Microsoft Documents Windows 8's Best Features: PC Reset and PC Refresh

It takes longer with BitLocker *disabled*, not enabled. From the article: "However, you may also notice that when BitLocker drive encryption was enabled on the drive, this process took much less time. This is due to an optimization we employ so that erasing an encrypted drive would require erasing only the encryption metadata, rendering all the data unrecoverable."

@okravetz: The reasons for doing the Bitlocker method that way are clear: it's the same as when you delete a file off your hard drive. When you delete a file, the index records are erased, thus allowing the drive to write over that data space without having to zero out the data blocks first. SSD's actually have to zero out the data blocks first. This is what TRIM does in the background though. Newer SSD's have built-in garbage collection to handle that process without requiring the OS to have TRIM. I prefer those drives because they get the job done faster.

It looks good, but the fear that I have is that it will still be difficult to use with the OPK. Setting up a WinRE session using the OPK and creating an OEM recovery image that integrates with the WinRE recovery tools, and then imaging that for duplication onto numerous machines is a very manual process that requires MANY steps. Duplication of GPT hard drives from UEFI systems is almost completely manual too, and the default unattended install script doesn't include the recovery options automatically, so an OEM has to set that up themselves. I really hope they completely re-do the OPK from scratch. The whole XML script thing with WinSIM isn't much better than the old .ini files from XP. In fact, with XML, it's far more complicated. The thing should be point-and-click, with drag-and-drop package integration and 1 screen for OEM customization options. They need to Metro-fy the OPK and WAIK. The EDT is half-baked too. It still doesn't work properly with UEFI and localization features for Windows are bypassed in favour of the baseline image default language.

I guess this will be the end of all these cleanup/performance utilities...

Having owned Macs and PCs for years, this feature is kind of an embarrassment. I have a 2007 MacBook Pro that is now almost five years old and the only "refreshing" that it ever needed was a new battery. It's as fast and reliable today as the day I first took it out of the box. Microsoft keeps trying to create a better solution than actually trying to correct the underlying problem.

Michael, it would make sense for Windows Refresh to wipe "classic" programs, as it is likely those types of programs that are slowing down Windows (not necessarily Photoshop, etc., but other classic programs). What I wonder is if Windows Refresh will wipe out manufacturer software and drivers. I imagine it will have some way of handling drivers, but what about all of the HP/Dell/Lenovo bloatware that stack on top of Windows?

@Jago, Just read the article, and I agree whole-heartedly! These features are not features at all, they are bandages for the larger problem of Windows o/s stability.