No matter how long you may have been hitting the “remind me later” option on your computer at home to prevent downloading the despised Windows 8, there is no more running from it. Windows 8 has hit MCPS, and with no “remind me later button” in sight.

For many Watkins Mill students, it was a shock to see Windows 8 on the school’s computers, replacing our beloved Windows 7 Enterprise. But, for some students this is a welcomed change. “I prefer the Windows 8 because it’s newer and it’s more efficient,” sophomore Khava Tsarni said. Tsarni uses the computers everyday at Watkins Mill in her digital art class.

Senior Claudia Ruiz is also a fan of Windows 8 because of the new format. “I’m obviously not used to it yet,” Ruiz said. “I just like the format of it, it looks prettier.” Windows 8 features a start screen, instead of a start tab like in Windows 7. The Windows 8 start screen is virtually the same as the start tab, only enlarged to take the whole screen.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“I’m obviously not used to it yet,” Ruiz said. “I just like the format of it, it looks prettier.”[/perfectpullquote]

Junior Ariba Shaikh, is also a fan of the Windows 8 upgrades. “I prefer [the new Windows] because it’s newer and it’s more efficient,” Shaikh said, “I know more of the other students prefer the old Windows because they are used to it.”

As Shaikh said, not all students are jumping on the Windows 8 bandwagon. Some students dislike Windows 8 because of its complexity. “I like Windows 7 more because it was simpler and more easy to use,” senior Brandon Rodriguez said. Rodriguez tends to bring his own laptop to school partly because of this change.

Senior Jyline Carranza shares Rodriguez’s distaste for Windows 8. “I like Windows 7,” Carranza added. “It’s what I have been using for the past years in middle school and high school, so I know it really well.”

It seems most students take a dislike to Windows 8 because they are used to Windows 7, while students who like Windows 8 are used to it.