Bibleworks 9 and Windows 8

[haydnguy]

It was only a matter of time before this thread appeared. As I write this the Windows 8 Consumer Review edition has been released of Windows. Due to the fact that it (Windows 8) is in 'beta', I'm certain that the BibleWorks folks will not support Bibleworks on this version. That being said, curiosity killed the cat so I went ahead and tried an install. ** I am using the 32-bit (x86) version of Windows 8. The installation went without a hitch. The one thing you might want to do if you try this is to tell Bibleworks that you do NOT want it to put a shortcut on the desktop. You really don't need to anyway because after installation, a "shortcut" for Bibleworks is automatically put on Windows Start screen. One thing I would like to mention also is that I am using a keyboard and mouse, not a touchscreen so I don't know for sure how it would run with touch. I have been trying different functions within the program and everything has run smoothly. I have not tried printing because I am currently out of ink however I did do a Bibleworks Update after the installation and it went smoothly. FYI ~haydnguy~ P.S. Don't forget to backup your data files before doing the install.

[DavidR]

Bless you, brave guinea pig! The info I've seen about Windows 8 has not been appealing. The kindergarten user interface (sorry, just my reaction to screenshots) looks way less useful than WinXP-Win7. Touchscreen? Why? I'm supposed to lean over my keyboard and mouse to reach the screen? Looks like another Vista (if not ME) in the offing. Microsoft seems to come up with a clunker every other version of Windows. Makes you wonder if they have two separate teams working on it.

But all that is curmudgeonly prejudice more than anything else. Let us know how it goes, brave GP! It'd be interesting to have opinions from someone who's actually tried it.

[haydnguy]

For some reason I can't hit the enter key to go to the next line so everything in this post is going to be smooched together. (Perhaps it's the IE10). As far as Windows 8 is concerned, I should say that I am a programmer by trade and so I felt I needed to at least get a little acquainted with it to see if that was a direction I want to go. I decided to bypass Windows 8 but keep current with what is going on and possibly look to Windows 9. There will be changes between now and the final release (possibly big changes), but Microsoft's lack of being forthcoming with information that developers and businesses need to plan and asses has turned me off to this version. It could very well be another Vista. Microsoft has extended mainstream support for Vista and Windows 7 for 10 years. Sounds to me like their hedging their bets. As to what's wrong with Windows 8, IMHO, the usability is just a mess. To a typical desktop user, it's difficult to find things and your constantly bumping into "where is this?" or "how do I do that"? As for me, I'm going back to Windows 7 64-bit which will be new for me too because I've stayed with 32-bit up till now. I hope that others, as time goes on, continues to give feedback on how Windows 8 is progressing so BibleWorks users can decide if it's for them.

[DavidR]

Well, thanks for the report. Sounds like my instinctive oppositionalism was well founded for once!

[MBushell]

We have done preliminary testing on the latest public beta of Windows 8 and BbibleWorks seems to run fine. We are not aware of any issues.

There will be three different kinds of platforms for Windows 8 users:

1. Traditional desktop on intel desktop PC - other than the fact that you have to click once to get to the desktop, it seems to be pretty much the same as Windows 7. There are some cosmetic tweaks that I like and a few things that will take getting used to, but on the whole I am pleased, or rather not displeased. I don't like the metro startup screen but I am willing to give it time.

2. Intel based pad devices - these are not out yet but they will have the ability to run metro style applications, as well as legacy Windows desktop apps. It is a bit like two computers in one because desktop apps and metro apps apparently cannot communicate. The nice thing about this is that you will be able to run full blown BibleWorks on a pad computer. I am sure we will have to do a little tweaking, but we won't even be working on that until intel based pad computers become available. I think this will be nice.

3. Windows 8 running on ARM devices - This will be a metro style computer exclusively with no support at all for the desktop or legacy Windows apps. It remains to be seen how well this will do in the market place. Why would you buy an ARM device when you can have both metro apps and the old desktop on a pad computer. ARM devices use less power and likely will be cheaper, but intel will solve the power problm eventually. They have too much to lose by not doing so. We may eventually produce a trimmed down ARM application, but the interface is nowhere flexible enough to support full blown BibleWorks. It is intended primarily for light use, e-mail, communication apps, and the like. Nothing serious will run on Metro - in my opinion at least.

So the news is for the most part pretty good. I am excited to see BibleWorks on a pad computer, though for serious work and office use (which includes BibleWorks I believe) the dektop is here to stay.

Mike

P.S. One thing I forgot - Metro Apps will be avilable only through the Microsoft store - pretty much like it is with the Apple iDevices. I understand the reasons for this, some of which are good and some of which are just plain greedy. But I don't like to see this coming. I think it would be really sad if this became the model for all computer apps. I personally don't think Microsoft will ever be able to lock up the desktop this way, but time will tell.