Showing posts with label Windows 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windows 8. Show all posts

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Microsoft Windows 8 Review: The Good |The bad |And The Ugly|

Even-though  Windows 8 is currently in its nascent phase and most reviews about it would either be half-baked or intentionally misleading which is why I thought its better I gave my own brief review of Windows 8 in my experience.  
The Good:
                                    Microsoft has implemented the local ID or Windows Live ID concept in Windows 8, a concept which was borrowed from Games For Windows Live which provides a better & rich user Experience than the conventional User Profile creation not only to devices,but also among Desktop & mobile Apps.Not to mention Your Log-in credentials will also find its purpose in majority of applications & Sites which need your Log-in's featuring the Windows Live ID.Also the New metro GUI of Windows 8 also appeals to me a lot as it saves me time from going to start menu & navigating to N fro into the items.For those of you who are new to the Metro GUI concept,its just another Tacky name for the new Windows Start Menu  but instead of being in the taskbar,its on your Desktop screen like a tablet.I am currently trying to test a new concept known as Refresh Your Pc,which will revert all my changes made to the Windows Os from Restoring points to Snapshots so I thought I will test it when I pull the curtain on my Windows 8 testing.

                                                            The Windows task manager looks really classy which also provides an indepth view of the CPU, network utilization & Memory Usage & processes menu.The Internet Explorer IE 10 seems real classy and the I had the opportunity to test the SmartScreen concept inplemented & I must say that 8 out of ten times IE was able to  alert me regarding malicious codes which were about to be executed in the browser.IE 10 Developer preview comes in either the archaic Windows 7 mode or Metro access mode both complaint with W3C Html5 .Although Chrome is better equipped for html5,IE 10 came pretty close to Chrome in terms of compatibility.   
                                 There isn't much  to boast regarding its Control Panel feature which sadly doesn't exhibit any or almost no variations especially the Administrator Tools & Computer management Tool. Back-Hand arrow navigation makes appearance in Windows 8 after a Hiastus of almost 6 years as the last one was rolled along with Windows Xp-a feature Absent in Vista,Vienna & Windows7.The Windows Explorer now holds many Ribbon's(Ribbon UI) which ensures ease of operations.
The Bad:
                                       Now to the bad parts.Even though the Metro GUI appears to give a Tablet view to the Desktop,after being accustomed to windows for more than 11 years my hands are going involuntarily to the default Start Menu in the conventional window Start Menu.Also the start menu access is such more rudimentary at the same time complex than Windows 7 as it needs to be dug out everytime into the open.

The Ugly:
                                        Now to the worst part.I ran into so many issues when the Windows defender was flagging a completely safe script as a trojan and this was verified in Online scanner as 100% safe file.Also the switching from the Metro GUI to the start menu back & forth is kind of irritating and its better Microsoft doesn't scrape off the conventional Menu.Even though it was claimed that Windows Defencer will require minimal user interference regarding threats, I could see Pop ups appearing at almost one in every 5 minutes.

My Conviction:
                                     Still a long way to Go,I can see that Microsoft's Windows 8 definitely has room for improvement.Truth to be told I am very much excited to see how this is going to roll out in the upcoming months.I didn't want to discuss the concepts of Display & Visual features as its still in its incipient phase. 

Windows 8 To be The Most Secure Os Ever:Stronger But Gentler

While its still not clear what Windows 8 or whether its really going to be called Windows 8 is still a mystery but that doesn't make Microsoft coquettish to make announcements regarding its features and security Improvements over its predecessors.It's implied that Windows 8's security features are going to very robust but at the same time make minimal visual appearance just the way people & Microsoft wants it to be.Limiting the number of user notifications to a minimal,Windows 8 will be incorporated with a number of cyber security features making the security less vulnerable to Intrusions.
                                                                        For Instance Microsoft's SmartScreen technology which was Implemented in Internet Explorer 8 will take a broader role this time as it will be built into the OS directly there by not only ensuring Phishing and Online scanner but also also a back-up anti-virus system which will scan the downloads made to the disk.All this will happen with minimum hassle to the User & will not cause unwanted Notifications like the Ones seen in Vista & Windows 7.
                                                                Windows Defender will taking on a much broader role this time around as the Operating Systems baseline security incase of non-availability or Expiration of Anti-virus protection system.Defender is is to be tipped off to be capable of fending off most the malware,Trojan horses,  worms and foes.A file system filter will be deployed to ensure protection of mission critical files.Just like Apple,Microsoft  aims to  make Windows 8 Impervious to attacks by implementing the anti-exploitation technology,better known as Address Space Layout Randomization or Just ASLR.However unlike Apple's Mac Os X Lion,Majority of Windows components will be using ASLR & will also implement memory randomization much more effectively & efficiently.
                                                            The Kernel will also under a lot of upgrades along with a dynamic assigned area of memory better known as the "Heap".Both will under go severe security improvements .Also,Internet Explorer will be packed with additional defense mechanisms which will eliminate  use-after-free issue associated with the Internet Explorer.Internet Explorer is also expected to flush out all the mission critical data once it has use is over.
                                                                        Last but not the least,Microsoft will be implementing the ever reliable Unified Extensible Firmware Interface(UEFI),to implement secure boot process based on the trusted Platform Module.UEFI will ensure that the Firmware will cryptographically verify the digital signatures, Integrity of the Computers Hardware/Software and prevents any suspicious malicious activities from being executed in the Bios mode itself.By the time system enters the Desktop view the threat would have been terminated.Bottom Line: Malware! You are Terminated!