This is an article completed using Windows 8.
With the new semester approaching, and registration at South China Normal University (SCNU) on the 2nd, I purchased a laptop in advance: a Lenovo Z575AM-ASI, a 4,000-yuan AMD quad-core 64-bit machine.
My desktop is already a six-year-old product from Lenovo’s Jiayue series, with only 512MB of RAM. So by comparison, the configuration of this new machine is quite decent. Regarding CPUs, I personally prefer AMD because my Jiayue desktop also used an AMD CPU, so I have a good impression of them. The newer Lenovo specialty stores did not have AMD laptops in stock, so I had to pre-order one in advance.
Windows 8
The laptop itself did not come with a pre-installed operating system. The store casually installed a Ghost version of Windows 7 for me, which would freeze from time to time and felt quite bad. Since Windows 8 was recently released online, I immediately formatted the Windows 7 partition and installed Windows 8. The installation process was very smooth. Since it hasn’t been officially released yet, it hasn’t been activated; I am purely in the experience phase for now. Once the official version is released, I plan to buy a genuine disc.
Compared to previous versions of Microsoft Windows, Windows 8 feels like a leap forward (in my opinion). The interface remains gorgeous but adds a touch of simplicity, which makes me feel very comfortable. The boot speed is extremely fast—this is from personal experience. I have used many machines with Windows 7, and although people online said Windows 7 boots much faster than Vista or XP, I didn’t feel that at all after testing it; in fact, it felt a bit slow. However, Windows 8 is truly very fast. From pressing the power button to entering the operating interface, it only takes about twenty seconds, and sometimes it’s done in just over ten seconds! Impressive... Also, Windows 8 has ported the tablet interface, or rather, the system is designed for tablets as well. It removes the traditional "Start" menu in favor of a tablet-style Metro start screen. It took some getting used to at first, but I gradually got accustomed to it, and it greatly satisfies visual desires. On the other hand, it achieves the same effect as the traditional Start menu, but the tile-style icons feel much better (perhaps because it feels fresh).
Regarding the browser, I also feel very good about the built-in IE10. I haven’t used IE9, jumping directly from IE8 to 10 (mainly because IE9 didn’t support XP, which I used before). The interface hasn’t changed much, mainly improving HTML5 support. There is also a very practical improvement: the new download manager. Now I feel that using IE’s "Save As" allows for stable and fast downloads. Therefore, I currently refuse third-party download tools like Xunlei. Furthermore, data comparisons with Firefox and Chrome show that IE10 can basically stand on equal footing with them, with test scores in various aspects being neck-and-neck.
In terms of security, I never installed antivirus software when I used XP, so I don’t plan to install any for Windows 8 either. Moreover, it is said that Windows Defender in Windows 8 has integrated MSE (Microsoft’s own antivirus), so I won’t install anything else, and it’s even more secure.
A major benefit is that Windows 8 integrates the latest version of Microsoft Input Method, which is much better than previous versions and can definitely rival input methods like Sogou or Google, without any third-party ads. This saves the time needed to install an input method. I also found it has a built-in virtual drive, saving me more installation time—I’m not sure if Windows 7 had this feature. Additionally, the system supports reading PDF e-books, which again saved me a lot of time!
As for compatibility issues, I haven’t found any yet. One main reason is that I don’t use many software programs—only a few on my computer, ignoring those for music and movies. Perhaps in the future, I will install some engineering software for mathematics and science, and I’ll test them then. One issue I’ve found so far is that Stellarium 0.11.4 cannot run normally under Windows 8; the program closes automatically, both in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. I hope the author can fix this.
Ubuntu 12
Today I also installed Ubuntu 12 on the laptop as a dual-boot system. I’ve installed Ubuntu before, but always using virtual installation within Windows; now I’m using the standard installation method, setting up two independent partitions for it. Ubuntu 12 is very gorgeous, but after all, it is Linux—a completely new environment that often involves the command line, so I’m still not quite used to it. I might have more contact with it in my research later. I’ll keep tinkering with it in the future.
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