Windows 8 book authors dish on Windows 8

Writing a book about Windows 8 takes a peculiar combination of perseverance, insight, and a high tolerance for pain. Those who write books about Win8 get to dig into the heart of the beast — they’re exposed early and often to inconsistences and difficulties, and they’re tasked with making the hard parts of Win8 accessible to regular people. Along the way, book authors acquire an enormous amount of experience with how the product actually works, going far beyond the stunted feature lists, glib reviews, and sound bites we’ve all come to expect.

So I thought it would be interesting to ask my fellow authors of the most popular Windows 8 books what they really thought about Windows 8. (Only Paul Thurrot didn’t chime in, as he was on vacation.) Although I know many of them personally, the results still surprised me, not just because they’re quite thorough, but also because they’re so diverse. Like the blind men and the elephant, no two Windows authors see the product the same way — and their combined observations lend a new dimension to the ongoing Windows 8 debate.

On the following pages, in their own words, are the 14 book authors’ candid opinions about Windows 8.

• Ed Bott
• Jim Boyce
• Preston Gralla
• Galen Gruman
• Mark Justice Hinton
• Matthew Klein
• Woody Leonhard
• Paul McFedries
• Katherine Murray
• Tony Northrup
• David Pogue
• Andy Rathbone
• Ciprian Rusen
• Lance Whitney

Ed Bott

Longtime Windows guru and ZDnet contributing editor Ed Bott has flown the banner for Windows 8 since the very earliest betas. His book, “Windows 8 Essentials,” aims to tell experienced Windows users exactly what they need to know to get Win8 up and working properly. Unique among books in this lineup, “Windows 8 Essentials” is available only in electronic versions, through a relatively new publisher, FairTrade DX. Look for Ed’s top 10 Windows 8 questions report on ZDnet and the latest on his Windows 8 resources page.

His comments:

I love Windows 8. I also understand why some people have problems coming to grips with it.

For me, the performance improvements and the ability to sync files and settings as I switch between devices is, for lack of a better word, transformational.

There’s a learning curve, but I find myself more productive in Windows 8 than in Windows 7. And if we have to bring up Vista … well, I wrote a whole series of articles about “fixing Vista.” I don’t need to do that for Windows 8. “Learning 8,” sure.

Jim Boyce

Jim Boyce works for Microsoft as a support practice manager in Microsoft’s Premier Support organization. He’s written dozens of books, most recently coauthoring the “Windows 8 Bible“ with Rob Tidrow. Jim’s a former MVP and contributing editor and columnist for Windows Magazine.

His comments:

I’ve been using Windows 8 as a daily, production OS since the first day of the Technical Preview. On a typical day I probably spend less than a minute on the Start screen — the desktop is one click away, and that’s where I spend my workday. Although many in the press have focused on the Start screen and how different it is from the Windows desktop, only a few have taken the time to look under the surface and understand the significant enhancements and new features like Windows to Go, Hyper-V client integration, security improvements, DirectAccess, cloud integration, and performance improvements Windows 8 builds on the already compelling Windows 7 story with a wide range of improvements for the enterprise.

But what’s more compelling? What about a new tablet paradigm for the enterprise, where users can have that thin, sexy tablet that’s as much at home on their office desk as it is on their coffee table? Best of all, that tablet runs all their Windows apps, including Office and their must-have, line-of-business apps. That is a compelling story and the reason why Windows 8 over time will win over even die-hard hold-outs in the enterprise.

What about consumers? Forget the hype about Windows 8’s learning curve. Sure, it’s different, but 10 minutes and some experimentation will have you well on your way to a soft landing in your comfort zone. Once you’re there, start thinking about the seamless experience you can have across your desktop, tablet, smartphone, and Xbox. When it’s time to stop surfing or reading and get back to work, you won’t have to toss that tablet back on the coffee table to pick up a real PC — your tablet is your real PC.

Preston Gralla

Computerworld contributing editor Preston Gralla has been writing books and articles about Windows for many years. One of the founding fathers of the computer press, he specializes in translating difficult concepts into everyday language. Preston’s “Windows 8 Hacks” goes behind the scenes of the “eminently hackable” Windows 8 and dishes up modifications aimed at advanced Win8 users. It even includes tips on running Win8 on a Mac.

His comments:

Windows 8 is an attempt by Microsoft to use Windows as a way to get people acclimated to its mobile interface, and in that way try to gain market share for tablets and smartphones. The problem is that the interface once called Metro isn’t really built for traditional computers, so on those types of computers, that part of the OS is an uncomfortable kludge. Its connection to the traditional desktop is a poorly built Rube Goldberg kind of invention.

That’s one of the reasons I wrote “Windows 8 Hacks”: to make the new OS comfortable to use for anyone and to make it work in ways that power users want.

Galen Gruman

No stranger to controversy, InfoWorld executive editor Galen Gruman claims a wide range of interests, from mobile computing (he writes the Mobile Edge blog for InfoWorld) to BYOD to Apple products (“OS X Mountain Lion Bible” and “Exploring iPad for Dummies,” among others) and much more. Galen’s “Exploring Windows 8 for Dummies” takes a visual approach to getting started with Win8.

His comments:

I was eager to explore Windows 8 when it first came out and happy to be lead author on a book to help people make the transition.

But the more I used Windows 8 and had to tell people how to switch to it, the more frustrated I got. It was confusing to do and so confusing to explain. The Metro stuff does make sense internally, but it’s limited and can take a lot of extra effort compared to what is simple in other operating systems. The essentially separate Windows 7 environment always felt like it was a different OS forced into a shotgun wedding with Metro — and it felt really dated when used with Metro. Windows 8 was awkward in the traditional desktop PC context and in the new touchscreen tablet context, and it never lost that feel for me.

Compared to my experience with my iPad book aimed at a similar audience, working with Windows 8 felt clunky, not very intuitive, and lacking both sophistication and capabilities. What started as something I was eager to dive into ended up as something I couldn’t wait to get done so that I could stop using it every day.

Mark Justice Hinton

As the name implies, Mark Justice Hinton’s “Windows 8 for Seniors for Dummies” squarely aims for the graying market, but don’t let that fool you. It’s a serious and very popular introductory book — with a larger font and magnified screenshots — tailored for one of the few Windows niches that’s actually increasing in size. This is Mark’s sixth book.

His comments:

Change is inevitable, especially with computers, where hardware and software developments are never in sync. Each version of Windows has improved on the previous version (even Vista — there, I said it), and no version has been perfect (not even beloved XP, more than a decade old). Windows 8 is a huge shift like Windows 95 was. It will be a while before some people appreciate that and the rest of the market catches on. More great changes are coming in the next year or two. Using spectacular and elegant apps, Windows 8 adopts a model proven successful on other devices. However, this is no clone but a bold twist on the familiar with plenty of innovation and power, unifying Windows from Windows Phone to Xbox to computers of all shapes and sizes.

My book is geared toward older beginners, and I wasn’t surprised by the uptake of Windows 8 by many of them. They are well acquainted with tablets such as the Kindle. Now, we can do more than read on a tablet. No one needs to be stuck behind a desk to use a real computer thanks to Windows 8.

Although there are some great apps, such as OneNote and Netflix, there are far more that are awful. Too many are nothing more than repackaged Web content or public domain literature — why bother? The Windows Store does little to help you find the gems, although more user reviews may help. I rely on third-party reviews to point me to the better apps.

I would like to see more standardization of the app interface, such as whether the app bar is at the top, bottom, or both and what functions will be found on any app bar. How about an option to pin the app bars, if you want that? (For that matter, the Charms bar and app switcher should be pinnable.) There should be an option to install app updates without user intervention. Descriptions of updates should contain real details or link to such on the Web. “Fixes bugs and adds features” is a worthless description.

As you add apps, you discover how hard it is to keep the Start screen orderly. There should be options for pinning new apps to the left or specifying the group for a new app during installation. We need more levels — zoom out and drill down — so that the Start screen might have a few icons, each of which opens a screen of icons, etc., on down as many levels as you deem necessary. Perhaps each icon should have a Show On option, where you could select Start or some other group / level. As it is, Start serves those with ADD, not OCD — we have needs, too.

Stop me before I find more complaints! I like Windows 8 for the most part and accept that change is inevitable and usually for the better.

Matthew Klein

Matthew Klein — better known by his nom du Web “The How-To Geek” — has an introductory Windows 8 book that’s marked by its extensive illustrations and laid-back style. The “How-To Geek Guide to Windows 8,” coauthored with Lowell Hedding, will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s read Matt’s detailed and spot-on accurate posts on the How-To Geek website. Currently available only in a Kindle edition, Matt has plans to release a paper version shortly.

His comments:

I’ve been using Windows 8 as my primary OS since it was released to manufacturers on Aug. 15, 2012. I’ve come to view it as an evolutionary release with a revolutionary interface slapped on top. The Start screen is functional yet awkward. It’s in no way perfect nor complete — and yes, it is a challenging transition. I believe we’ll see some big changes to it by the time Microsoft rolls out the next version, and I’m pretty confident it will only get better.

From the standpoint of a geek, however, it is exciting to see Microsoft move from its comfort zone and branch out into new territory. And it’s reassuring that from the desktop point of view, everything is in place and even better than before.

Finally, when it comes to performance and stability, Windows 8 is hands-down Microsoft’s best Windows yet. Because I do 99 percent of my computer work on the desktop, the Start screen is a minor hiccup for me. At the end of the day, I love Window 8, warts and all.

Woody Leonhard

My name’s Woody Leonhard, and I’m a Windows victim. My first book took a look at programming Windows 3.1, and I’ve written tens of thousands of pages about Windows since. I’m a senior contributing editor here at InfoWorld and senior editor at Windows Secrets Newsletter. My latest massive tome, the 1,080-page reference “Windows 8 All-in-One for Dummies,” covers many Win8 nooks and crannies and related pieces of the puzzle: Google, iPads, smartphones, Facebook, and Twitter.

My comments:

If you’ve been following my posts here at InfoWorld, you know I’m not a big fan of Windows 8. My review “Windows 8 review: Yes, it’s that bad” sets the tone. The book authors in this article have picked apart many of the problems with Windows 8, and I generally agree with them.

Windows 8 is great if you buy a new touch tablet and want to run both Metro apps and old-fashioned Windows desktop apps on the same machine. It’s just very difficult for me to imagine why I would want to do that — a toaster and a refrigerator, for sure.

Microsoft has made much of the possibility that you can take one machine — a Windows 8 machine — with you when you travel, and you no longer need to lug both that humongous Ultrabook and backbreaking iPad along: One machine covers both bases. But I don’t have any problem carrying a small notebook with me when I need to run some monstrous application such as Outlook — and bring along an iPad or my trusty Galaxy Note II for all the times when I don’t need the headaches.

Mostly, I’m looking forward to the time — and it won’t be long — when I can completely wean myself off the bloated, buggy, archaic software that I’ve used for the past decade or two. That bloat belongs in the cloud, where people in white lab coats can keep it at bay. I just want a little, reliable, secure portal into it — and a mechanical keyboard and 30-inch screen.

That said, I readily confess that I use Windows 8 on my main production machine all day, every day. I almost never venture off the desktop. I’m still too locked into old ways of working and too dependent on interacting with others who live in the last century, technologically.

Windows will change. Enormously. Whether it’ll shed the accumulated detritus of the past two decades is anybody’s guess. And whether it’ll get rid of the baggage before other companies eat Microsoft’s lunch — that’s the $64 billion question.

Paul McFedries

In “Windows 8 Simplified,” wordsmith Paul McFedries wields a wicked pen to put new users at ease. Paul writes lots of books, and he’s by no means confined to Windows: “iPad 4th Generation Portable Genius,” “iPhone 5 Portable Genius, and “Teach Yourself Visually Macs” have all appeared in the past few months. He also wrote “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Windows 8” and cowrote “Windows 8 in Depth” with Brian Knittel. He runs the Wordspy website, which keeps track of new words as they enter the English language.

His comments:

Windows 8 is really two operating systems in one package: the new Metro (for lack of an easier term) interface and the old Desktop interface. For me, the Metro side of Windows 8 is almost completely useless.

Yes, it does offer a few interesting tidbits — I like the easy access to troubleshooting tools, which is kind of damning in its own right — but on the whole it’s not a serious OS. The interface is absurd on a regular PC (I don’t mind it on a tablet, particularly the Surface), and apps are thin on the ground.

The apps that do exist are mere toys at best and hair-pulling, breast-beating exercises in frustration at worst. Fortunately, I spent 99 percent of my Windows time using Desktop programs, particularly Word, Excel, Access, and a Web browser, so day to day I rarely have to deal with the Metro side of things. That may be the only thing keeping me sane.

Katherine Murray

Another prolific book author, Katherine Murray says Windows 7 was her favorite version of Windows, followed closely by XP. But with Win8, Kathy believes Microsoft “is in sync with the times.” Kathy’s written dozens of books about Windows, Office, SkyDrive, and other Microsoft products. “My Windows 8” is a compact, straightforward tome designed to help new Windows 8 users come up to speed.

Her comments:

My take on Windows 8 at this point is that I really love the color and movement. I love being able to tap my way into things. I enjoy the freedom of adding and working with apps easily and love the fast search capabilities (especially the fact that I can just start typing on the Start screen and go right to what I want without a lot of tapping or clicking). I like the similarity with the Windows Phone interface as well.

The downside is that I find the dual nature of Windows 8 (Start screen and Desktop mode) jarring, especially when I’m using IE10, and I hope Microsoft comes up with a more graceful answer in the next version.

Overall, I am pleased with the capabilities and functionality of Windows 8, considering the drastic redesign they took on, and I think it’s a good first step into a new era of personal technology.

Tony Northrup

As Microsoft Press’s premier Windows title, Tony Northrup’s “Windows 8 Inside Out” has some mighty big shoes to fill. Tony is quick to point out he isn’t bound to the Microsoft party line. He says, “I’ve published about 30 books for Microsoft Press, and I have a bunch of Microsoft certifications. I’m not, however, a Microsoft employee and I’m not required to say nice things.”

Here’s what he does say:

Windows 8 is amazing. There’s a ton for power users and enterprises to love: Faster everything. All your hardware and desktop apps still work. The death of rootkits and bootkits (really!). Awesome keyboard shortcuts (Win-X!). Windows to Go (for enterprises to run Windows from a flash drive). Storage Spaces (I can finally use all my old hard drives). Improved Task Manager (immediately find that problem app). Refresh/Reset options (un-screw-up your PC in minutes). And more.

The touch interface: It works great, but you have to learn it. Ten years ago, people expected to learn a new user interface, but today we think we already know how to use everything we pick up, which makes people think it’s broken. Take 15 minutes to read Chapter 1 of “Windows 8 Inside Out” (it’s free, click the cover image at Amazon.com) and watch the videos. My book is for power users, but even we need the help.

About the Windows Store apps: The infrastructure is technically better than the Apple and Google app stores, which matters only to the nerdiest among us. Here’s what matters to everyone else: Windows Store doesn’t have the app they want, or it costs more, or it isn’t up to date. For example, while you can buy the Angry Birds Star Wars app, it’s $5 instead of $1, and Rovio hasn’t yet released the “Hoth update,” which has caused angry consumers to use literally dozens of exclamation points in their one-star reviews.

The integration of desktop and touch is terrible, but I can’t run Word, Lightroom, Photoshop, and VirtualBox on my iPad, so in that respect, Windows 8 is the best around.

Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement. Here’s my wish list for Windows 8: Give new users an interactive tutorial. Every game now uses the first level as a tutorial, so why shouldn’t Windows? Port the rest of the built-in tools to touch: Control Panel, Notepad, Calculator, Remote Desktop, File Explorer, Paint, etc. Let users run Windows Store apps on Windows 7/Vista. Developers shouldn’t have to maintain two versions of every app, so let me run Windows Store apps in a resizable window on the desktop, so they don’t consume my entire 30-inch monitor. Let me run Windows Store apps on different monitors simultaneously. Hide the lock screen by default on nontablet PCs.

Oh, and one last thought: Windows 8 is new technology. New technology is a pain, but it gets better with time. If you’re not the “early adopter” type, it might be better to wait.

David Pogue

David Pogue, arguably best known as the tech columnist for the New York Times — though I tend to think of him as the tech guy in Scientific American and the “making stuff” guy on PBS’s “Nova” — wrote or cowrote seven “For Dummies” books (including on Macs, magic, and opera). In 1999 he started his own series of books, the Missing Manuals. His “Windows 8: The Missing Manual,” due to arrive next month, will be the 120th book in the Missing Manual series. Keep up with his far-flung adventures on Pogue’s Pages.

His commnents:

Individually, the two environments of Windows 8 — the regular desktop and what I call TileWorld for touchscreens — are excellent. The massive failure is Microsoft’s decision to superimpose them in really confusing ways. You can’t live entirely in one world or the other; you have to keep popping back between environments. Then there’s all the duplication: two Internet Explorers, two Control Panels, two photo-management apps, two email programs, two ways to right-click, and so on.

What do I really think? It’s staggeringly confusing. In writing the book, I was trying to explain the logic of the design to my nontechie readers — in places where there isn’t much logic. I’m pretty sure I’ve done the best job anybody could do, but it wasn’t easy!

Andy Rathbone

Quite likely the best-selling Windows author of all time, Andy Rathbone offers three Windows 8 books, covering Win8 itself, the Microsoft Surface tablet in particular, and tablets in general. The first two titles are available now, and the third is due in about six weeks. In his inimitable style, Andy connects with “regular” Windows customers — the prototypical consumer Microsoft would love to woo — over and over again.

His comments:

Windows 8 is still too awkward to run on any of my desktop PCs. Instead, I store Windows 8 on a bootable hard drive that I slide into my Windows 7 PC for occasional reference.

I like Windows 8 on tablets, however, and I really love my Surface RT. Running Microsoft Word for 10 hours while on the road is a writer’s dream. Most of the time, my Surface RT does everything I need.

My Windows 8 Pro tablet makes for a powerful portable PC, but its short battery life can’t handle the road.

If I bought a touchscreen monitor, I’d finally install Windows 8 on a desktop PC. But I’m not ready to replace a monitor just to run a new operating system.

Ciprian Rusen

Microsoft Press’s Windows 8 book for the masses, “Windows 8 Step by Step,” aims to be “useful, easy to use, and understand.” Bucharest-based author Ciprian Rusen is best known for his Windows 7 help site, 7tutorials.com, which has been expanded to include Windows 8 and Windows Phone.

His comments:

Personally, I am happy with Windows 8, even though I have used it mostly on traditional desktops and laptops. I have used it on touch devices only occasionally. Even though many say it is not a great choice for traditional computers, I mostly disagree.

First of all, I view Windows 8 as a bold first step into a new future, where touch coexists with traditional input devices like the mouse and keyboard. And like any first step, there are great things about it as well as some rough edges.

I enjoy its performance a lot. It is faster than Windows 7, it is more secure, and it does the same things using fewer resources. I love most of the new features included in Windows 8: the Task Manager, File History, File Explorer, the simple way of managing display and keyboard input languages (I write regularly in two languages, so this is a huge plus for me), the Reset and Refresh features, the integration with SkyDrive, and the automated synchronization of your settings.

Its rough edges revolve around the new Start screen and Modern (aka Metro) apps in general. The Start screen should make it easy to do things like shut down the computer, view the time, and access PC Settings — but it does not. Microsoft should spend more effort improving these aspects as well as the customizability of the Start screen.

Another thing that annoys me is one specific behavior of Modern apps: On the Desktop, when you have multiple applications opened and you close the active one, the previous application window is displayed. That’s great. When closing a Modern app, though, you are always back to the Start screen. Then you need to use Alt-Tab or another method to switch back to the previously opened app. That’s not cool at all. Also, I would like to view the icons for Modern apps on the taskbar as well as their uninstallation entries in Programs and Features.

As you can see, most of my complaints are usability issues regarding the new interface. The Desktop is more mature than ever, and it works great. Windows 8 is not perfect and that’s OK. What’s important is that a next step follows the launch of Windows 8 and that the operating system evolves at a faster pace than in the past. Microsoft must iterate this year and improve the way it works. Considering the rumors about “Windows Blue,” I’m sure it will, and by 2014, Windows 8 is going to provide a better experience and many of its critics will no longer have ammunition for their articles.

Lance Whitney

Lance Whitney’s first book, “Windows 8 Five Minutes at a Time,” breaks down the (formidable) task of learning Windows 8 into five-minute chunks. Lance is a widely read blogger on Cnet, where he covers the tech news. He’s also a Web developer, software trainer, and contributor to Microsoft TechNet Magazine.

His comments:

I appreciate what Microsoft tried to do with Windows 8: offer one OS for both tablets and PCs. But it’s like mixing oil and water. The Start screen and other Windows 8 — aka Metro, aka Modern — elements work nicely on a tablet but not as nicely on a PC. And the familiar desktop is well suited for a PC, as always, but feels kludgy on a tablet.

I found the touchscreen features of Windows 8 clumsy when I first started using them on my PC. But those same features felt quite smooth and natural when I jumped over to a tablet. The ideal device for Windows 8 would be a touchscreen notebook or hybrid laptop/tablet. I think the OS will find a better home for itself once more of those devices hit the market.

I didn’t like the Start screen at first, especially since it replaced the old reliable Start menu. But it has a certain appeal. I think live tiles are a great way to show all your updates in one shot. I usually spend a few minutes surveying all my updates and checking out the items that interest me. But then I jump to the Desktop when it’s time to do some real work. And I still can’t function without a Start menu, so I use Classic Shell, a third-party Start menu replacement.

Windows 8 is a first attempt at a different type of operating system, so it feels like it’s not fully developed. But once you figure out its quirks and idiosyncrasies, it kind of grows on you.

This story, “Windows 8 book authors dish on Windows 8,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in Microsoft Windows at InfoWorld.com. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.