-Microsoft, I sense a disorientation from purpose caused possibly by fermented fallen fruit in this control freekery.

The User Interface

What I mean by the new windows UI is this:

Versus the Windows 8 desktop view (absent a much needed start button!):

The feel of Windows 8 is fast and responsive, but comes across from the outset as an OS designed for the touch generation of mobile platforms such as Tablets and Notebooks, with the desktop coming out as a second class citizen.

It works fine with mouse and keyboard, it is clearly pulling users to the tactile side of the equation, with mouse and keyboard activities taking on inefficiency that we though had been ironed out by desktop UI designers years ago. Perhaps that is just it ‘Desktop Designers’, we are now in the world of ‘Tablet UI’ designers and starting the learning (and end user hurt) all over again because this is not JUST a Tablet experience.

Modern touchpads with their multi point input can provide some improvement to the mouse with the effect of swiping that helps. Irrespective of which I found it takes longer to launch programs and having to flick between the two UI’s of the New Windows UI and Desktop has built in a friction to traditional PC usage that does not do the OS credit. Distinct signs of design over functionality, a delicate balancing act in any OS UI that is out of harmony.

I have been a great fan of pen input for years, enjoying the ability to keep my notes in electronic form, and Windows 8 delivers in trumps to the Stylus/Pen user, better than any other OS to-date. My only complaint is probably not an OS issue but a Hardware implementation issue; the interface SHOULD be intelligent enough to know I am using a Stylus and disable touch input. Something I believe Redmond has promised with their forthcoming Surface Tablet, but something ALL hardware vendors should embody.

Despite the competence of the mouse and keyboard input Windows 8 on a non-touch enabled devise is taking the proverbial duck out of water. IT is by no means unusable, but this emphasises the need to disable or at least demote to a backstage option the new Windows UI.

So there is a real hardware event horizon for the Widows 8 revolution, and that is the penetration of touch (or possibly gesture in the future, see my earlier blog) based devices in the marketplace.

That penetration of Touch on consumer and enterprise is also going to be interesting. Having played with some of the HP Touchsmart (http://www.touchsmarthp.co.uk/) desktop units I can categorically state that Touch on a desktop whilst it has all the prospects of a great user experience, in reality leaves a very grubby feeling behind and is not endearing. Largely because in the real world people have natural oils on their fingers amongst other detritus and glass is perhaps one of the worst surfaces to keep clean under such conditions. Heralding the new age of ‘Touch Screen Transmitted Disease’ (TSTD) and with signs more familiar in urinals than desktops to ‘Please Wash Your Hands’ before using! The prevalence of alcohol based hand washing aids alongside the new generation of touch conferencing displays is recognition of the hygiene challenge.

To quote Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a press conference in October 2010: “Touch surfaces don’t want to be vertical.” The more perpendicular the screen, the more “dorsiflexion” or angular bending of a joint, in this case your wrist o type or touch, puts unnatural pressure on the median nerve and other structures in the wrist. So as touch goes broader spectrum could we see a parallel growth in carpal tunnel syndrome in years to come.

For more on why Touch does not harmonise with desktop PC use see my earlier blog on the subject – ‘What future has Touch in Computing?’

The New Windows UI

So for now the Windows 8 the New Windows UI can be summed up as a 2 dimensional icon proliferating Uber-scrolling ‘Tiled’, full screen consuming replacement of the former discreet and efficient Start Button Navigation Menu; a design and motion exercise that sprawls with every application installation. Passable when in Touch Mode where rapid side swipes can navigate the letterbox view The New Windows UI icon conveyer belt, but a tiresome exercise when using a mouse, and that is likely to be what the majority of enterprise and power users will be using for a few years to come if it ever gets to their desktops which is a big IF.

For my part I believe the New Windows UI should be breaking the mould. The lack of an evolution into some 3rd Dimensional aspects of UI design moving off what is a very flat and passé 2D genre is a missed opportunity. The active tile concept of driving content on the tiles is not enough, in fact I found myself reducing tiles to their smallest size to reduce the tile sprawl. There are many interfaces technologies available today that use depth and prioritization / relevance amongst other parameters to allow more information and context to be presented intuitively as a fluid spatial experience.

If I was to take one scenario that is going to be well matured in 12 months’ time that is Gesture. The Kinect like experience that will positively yell out for 3D UI’s that a user can veritably conduct!

As for now we have an OS that is distinctly bi-polar, pulling users in two different directions with very different intents and characteristics. In some areas the technical functionality comes to blow’s and is clearly conflicting, we have a need for greater clarity of purpose IF it has a place alongside the power and enterprise user who will still live on the desktop.

The challenge is the form over function. Yes the market is driving the cross platform single OS concept and the practicalities are abounding for a vendor supporting multiple devices with one code base. I have used an iPad for over 2 years now and I have NEVER travelled without my notebook for the proper business of computing, albeit 48 hours in London to give the iPad experience a real test, it failed and indicates no future state that will void the need to double up devices when on the road for any length of time.

That having been said, since I have been running Windows 8 on a Samsung Series 7 Tablet I can confirm that I have no longer needed to double up! That is since I have deployed some hacks to give me a Start Menu and demote the New Windows UI to a secondary screen not the primary.

Under these slightly modified conditions Windows 8 provides me with both the best of the instant availability and tactile touch experience that I previously relied on the iPad for, and the PC functionality I need on the road. The only pain being the Samsung Tablet design with its fragmentation of components that I need to pack and the fact that it takes a ridiculous amount of time compared with a notebook to set-up rendering it a liability if you ever have to get of a train in a hurry. So much for portable convenience!

Windows 8 Applications

The lack of applications in the Windows 8 store being the main frustration to a full tablet experience, but I expect that to be addressed as Windows 8 hits launch.

What I would also hope to see is a better integration into Social media such as Twitter from within applications. It is clunky at best with applications bounces through to a webpage. Even then there is the friction to purpose of having to have to login each time. As a result once back into Internet Explorer on the desktop I find it is easier and faster to read from the websites and cut and paste URL’s into Tweetdeck. Thus I find that despite my efforts

Offline capabilities is another bugbear. It may be OK for the Microsftee’s on corporate mobile contracts, but for those of us who have to pick up our own bill this is a no go. Perhaps more of a message to app developers, but perhaps something Microsoft should take on board to enhance the mobile experience by baking it into the app store pre-requisites such as:

• Offline reading
• Some way to easily monitor what applications are online and to suspend them.
• If you install say Skydrive for the new UI AND the desktop version, that you don’t find you end up having x2 copies of the data! Applications like this should use a common store or the meagre Hard Drives of Tablets will fill very quickly.
• Do not force users to accept Location Tracking when the application clearly offers NO benefit from use of such a service. This is a blatant invasion of privacy.

In summary I find that despite my efforts to use the new Windows 8 applications designed for the touch interface, I am dropping back into the desktop for a more efficient interaction. The new Windows UI is a frighteningly inefficient canvas to try and manage applications on once you start installing a few, and very cumbersome to manage even with touch. As a result I find I am reassigning default programs away from the new Windows UI apps to the desktop.

For those users who were fastidious about keeping a clean desktop this will be a nightmare. IN the absence of any program menu on the desktop your only option is to litter your desktop with icons. The Task bar can only hold so many even double stacked. For those users who like to live in an icon desktop menagerie you will be in your element.

More on third party Program Launch menu’s in a later blog.

One issue I am still researching is the data usage of Windows 8. I have noticed on both my router and WiFi that the Samsung Series 7 is topping the charts by a long hog on bandwidth demand. A subject for a future blog if it transpires we have a road hog on our hands. Windows 8 is a very chatty OS!

Multi-Tasking

For middle to high functionality and multi-tasking demanding users a tablet is not a current option, and Windows 8 is only passable on a Microsoft definition of multi-tasking, which I do not agree with.

Multi-Tasking by definition is ‘the concurrent or interleaved execution of two or more jobs by a single device’ . This far the new Windows UI qualifies but at the lowest common denominator. Microsoft call Windows 8 a ‘full multitasking environment’, well in the desktop view the answer is yes, as it is what we are all familiar with, but in The New Windows UI the answer is an emphatic NO . For FULL they need to be at the top end of the scale or at least showing effort across all interfaces of the OS. The new Windows UI does little more than split screen sharing, (then it is constrained by a 34:66 ratio), or ‘task switching’ if not running a split screen. Task switching is simply doing one thing at a time so not even credible in the discussion.

So to enjoy traditional Windows Multi-Tasking you need to revert to the Desktop view, and this is where Microsoft has gone all Apple on us with their control freakery removing the Start menu to drive us back to the new Windows UI.

The Desktop

Well you will be arriving faster than ever before, with a fantastic boot time that challenges even iOS, and I mean form either cold or sleep modes.

As for the familiar stomping ground of the desktop yes it’s still there, and will remain the screen of choice for many who wish to experience the latest from Redmond.

The removal of the Start Button with no alternative but to fall back into the new Windows UI is forcing user behaviour. This is a blatant manipulation of traditional Windows user behaviour to coral users into the new Windows UI when they neither need to nor want to. An unwelcomed break from tradition of legacy support, even when the new Ribbon Bar came in there was an option to use the old layout, to help nurse users into the new paradigm. Not even a registry remote bit to flit to enable some form of Start menu, with this move Microsoft OS’s are no longer demonstrating adaptive and flexible choice in ways of working. This new attitude comes across hard and steely and I found sadly built up user resentment, especially as I endeavoured to be efficient on the new platform, particularly as I truly want to find it a welcoming and rewarding experience.

Having also been running the latest Windows Server 2012 I can confirm the same issues apply, I cannot see for the life of me where a server needs a touch orientated UI. The server management is a nightmare without the program menu.

As such for many the next step after playing with Windows 8 is likely to be a re-install of Windows 7. I predict that Windows 7 will be the new XP, and will run and run and run for most power users and enterprises. At least till Windows 8 + addresses the woeful inefficiencies that are forced on users with the new split UI’s and hobbling of traditional multitasking.

To Conclude

Windows 8 is here to stay, but I feel it will be a transitional OS for the desktop, whilst providing a fusion of Siamese twinning proportions, rather than natural evolutionary, with the new mobile world of Tablets. What I struggle to understand is why Microsoft wanted to get the OS into the wild for real-world feedback with the early Developer and latterly Customer Preview releases, but failed to address that feedback.

Redmond if you’re listening, if there is ONE feature that would completely transform this experience it would be a built in option to re-activate the Program Menu on the desktop AND demote the new Windows UI from the primary in your face mode. OK make it just for the Windows 8 full version release not Windows 8 RT, and if you must make at least make it one of those tricky bit or even bits to flip in the registry so you can be sure only users who really, really, REALLY want it will go to the trouble to flip, by all means be awkward. But PLEASE DO IT!

This is not some rant or resistance to change, it is to maximise the adoption of what is otherwise a new Operating System with powerful desktop functionality that is being treated like a second class citizen.