Windows 8

I should have been really getting my hands dirty with Windows 8 beta, but come on, they have moved everything so spelunking in it just isn't fun. I keep getting stuck, frustrated, and shutting down Parallels just to get back out to a familiar landscape. I never did get into orienteering, I don't like feeling lost. And that is just the position Windows 8 beta is putting me in by changing the navigation options. Like I read recently, it's called Windows because of the WINDOWS!! Version 8, not so much.

This harks back to the days when Micfrosoft belatedly jumped into the web browser business and thought everybody else should start playing by their HTML rules. IE is still the least compliant browser out there, Hel-lo!!  Navigation is a pretty straightforward necessity in any computing environment, and is similar across computers and even between local and internet applications, between Mac and Windows and Linux. What makes Microsoft think that should change? Who knows, but think it they do, and lots of folks beg to disagree. I read this comment, "Why do I get the persistent feeling that Microsoft is never, ever building on the good things - according to users, not MS execs - that Windows can do, and always trying to invent an oval wheel?"

Enter 3rd party apps. These developers have been getting their hands dirty, thank goodness, and have some dandy tweaks to bring back our accustomed navigation. One is called Start8 another is ViStart, and they put the start button and basic navigation back into Windows 8, allowing 8 to work and look like Windows 7. Skip all the tiles, these put back the entire Windows Vista/7 Start Menu, including access to the programs menu and Control Panel and allow booting directly to the desktop. Most helpful to folks coming from XP.  Start8 offers extra features and several skins. Or, if you prefer an earlier version of the Start Menu, give Classic Shell a try, the XP Start Menu blended with Aero graphics. Not to say that Microsoft approves of this, they have been ripping out the code that will allow these options, though the folks at Start8 are optimistic their product will continue to be viable. No word on the others as yet, though as I always say, there is always more than one way to achieve every purpose.

Okay, to be fair, I get the idea that Microsoft really would like to develop a standardized look and feel that is consistent across devices. However, dumbing down my PC to the level of my tablet is NOT the way to go about it, and the Start Menu developers get that. They have at least given me a way to conceivably install Windows 8 and still be productive by allowing me to turn the tiles "feature" off and use Windows as I prefer.

The main problem is that most people I know have a proven stable of known applications that provide the functionality they require, and have a dislike of major changes to these as it affects productivity big time. If Microsoft, as has been suggested, went all in on 8 they'd better hope their river brings them a mighty big paddle.

There are lots of "geniuses" out there that think they will determine how we will use our equipment.   Take the Windows 8 decision that productivity is no longer the most critical function of a PC, for instance.  The overwhelmingly negative reception of Windows 8 speaks much more eloquently than I can as to the accuracy of this thinking.

The Digital Landscape

I have been working with the new Microsoft releases lately, trying to decipher what I like and what I don't. Skydrive is awesome, what's not to like about 25 GB of free cloud storage? Unfortunately, there's lots more where that came from.

The most widely known of Microsoft's new exploits is Windows 8, which I have been working with, more on that another time. But in the process of looking into the way Windows 8 has been rearranged, it is very clear that Microsoft is trying hard to integrate cloud use with computer and phone use and wrap it all up in a nice little four colored ball with a Windows logo on it. Skydrive has always been accessible over the web, but Microsoft only made an access app for iPhone/iPad, and for Windows phones, and left out the Android world, Well, there's always more than one answer to a puzzle, and a third party developer produced a Skydrive Browser for Android, making those documents available pretty much anywhere with just a couple clicks.

Now Microsoft wants to provide that same experience. They have hit the phone market, light years behind Apple iOS and Google's Android.  Microsoft's desire to catch up has led them to come up with another way to streamline and integrate our online needs with our computing experience, and has now integrated Hotmail/Live username as the logon for Windows 8. Then there are "tiles" giving direct access to various areas of online existence, among those Skydrive and Mail. While they are squaring away the last mods on Windows 8, they are working on launching yet another revamp of Hotmail/Live Mail/MSN that is now called Outlook.com which is up for preview right now. The interface is very streamlined, much similar to Windows 8 look and feel. Labels and folders help the organization process, and there is even an automated cleanup option.

That is, if you can ever get into it. I signed up for a preview, and got into the account after typing in three different captchas, then changed some settings, logged out and went about other items. Went back, and after numerous captchas, a text message verification, and an email verification, it still apologized for having me prove I was human. Two more captchas and I got back in, feeling quite relieved that I didn't have anything pressing in that account. Revolutionary, whether we need it or not.

Cloud Based Storage

With life going along madly, needs have a tendency to change, as mine have recently done which has put me in the market for some cloud storage accessible to all the different devices and operating systems I use. The fact that I use Gmail automatically put Google Docs out of the running, I am hoarding my space there and don't want to use it for the docs I have in mind.

So what's left? I knew of some and went to research others. There's the ubiquitous DropBox, but with only 2 GB of free storage, I knew I could find better for the money. And for my purposes, free is the currency I seek. So on to other providers. Now I am not talking online backup, I need usable documents through any web browser, so storage is the keyword. I noticed that Amazon is offering 5 GB free storage, and thought it might suit. But what else? So I took to Google. While not being the provider for me, it could still help me find my quarry. I located and read several articles written by people who had detailed and compared the available options. While their needs differed from mine, I still found the information useful and it saved me hours poring over the options and possibly finding much later that the seemingly correct choice would not work for some key reason. I strongly considered SugarSync, again a 5 GB account free. It would surely work, but being the data hoarder that I am, I kept reading.

And where do you think the storage winner came from? Haha, surprised me, Microsoft!! And as time goes forward I see some evidence that this particular option, SkyDrive, will become even easier to use. It is being worked into Windows 8 and is already connectible through Office 2010, and therefore through Windows 7 making it accessible through Windows Explorer. How easy can it get? Well, this doesn't hold true through Mac OSX or in Android or iOS, but even there it can be accessed through a web brower, Firefox, Safari, Dolphin, take your pick. And while there isn't a clear winner across the board, I do like this option.

And then today, what do I read in my feed but that yet another even larger option exists, albeit temporarily. Box, a provider with an Android app, is offering a whopping 50 GB free for life for all who sign up before March 23. Now if you want some sort of sync capacity, this isn't your best option, but for simple cloud storage, count me in! Now I can already hear those of you who think like I do, "What about security?" Cloud services have excellent security, and for the basic information I seek to store, there is no risk to me even in the unlikely event that the files are compromised. Naturally, I don't wish it, but there's nothing personal in any of this data. I doubt seriously that I even scratch the surface of these capacities, but knowing that keeps me from scrimping. Save it, by all means!!