Despite being in a language other than English, the main aspects of testing Windows 8 is to check it’s usability, stability, and reliability. In this review, we take a look at Windows 8 Release Preview, build 8400, Chinese Edition. This is one of the better releases of Windows 8 yet, but I’m sure there’s more to come in the future!
We ended May with a bang. The Windows 8 Release Preview was leaked on Tuesday…in Chinese. Yet, the only differences would be between the language, so that meant everything worked the same way in the English Release Preview. I would have to say that I am quite impressed. Microsoft modified many apps, settings, and interfaces that it’s almost unrecognizable. Most people are going to wait until Friday for the English Release Preview, but this review is here to give you a glimpse of what you’re going to expect.
So many colors to choose from! But I chose yellow! Once you log on you experience a personalized oasis. Your lock screen, start screen background, desktop background, sounds, window color, and so much more! It brings the personal in “personal computer.”
Logging in was a lot faster then when it was in the Consumer Preview. Sliding, zooming in, and the amount of time between a “touch and an action” has decreased. The user interface and stability of apps is a lot smoother than on the consumer preview, yet the News app crashes all the time and has not worked at all. The normal start screen comes up, but there are some new apps. There is a Sports app, and a Travel app.
Why was I so impressed by the Release Preview? The performance of the operating system has dramatically improved. The Music app has been drastically changed, as there are no more album art, as in the Consumer Preview due to it eating up a lot of ram and computer performance. The Video app was also changed slightly, yet I was not able to log onto my Music or Video accounts because the servers may not have been available at the time. The Photos app, was also cleaned up and had a more “pleasing” and elegant interface.
The Mail app was changed so well, I give it 5 stars!! They finally made it so the folder pane on the left no longer has to be previewed by sliding or clicking a button. It’s just there now and I was waiting for that! As I could tell, the Messanger and People apps were not drastically changed.
As of right now, the Windows Store app has not been working, and that may be because the servers aren’t up at this time. They are expected to go up on Friday. Also, when you install the build, it complains about not being genuine. It sends you to the Windows Genuine Advantage website, yet you can’t because Windows 8 is not supported yet. It will remind you about every 2-4 hours that your Windows needs to be activated and is not genuine unless it is activated.
As for the desktop area of Windows 8, that hasn’t changed much since the Consumer Preview, but the explorer shell has. The ribbon UI has been updated and has given a look similar to that of the Office 15 Techincal Preview. This is present in Explorer, as well as Wordpad and Paint.
Other changes include the back and forward buttons and aero theme modifications, but unfortunately this is the last we will see of the aero theme. It will be “adios aero” when the RTM is complete this summer.
To sum it all up, the Release Preview is what we’ve all been waiting for. Windows 8 is a terrific operating system. Its speed and apps are what make it notable. It certainly is not another Vista, but losing the start button doesn’t make it a Windows 7 either.
Check out the screenshots of this build or check out the video walk-through.
