A Month Into It: A Running Review of Windows 8

[Nrein]

Well, I've been using Windows 8 now for about a month. First as a separate, clean OS, and now I've integrated my previous OS with Windows 8. Here is what I've got from the experience thus far:
The Transition:
I've been using Windows 7 since before the official copy was made available. It's hard to believe that was already almost three years ago. When I first booted up Windows 8, and was greeted by that Metro Start window, I was a bit dumbstruck. I had no idea what I was looking at, and I really didn't like how it came off. I loaded up the Desktop, but saw there was no Start Button! Instead, with my mouse in the corner a little block popped up. I click it, and I go back to this Metro Start window. Then, after piddling around for a bit, I finally got around to the setup of my, well, settings. I can honestly say I like the way everything is slim lined in 8 for the setup. It's all in one convenient window, if you're not looking to make more fine adjustments. Not to mention, it's nice being connected to your Microsoft Account. After about a day or two,  I can say I was comfortably using 8 as if it was 7.
Prog- I mean, Apps:
This new Windows utilized Apps now for many of its main processes. At first installation you're greeted with a handful of those apps, ranging from apps for communication like Mail, People and Messenger, to Windows Live Games and Weather. Granted, I deleted about half of the starting Apps, simply because I would never use them. Currently I've got Weather, Calendar, People, Messaging, Metro IE and the App Store. With just those I already feel like I've got everything I could need right at the Metro screen, minus the other "apps" I have. All programs are now called "apps," however only ones downloaded from the App Store will usually be Metro UI-friendly. What's best about these apps are the Full Screen functionality and the work load. They all have their own independent Full Screen functions, and they hardly use any RAM/CPU. My laptop can comfortably run at least all the Metro Apps I have, plus Skype, and use less than 2GB of RAM. This is perfect both for people that have a low amount of RAM, and the people that have a ton that want more room to work with. All of your Metro Apps can also be switched to via the Left Sidebar, and you can actually snap Apps to the Left or Right sides, to have viewing of multiple Apps at one time. You can have Map and Weather opened for planning the perfect trip, or Messenger and People open to have as many conversations as you want. Not to mention, you can get notifications for all apps that pop up, and by clicking the notification you can switch to an App even if you don't have it open at that time.
Speed and Program Support:
I thought that Windows 7 was pretty fast. Thus far, Windows 8 has proven it's a leg faster. Start Up just zooms by, I feel like I'm barely waiting, even when I had programs that hindered the speed. When I did, a window popped up letting me know that it was happening, and it brought me to a window that showed me just what programs were running at start up, and how much they affected it. I disabled all the ones that had a high impact, and man did it speed it up more. Using a Pin Number to log in is also a very effect way to get on quick, you don't even need to push the Enter key. Programs and Apps load relatively fast, as long is it isn't your first time loading them. The new Task Manager is a bit more detailed, showing you MB! values for programs, and also letting you know if they're Suspended/Not Working/ETC. While running five Apps and Desktop programs, I sit comfortably below the 2-3GB mark. I've also very rarely had any choke ups or freezes, everything typically runs smooth as a whistle.
In reality, if you can see past the Metro Menu and all that comes with it, Windows 8 is a great upgrade from 7. Is it needed? No, not at all. I can comfortably say that I could easily just stick with 7 and never even get 8. Will that happen? Not at all.
For now, the Windows 8 Consumer Review has earned a 8/10 from me, and the second opinion would be a 9.5/10 if you can look past the Metro Menu at least for desktops/laptops.