As with every Windows, performance has gone under the microscope and this time the focus, especially given the mobile targeting of Metro, has been in fast boot and shutdown times.
It has to be said, Windows 8 does boot and shut down exceedingly fast. This is due in part to a new hibernation system that saves only the state of the kernel and drivers rather than the entire memory pool (which is often a number of gigs), allowing a resuming machine to enter the desktop in a matter of seconds. This is naturally the way tablets and other mobile devices will work, desktops should be able to optionally perform a shutdown without hibernation. According to Microsoft, even without a hibernated shutdown, on machines with the newer UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, the replacement for the ageing BIOS) and using an SSD, Windows 8 can boot in as little as six seconds from a cold start.
The new Blue Screen Of Death screen (and still blue, at least). Has Windows gained some personality?
To better suit lower-end machines and, implicitly, lower-powered mobile devices, a new Aero Lite UI has been included for the Desktop. It's not particularly attractive, but then its goal is performance, not looks. Similarly, the focus on mobile means Windows 8 is being specifically designed to use less power, particularly via its hibernation mode, the use of low-power states for devices (network components, for example), and a new feature called Connected Standby. The goal, of course, is to have Windows 8 be competitive with the current crop of long-battery-life mobile devices being powered by iOS or Android.
Other improvements include a reduced memory footprint; again targeting mobile devices, integrated USB 3.0 support that also includes taking advantage of low-power modes of USB 3.0 devices, and enhanced multi-monitor support with the ability to run Metro on one monitor and Desktop on the other.
Then there are some welcome smaller but nice to have changes: Windows Update will nag you less; the old DOS-inspired boot menu is gone, replaced by a graphical boot loader; and even the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) has seen a new and less 'geeky' makeover. It prominently features a ':(' sad face and not much else bar a single line for an error code.
Speaking of which, with "just reinstall windows" being the most common advice given to resolve issues, Windows 8 actually makes it easier to do just that with two new features: the ability to 'Refresh' all Windows settings to a default fresh-install state, removing all installed applications but preserving your personal settings and data; and the option to go the whole hog and automatically reinstall Windows with a 'Reset', wiping everything including all your personal settings and data from the machine (if for example you want to give your PC away). These options also appear if you enter the new recovery mode by pressing F8, so you can initiate them if your system is fubared and can't get into Windows. As part of this, however, it's worth noting that there is no longer a Safe Mode boot. These restore options are your only, well, option.
Perhaps one of the most surprising changes, and one that will help greatly in debugging performance, is the new Task Manager – it’s worlds apart from what we have now. By default it displays a very basic (one program per line) list and just one button to end a given application. This is for the Metro users, especially if operating by touch, if you simply want to end a program. Click Advanced, however, and you get a new Metro stylised Task Manager with the following features: a process list with program names in plain English; colour-coded highlights for CPU and memory hogs; revamped graphical displays for processor, memory, disk and network usage; a brilliant App History tab that shows totalled CPU and network for all the programs you've ever run; a Users tab to cleanly list just user-initiated processes; and a Startup tab to reveal all those annoying programs that add themselves to your startup, and optionally disable them.
In addition, the classic Task Manager task list can be found under a Details tab, while a Services tab integrates the old Services dialog to enable and disable services. It's funny to say, but of all the changes in Windows 8 it's definitely one of the highlights.
