We’ve been getting a number of questions regarding Windows 8:

• Should we install the Preview?
• Compatibility with SAFE?
• Benefits?

We’ll have detailed information on all this very soon, but it’s far enough along in the process to render an opinion (and save you some time.)

Don’t bother.

For SAFE users, or for desktop users in general, Windows 8 is a non-event. Sorry for the negative tone, but our disappointment is, at the moment, fairly profound. We have had misgivings for quite some time, but until the Preview was released, we had hope that a last minute change in strategy would be forthcoming. Nope.

In a nutshell, Windows 8 is a couple of things:
1. For the desktop user it is Windows 7; albeit with a few handy improvements.

2. There is a new, alternate interface called “Metro” which has garnered a lot of attention. It is meant to provide a ‘Tablet-like’ interface which is consistent across all Windows devices, from phones to tablets to the desktop. It is beautiful and works great on phones and tablets. (In fact, if Apple had not already cleaned up with ‘iEverything’, it might’ve had a chance.) However, this interface is pretty much a disaster on the desktop. Almost everyone we have spoken with has turned it off after a few brave attempts to make it work. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: no browser or tablet interface can ever compete with a first-rate Windows or Mac/OS UI for typing-based applications. In short, Metro can be thought of as an ‘add-on’ and not a core improvement to Windows.

3. Even worse for us, Windows 8 Tablet applications (where Metro does well) are not written with the same code-base as desktop applications. Which means, none of SAFE can be directly ported over. And there’s really no direct integration between Windows Tablet apps and Windows desktop apps. So we’re left with a choice between continuing to code for Android apps and redoing everything for the Win Tablets. So our plans to have a ‘SAFE for Windows Tablet’ are currently on hold.

New versions of Windows always seem to alternate between ‘Good!’ and ‘What were they thinking?’ Windows 98? Good. Windows 2000? Meh. Windows XP? Great! Vista? Oy veh. Windows 7? Finally! Apparently we’re now in the ‘what were they thinking?’ phase. Our hope is that Windows 9 will be the tablet integration we’ve been hoping for (assuming MS doesn’t completely lose all market share!) For now, we see no downside in sticking with Windows 7 for the foreseeable future.