UEFI offers other advantages over BIOS, of course. The user interface for this firmware type can be graphical instead of text-based like BIOS. And it enables a new security feature called Secure Boot that protects system components from tampering during boot.
UEFI and Secure Boot are discussed a bit more in Chapter 12.
Don’t buy a Windows 8 PC that includes only USB 2.0 ports. Rated at throughput speeds of up to 5 Gbps, USB 3.0 is up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480 Mbps), which can have a significant impact on the performance of certain peripherals, especially hard disks.
USB 3.0 has other advantages over USB 2.0, though. You can mix and match USB 2.0 and 3.0 devices on a single controller without impacting the speed of the faster USB 3.0 devices. (This was an issue with USB 2.0 controllers, which would ratchet the speed of all devices down to 12 Mbps if a USB 1.0 device was attached.) USB 3.0 also provides more power to devices, removing the need for USB 2.0-type double connectors and speeding the charge time of battery-powered devices. And while the plugs look a bit different, they’re 100 percent compatible with previous generation devices.
Summary
With every Windows release, customers face challenges when it comes to picking the correct Windows version. And while Windows 8 is no different in this regard, it does at least offer the simplest product lineup we’ve seen in over a decade, with just two mainstream retail versions—Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro—being offered alongside a version for ARM-based devices that’s called Windows RT.
The addition of an ARM-based variant of Windows 8, sold only with new Windows-based devices, is perhaps where things get trickiest. Picking between such a device and a PC based on more traditional Intel-compatible chipsets can be difficult, but not insurmountable if you understand the differences and issues.
Also, for the first time in many years, you’re going to want to pay close attention to the hardware peripherals and sensors that come with your PC or devices. Windows 8 and Windows RT are far more useful when used on a machine with the latest hardware capabilities, so be sure to shop carefully, regardless of which Windows 8 version or processor architecture you choose.
Chapter 2
Installing and Upgrading to Windows 8
• Understanding the different options for installing and upgrading to Windows 8
• Understanding how the web-based installer works
• Using new Windows Setup features
• Choosing a sign-in type
• Employing post-setup tasks for a complete install
• Looking at advanced Windows 8 configurations
• Using a dual-boot configuration
• Installing Windows 8 on a Mac
With previous Windows versions, Microsoft offered a fairly static set of capabilities by which one could install the OS onto a new or existing computer. These capabilities were based on the same underlying functionality but were designed to serve three basic audiences: end users, businesses, and PC makers, and not necessarily in that order. As such, the process was pretty technical for the typical user, which wasn’t much of a problem because very few users actually installed Windows this way anyway. Most acquired Windows with a new PC purchase or, perhaps, through a work-based PC.
With Windows 7, however, those usage patterns changed somewhat. For the first time, a significant percentage of Windows users upgraded existing PCs running a previous version of Windows to Windows 7, and to do so they typically purchased a retailed, boxed copy of the new OS, in Upgrade form, and then performed the upgrade manually.
The reason for this sudden change is obvious: With Windows 7, for the first time, a new version of Windows actually had system requirements that matched, not exceeded, those of the previous version. So while many users did of course buy new, Windows 7-based PCs—several hundreds of millions of them, in fact—many also chose to continue using their existing computers as well.
With Windows 8, Microsoft expects a mix of both traditional PC sales and retail upgrades, again because Windows 8 does not exceed the system requirements of its own predecessor. And many users will simply purchase a Windows 8-based device, such as a tablet, and then upgrade their existing PC as well so that they can take advantage of this Windows version’s excellent PC-to-PC sync and integration capabilities. So, since many users would still be installing Windows 8 on their own going forward, Microsoft has evolved the Windows Setup process yet again. And this time, finally, we think they got it right.
As is the case throughout this book, we’ll be focusing largely on new features and functionality, in this case with regards to Setup and installing Windows 8 on your own PCs. But don’t worry, power users: If you have specific setup needs, we cover those as well.
What about Windows RT? This ARM-based version of Windows 8 comes only with new hardware and cannot be purchased in software-only form, either in retail packaging or electronically, as with Windows 8. So the only Windows Setup experience you’ll have will involve the so-called out-of-box experience, or OOBE, that’s discussed later in the chapter. But since that bit is so obvious, Windows RT users can feel free to skip much of the information in this chapter.
That Was Then, This Is Now: How Setup Has Changed
With Windows 7 and previous Windows versions, Microsoft provided a monolithic installation application called Windows Setup that was custom-tailored for managed businesses and PC makers but could also be used, in manual form, by end users. This same Setup application came with both the Full and Upgrade versions of Windows and provided a consistent interface between the two.
Those who purchase Windows 8 today in retail, boxed form will find that Setup—shown in Figure 2-1—hasn’t changed much since Windows 7. The color scheme is a bit different, the out-of-box experience (OOBE) steps / those that appear after Setup is complete and you have to enter some information about yourself and the PC) are now touch-enabled and evolved, and the whole process is a bit shorter. But overall, things haven’t changed much.
Figure 2-1: Windows Setup
This is both good and bad.
For businesses and PC makers, it means that the tools and methods they use to blast Windows 8 images onto PCs will be familiar and efficient, and not require training. This, after all, is what Windows Setup was really made for anyway.
But for end users, this old-fashioned setup routine is incomplete and inefficient. It doesn’t include vital and important tools such as the Upgrade Advisor, which provides you with a compatibility report for your hardware and software before you install Windows, or Windows Easy Transfer, which makes upgrades and migrations of data possible. Furthermore, Setup won’t work well electronically, so those who hope to install or upgrade to Windows 8 over the Internet would need to first download the massive Windows installer file set—roughly 3.5 to 5 GB, depending on the version, then burn it to disc or copy to a specially made, bootable USB hard drive or flash drive. And then they would need to boot the computer with that device and go through the manual setup process.