Windows 8 is Windows for the tablet generation

In just three weeks Windows 8 will be here and the big question is how people will react to it. A few people have said that they like it, but many have spoken out against it and it is all down to that Metro interface. (I know it's not officially called Metro any more, but the name is sure to stick.)  I think we're going to see some extreme reactions to it and it is something you will either love or hate.

Windows 8 is Windows for the tablet generation. There are people that have all but given up using computers and they use tablets for 95% of tasks. I know that for a fact. I have an iPad with a 10-hour battery life and it often needs charging up every day. I can hardly summon up the enthusiasm to turn it on, never mind use it, but other family members argue over whose turn it is to use it next, "You've had it for two hours, it's my turn now!" Most days the family computer never gets turned on.

Tablet users (and there are millions of them), are people with very simple needs and they use Facebook, Twitter, eBay, email, web browsing and a few other things. They use apps one at a time, full screen, and they don't do anything remotely complicated. They have an app store for finding new apps and fun, lightweight games, there is a music store where they can get the latest releases from their favourite artists, and there is even a book store where they can download ebooks. What else do they need?

I think these people will really like Windows 8. Those tiles on the Start screen provide one-click access to their favourite apps. It may require a bit of setting up first and just as with a tablet people will need to spend the first hour or two downloading their favourite apps from the app store, but once set up everything they need is on the Start screen. Those tiles are live too, so they can see the latest email message, Facebook or Twitter comment, the weather forecast and so on. It's perfect for them.

There is another group of people, and I count myself among them, that have little interest in this. I frequently have two, three or more windows open on the desktop. I'm switching between web browser, word processor and Explorer windows, I have a spreadsheet and my email open, I have a photo editor and web design app open and so on. For me, the Metro interface (or whatever it is now called), just gets in the way. It doesn't work the way I want it to and everything takes twice as much effort as it used to.

I know you can go to the desktop, but it's not the same - there's no Start button for a start, meaning a trip back to the Start screen to find apps I want to run. I'm pretty sure the Start screen will end up about 10 screens wide eventually and I'll have problems finding anything on it. I can see myself putting shortcuts on the desktop and taskbar to all the apps I use.

I have to upgrade and use Windows 8 because it's my job to keep abreast of the latest operating systems and applications, but I can see a lot of people either not bothering or installing it and then removing it and putting Windows 7 on instead.

Will businesses take to it? I suspect not. One reason is because the Start screen is a big distraction and it's too easy to get sidetracked by all the fun apps. Another reason, and perhaps the main one, is that Windows 8 is not intuitive. I have been using Windows for 20 years, ever since 3.1 in the early 1990s, yet on occasions when Using Windows 8 I have been stuck and couldn't work out how to do something. I have had to Google it. Don't laugh, but the first time I booted up Windows 8 I had to use Google to find out how to turn off the computer! Even now I'm still finding things out either by accident or on the web. Things that are obvious and simple in Windows 7. Would any business want to roll out an operating system upgrade that left users unable to use their computers? I'd think twice.

Will you love or hate Windows 8?