First foray into Windows 8 - sleek, fast, excellent for tablets, but unsuitable for desktop upgrade.

Sleek, fast, excellent for tablets, but unsuitable for desktop upgrade.

Windows 8 is apparently Microsoft's effort to fight for its share in the tablet market.  There have been tablets running Windows for over a decade, but they are essentially laptops without keyboards.

Windows 8's default user interface is a drastic departure from its previous versions.  It undoubtedly is geared toward tablets with touchscreens.  It takes a bit effort to get used to for desktop users.  I would highly recommend 50 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets, and paying attention especially to the keyboard shortcuts.  However, it can switch to traditional desktop UI easily.  It is extremely puzzling that Microsoft has got rid of the most frequently used feature of the desktop UI - the start button.  One has to install a third-party application to restore the start button.

The UI of Windows 8 is smooth and fast. The search is unbelievably fast, showing relevant applications without any hiccup while the user types in the search box.

Windows 8 has serious hardware and software compatibility issues. The official hardware requirement is minimal and  can be met by any modern PC.  However, the actual requirements for Windows 8 to work smoothly without any glitches are probably much more than the official ones.  Some requirements for optional features may be effectively mandatory. This makes Windows 8 unsuitable for upgrading old PC's. A recent glitch in installing some updates shows that Windows 8 has serious software compatibility issues even though it is claimed to be compatible with applications for previous versions of Windows. Some updates cannot be installed without disabling some applications.

In summary, Windows 8 is great for tablets, good choice for new desktops for computer savvy people right now, unsuitable for upgrading existing desktops.