My Tech, My Life: Top five killer features that ROCKS Windows 8

Despite the amount of positive feedbacks that Microsoft received since the release of Windows 7 OS, the team still moves on to the development of the next OS, currently known as Windows 8. Many of us are still wondering if this rapid development of new OS really worth the upgrade. Here are the few new features that capture my interest.

1. Faster Boot Time

This is pretty much the feature that all of us are waiting for, a speedy boot and startup. Nobody is patient enough to wait for endless Windows startup routine before he or she can really start using the PC. In Windows 8, this dream will finally comes true.

The challenge of the Windows team in this coming new OS was to achieve the following goals:

1. Effectively zero watt power draw when off

2. A fresh session after boot

3. Very fast times between pressing the power button and being able to use the PC.

Based on the Windows engineering team's description, Windows 8 will feature a brand new fast startup mode.

The diagram above indicates the comparison between Windows 7 Cold Boot and Windows 8 Fast Startup.

To simplify the theoretical nature of this feature, I'll try to explain in a simpler matter.

In Windows 7, while we shutdown the PC, all user sessions running will be closed, and proceed with closing the kernel session, where all services and devices will be turn off in order to prepare the system for a complete shutdown.

In Windows 8, things are quite different. After closing all user sessions, instead of closing the kernel session, as mentioned previously, the kernel session is hibernated. The system state and memory contents will be saved into a file (hiberfil.sys) on the disk. The next time we boot our Windows, the contents in the file will be read back on during the Windows' resume, and restored back to the memory. By applying this technique, it provides a significant advantage to the boot times. The main reason for Windows 8's start up speed increase is because resuming a hibernated system session is less burdening compared to a full system initialization, like what we have in Windows 7. Besides that, it's also because the Windows engineers added a new multi-phase resume capability in this latest Windows OS, which is capable of using all the cores simultaneously, which effectively split the work of reading data from the hiberfile and decompressing the contents. It's also a good news for those users who like hibernating their OS, as this new feature will result in even faster resume from hibernating mode!

2. Metro Style UI

Remember those days when people complaint on the ugliness of the Windows user interface? From the first UI powered Windows 95 till today's Windows 7, the changes are huge but not revolutionary. The designs are mostly the same, with a start button, a desktop that you will eventually fill up with desktop icons,a conventional Windows explorer, etc. But in the future, there will be less for you to complain about the design of Windows UI.

In Windows 8, you'll get an elegant, fast and fluid Metro style interface instead of your old messy desktop. You will be able to enjoy a brand new Windows App Store, with a huge variety of new apps for you choose from. You can also immerse yourself in the magical and beyond imagination Windows style touch experience. You can swipe through your apps on the Metro Style display screen. You can also directly click on the apps to launch them. Everything is in plain sight. If you don't have a touch enabled display, do not fear as Windows 8 works seamlessly with mouse, trackpad, and keyboard.

For those who perhaps dislike the Metro style UI and desire the classic desktop more, you can switch between the Metro style UI and the newly improved Windows desktop. Thanks to Windows' innovation.

3. Easy File Management

Windows default file management is always a pain to all Windows users. While most of us prefer to do multiple files transferring, the unability to pause, resume and stop the copying process often cause users to shift to other third party alternatives such as Tera Copy software which I'd mentioned in my previous post, which offers simpler and more effective file management options such as the ability to pause, resume and stop certain components within your copied files. I'm glad to inform that these has already become the past, and better file management is coming in the future Windows 8.

In this coming Windows, Microsoft is promising 3 major improvements:

a. One place to manage all copy jobs

b. Clear and concise interface

c. Put user in control of their copy operations

Moreover, some of the handy copying options such as the ability to pause, resume, and stop the copy process, which now can only be found in third party file management software, have also been included. Some other important information like the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate trend, and how much data left to transfer are also clearly displayed.

Furthermore, the smarter management of file name collisions in Windows 8 will also be one of the practical features introduced. The newly design interface is more visible and understandable, where all the files from the source are on the left and all the files in the target location with file name collisions are on the right.

4. ISO Mounting

This is my personal favourite feature, an ISO Mounting tool, which will be built into the coming Windows 8. This is one of Windows' effort to include the ability in handling disc images as in the ISO file and VHD file. The current version of Windows, which is the Windows 7 OS, requires a third-party tool to mount and read a virtual disc format file. Although Windows 7 had improvised on its capability to write a disc image into CD, compare to Windows Vista which requires third-party tools to burn disc image to a CD, it's still quite inconvenient for not having the disc image mounting functionality built in, as many of the ultra thin laptop doesn't come with a DVD-ROM. Users who want to mount and open ISO files have to purchase expensive third-party software to support that function.

If you don't understand ISO, below is a detailed explanation of what ISO means:

"ISO files are used by vendors to distribute software. Backup applications also store content in the ISO format and many utilities allow creation of an ISO file from existing CDROM or DVD media. Once created, these files can be sent around, downloaded, and stored just like any other file – however, before you can access the photos, video, applications, documents, or other content contained within the ISO file, you either have to “burn” the ISO file to a writable optical disc or download and install software that allows you to “mount” and access the ISO file contents directly (i.e. without burning). With Windows 8, we have eliminated this last step – you can simply access the contents of the ISO file without needing either needing to burn a new disc or needing to find/download/install additional software just to logically access the ISO." (credit: Microsoft)

With the support to ISO and VHD file, users no longer have to spend a fortune on buying third-party software to use mount their ISO files. This is indeed a good news for me.

5. Improved Windows Explorer

The latest Windows Explorer will be presented in the new Office Style ribbon user interface, which will add more ease and functionality to the Windows Explorer toolbar. Here are the few advantages of the new Windows Explorer:

Provides the ability to put the most important commands in very prominent, front and center locations.
Makes it easy to find commands predictably and reliably. Every important file management command could be given a specific centralized location in the ribbon style toolbar, and users would know where to look for them.
Exposes a large set of commands (~200) in one easy and consistent experience and organizes commands into scenario-focused groups without the use of nested menus, popups, dialogs, and right-click menus.
Aids command identification with support for grouping, a variety of button sizes and icons, and aids deeper investigation with live previews and expanded tooltips.
Make the toolbar similar to the ribbon style design like the one in Office, Microsoft Paint, and Windows Live Essentials, which means that many of Windows' users will be familiar with theformat and don't have to spend a great deal of time learning.
Provides a consistent, reliable UI that doesn’t degrade over time like traditional toolbar and menu-based user interfaces do. (credit: Microsoft)