November 13, 2013
Have you started working with Windows 8.1 yet? I've had it installed for months. Aside from a little Start tile (I won't call it a button) and my Search working poorly compared to Windows 8, I haven't noticed much of a difference. But apparently a bunch of little things are missing. Some I put in the "who cares?" category. Others may irk users who are accustomed to the OS functioning a certain way.
Case in point: Windows Easy Transfer. It's probably not a tool you use every day, but it's a very handy way to copy files and settings from one Windows computer to another. With Windows 8.1, it works differently. Now, it only transfers files, not settings, and only those from Windows 8.0, Windows RT, and Windows 7 -- not from pre-7 editions of Windows or other Windows 8.1 computers. When I asked why the functionality was reduced, Microsoft told me, "WET is being deprecated now that many settings roam automatically and you can share data using SkyDrive."
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I don't consider this to be a huge problem, but it made me curious about what other little details are missing or changed.
For starters, the Windows Experience Index (WEI) is MIA. This presented a score determined by the System Assessment Tool, which looked at the processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics, and hard disk subsystems and rated each, then used the lowest number from that set as the WEI value. I never liked that because it's not reflective of the user experience. Many geeks like me would tweak WEI's XML file to override the score, so you could show people a really high tally on your PC to impress them -- neglecting to mention that you hacked the number, of course. This was a great game at geek parties: Who has the higher WEI?
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