So I pretty-much have my new machine up and running full-time. I am still going to have to hit my old workstation for some things but am more-or-less working on my new machine.  It’s really fast. And Bret was right, I’m not so far using all the RAM. 16 would have been enough but as @CodeMonkeyJava “go big or go home”.

Windows 8 is…interesting.  So far I still seem to do most of my work in the “Desktop”.  However, I like the Store concept and I like the Metro UX.  Live tiles are also nice.  I really like how I can switch between Desktop and Metro easily.  Overall I think Microsoft has done a great job of combining the needed experience for touch and mouse.

My overall Windows 8 rating is 5.9 because of the video card. Otherwise I’m hitting 7.8.  The system boots from cold in about 11 seconds and performs complete shutdown in 4.7 seconds.  It wakes from sleep in less than 1 second.

VS 2012 starts and restarts almost instantly.  In fact, I find myself staring at the start page without realizing it.  Build time doesn’t seem to be significantly increased but it is faster.

I seem to already be reinvigorated for work with this new machine. I’m looking forward to the performance.