Windows 8 Metro Isn’t So Bad

Windows 8 ships with a new User Interface that’s gotten a lot of flack but the truth is that I’ve found it very easy to adjust to and it hardly differs from Aero for my usage. If you look at the UI as a whole, at every part, then it looks much further from Aero, but if you just focus on the parts that the average person is going to use… it’s really quite similar.

Here’s a picture of what I’m staring at 99% of the time I’m on my computer.

Hardly a major change from Windows Vista or 7. The only noticeable change for me is the start menu, which is now a start ‘screen’.

That’s a fairly large difference, but not wholly unwelcome. There are benefits, such as having live tiles and the large icons are easy to read, and there are downsides, such as being taken from whatever you’re doing and being put entirely into this new menu.

It doesn’t interrupt my workflow, personally.

This isn’t really a review of the UI but I think people should understand that while as a whole the user interface is very different, when you cut down to the bits you’ll interact with, it’s almost identical to Windows 7.

And if you’re after security Windows 8 is going to outperform Windows 7 there, especially after further hardening.