And the judgment is…. KINDA MIXED!
The huge new operating system has been fiddled with and the embargo has been lifted. Now, various publications are passing down their verdicts on Microsoft’s latest universe.
Microsoft makes an aggressive, forward-thinking and bold statement statement for the future of PCs with Windows 8, and vast security and speed improvements more than justify the $40 upgrade price.
Gizmodo said it was not quite incredible but not bad:
Should You Buy It? Many of you won’t have a choice. This is the operating system that will come pre-installed on your PC for the foreseeable future. And that’s a good thing! If you’re thinking about upgrading, well, that means you actually care about this thing. And if you care about this thing, you should definitely give it a try. Especially for $40 flat and $15 if you bought a PC recently.
Infoworld hates it:
Sometimes engineering achievements are appreciated only by the engineers. From the user’s standpoint, Windows 8 is a failure — an awkward mishmash that pulls the user in two directions at once. Users attracted to the new touch-friendly Metro GUI will dislike the old touch-hostile desktop underneath. By the same token, users who rely on the traditional Windows desktop will dislike having to navigate Metro to find settings and apps they intuitively locate in Windows 7. Microsoft has moved the cheese.
Not everyone is running a big review since this is still technically a preview edition but the consensus is that nothing one would notice will change between now and the 10/25 launch date. Good luck, Brancaccio!
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