Want to try out Windows 8?
Get some of these goodies to
make the most of Microsoft's
latest OS.
With the launch of Windows
8, a lot of people were curious
about its offerings and its
new interface so many people are talking
about. The world's most-used operating
system undergoing a serious UI overhaul
is quite an intriguing topic and it's pretty
natural you'd want to try it out too.
But what about the hardware, you
ask? Well, you might have to upgrade your
hardware depending on what you already
have to run it. Pretty much every PC built in the last
four to five years should have enough power
to run Windows 8. Ram might
be the only thing that you might need to
upgrade.
One of the biggest things that Windows
8 brings along is its new Modern UI, which is
best experienced using touchscreens devices. But
if you’re using a laptop or a desktop
PC, then you’ll find the need for a touch-enabled screen. Unfortunately, there have
been very few touchscreen monitor
launched . But we’ll have to wait
a while before we can see some of these
products entering the market. If
you’re hell-bent on trying out touch on a
screen, you can try out DIY-projects that
let you attach a panel to your existing
screen and get a somewhat satisfactory
touchscreen experience.
But since there are no touchscreen
monitors available, you'll have to make
do with peripherals that let you use the
OS properly. Here are some of my tips for
a better Windows 8 experience:
Buy a touch mouse
While not every user can upgrade their
monitor to a touchscreen panel, we've
thought of a more affordable option.
It’s touch mice, quite a few of which
are showing up in the market. Microsoft
itself has a few products available, and
one of the most popular is the elegant
Touch Mouse that sells at an MRP of $80(Rs
3,999). It was launched for and made to
work on Windows 7, and it behaves like
most other mice, except it has a touch
sensitive surface – something that can be
useful for navigating the tiled interface of
Windows 8. The Microsoft Touch Mouse
is a wireless device. But Microsoft isn’t the
only one making touch mice for Windows
8. Logitech, the popular peripherals
manufacturer, also has a few products up
its sleeve. Its wireless Touch Mouse M600
is not just designed to be extremely sleek
and elegant, it’s also functional and works
well with Windows 8. You have the usual
left and right mouse buttons, but there’s
a touch sensor instead of the scroll wheel
for vertical and horizontal scrolling. You
can even use gestures to swipe between
windows quickly. The Logitech Touch
Mouse M600 has the same price as that
of the Microsoft Touch Mouse.
For those looking for something a
little cheaper, there are mice such as the
Logitech Touch Mouse T400, which is a
tad cheaper at $50 (Rs 2,895). For that sum,
you get a traditional wireless mouse
with two standard buttons and a touch
sensitive scroll area that lets you swipe
and perform gestures.
Get yourself some touchpads
Laptops are often better equipped to
make complete use of Windows 8’s
touch gesture support, owing primarily
to their touchpads. But if you’re using an
old desktop, you can choose to go for
one of the touchpads made specifically
for PCs. Logitech has one called Wireless
Rechargeable Touchpad T650. The great
thing about it - like its name states - is the
ability to place the touchpad anywhere you
want without long messy cables tripping
you up. The trackpad has a rechargeable
battery and can be charged using a USB
cable. Logitech claims that you can go a
month on a single charge. When you see
the battery indicator dip, you can simply
plug in the USB cable and continue using
it. There are 13 diff erent gestures that you
can use with this touchpad. Another great
thing is that you could pair it up with a
Windows 8 or Windows RT tablet for more
flexibility.
Install more memory
Installing RAM is really simple and it can
really get your PC Windows 8-ready, as the
processor requirements as such are really
basic. RAM modules come quite cheap
too, with 2 GB of DDR3 RAM costing barely
$10-20(Rs 700). So get some modules from the
local computer store or get a technician
to install a couple of RAM sticks in your
computer.
Plug in an SSD, boot faster
While SSDs seem out of place compared
to some of the peripherals we’ve
mentioned, it’s something that helps really
speed things up with Windows 8. Although
Windows 8 itself boots up really quickly, an
SSD can help your system go into standby
and wake up within a second or two.
The OS itself hardly takes a few seconds
to do a cold boot. A small little SSD to
house your Windows installation can really
do wonders, and it’s an upgrade worth
considering.
Upgrading to Windows 8
Once you have your hardware in place, it’s
time to get Windows 8 running. If you’re
already a Windows 7 user, then it’s really
simple to upgrade, not very expensive
either. Simply head over to Microsoft
website and you will find the option
to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro. Simply download
the upgrading utility, which will then run
the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. This
program checks if your system is capable
of upgrading to Windows 8. You should
then be prompted to back up documents
from your existing installation of Windows.
The next step is actually purchasing
the product – in this case, Windows
8 Pro. Once you click on checkout,
Windows takes a little less than a minute
to take you to the billing form. Just key
in your essential details and proceed.
Confirm your order and recheck all
details. Microsoft will send you an email
receipt, provide the product key and
your computer will begin downloading
Windows 8 Pro. Note down the product
key for further reference.
You’re now a proud owner of a
Windows 8 system that has most of what
a brand new PC might have to offer. Oh,
and now you have bragging rights too. The Cost of Upgrade differs
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