Microsoft has called on developers to rev their enthusiasm and begin coding apps for the new Windows Store, which is expected in late February. The digital distribution center, which will be part of Windows 8, is similar in concept to the Mac App Store part of Apple's OS X Lion. But Windows Store is less about customers and developers and more about Microsoft.
Microsoft is currently investigating reports of a zero-day vulnerability in Windows 7 64-bit that leads to crashes and could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems.
The threat of identity theft is certainly one that everyone that uses a PC or any device that connects to the Internet, has to be aware of. Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system will have some new security features that will help with protecting a person's own digital identity.
If you're a Windows user that's holding onto your Vista or XP installation, then this recent security report from Microsoft might make you think about switching to Windows 7.
There was a time in the tech business when your company could be as slow as molasses in January yet still prevail based on shear market size. That day disappeared in the rear view mirror many years ago, as Microsoft is about to learn as it prepares to introduce a major Windows upgrade.
This week, I'd like to discuss how I'm using Evernote and Word 2010 to create Windows 8 Secrets with Rafael Rivera and then examine the week's official Microsoft revelations about Windows 8 and the blogosphere reactions.
A bit over two months ago, an SSD on my primary desktop PC failed, and after futzing around with it a bit, I replaced the drive and installed the Windows 8 Developer Preview instead of Windows 7. This was, of course, what I had intended to do upon seeing the Developer Preview for the first time back in September.
In using the Windows 8 Developer Preview day-to-day, things have settled into a consistent lull and because of the lack of Metro-style apps--which will be partially rectified by the late February beta opening of the Windows Store--I'm mostly using Windows 8 as if it were Windows 7, sticking to the desktop for most work.
I don't have to tell you that the new Start screen brings with it some challenges. This is especially true in cases of muscle memory, where we automatically and without thought perform some key combination or whatever in anticipation of some familiar outcome.
Released just last week in Developers Preview mode, Windows 8 already contains more than 300 new features. At its Build developers conference, Microsoft pointed to plans to keep adding more new capabilities until Windows 8 evolves into a shipping product. Which of the existing features are most important to get to know about right now?
Windows 8 is, without a doubt, the most controversial Windows version the company has ever designed. After a month of using and dissecting the Windows Developer Preview, I offer a deeper look at what's inside and some predictions about what you can expect in the future.
Yesterday you might have read that an early Milestone 1 build of Windows 8 was leaked and made its way to the usual download locations. You might be interested in grabbing yourself a copy so you could live on the cutting edge and take the new OS for a spin. My advice - Don't bother!
Microsoft has written yet another voluminous blog post about Windows 8, this one concerning the Setup experience. It touches on a number of interesting topics including Microsoft's ongoing efforts to simplify and streamline Setup, a new web delivering method of installing Windows 8, and automated installs.
If you are responsible for managing Windows 7 systems that are open to the public or have multiple user accounts, you may want to add a warning message to the logon screen. You may also want to display logon statistics on the logon screen. Fortunately, doing so is easily accomplished by tweaking a couple of...
The matter of whether existing Windows applications will run on Windows 8 on ARM -- putting them on tablets -- has been kicked back and forth a lot this year.
Not unlike an artfully created but tiny-portioned appetizer leading into a flavorful and filling main course that remains stuck in the kitchen, my first hands-on experience with Windows 8 left me eager for what was coming but disappointed with what was set in front of me.
Our friends at BlueStacks have done it again. Tuesday, the Android virtualization software company announced that they have ported the BlueStacks App Player to Windows 8 for use on ultrabooks and tablets powered by x86 processors.
Microsoft's Windows 8 engineering team is continuing to trickle out information on some of the changes coming with the next version of Windows. Today's tidbit is about how file management/copying will be getting an overhaul.
Windows 8 currently boasts the same hardware requirements as Windows 7. Don't believe it. Microsoft has never been accurate with its hardware specifications yet.
If you're hankering after a Windows 8 tablet but thought you might also run Android, think again: Microsoft is planning to lock down the boot options on all ARM devices running its new OS.
Well before Windows 8 is released, Apple will have a robust cloud service that is at least as capable as--and possibly more capable than--the one that Microsoft will release.
A cultural revolution is creeping through Microsoft. With a reorganisation in full swing and job cuts rumoured, the future looks uncertain for an entire class of marketing types and MBAs at Redmond: the software giant's officers seem intent on resetting the corporate clock to year zero to recapture the spirit of Bill Gates.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer really wants to sell you on Windows 8, touting features ranging from a new lock screen that still shares updates to the benefits of the controversial Metro user interface.
Rumor has it that Windows 8 -- the first version of Windows for ARM as well as x86 and billed as Microsoft's answer for the PC to iOS and the iPad -- will actually ship early: next April. That's quicker than anybody had expected. Plus, Microsoft is putting people in position for a big consumer push for Windows 8, hoping to take the brand battle to Apple.
Microsoft loves to give away cool stuff at their major development conferences and press events. In the past they have given out big ticket items like flat screen televisions. Xbox 360 consoles and laptops to conference attendees. Microsoft's first annual BUILD Conference in Anaheim, California this week is no exception. The company is giving a free copy of a Windows 8-based Samsung tablet device to attendees who paid to get into the event.
On the second day of its inaugural BUILD Conference in Anaheim, California, on Wednesday, Microsoft will detail the next major version of its server OS, Windows Server 8. Developed concurrently with Windows 8 and likely to ship at the same time, Windows Server incorporates technologies and methodologies that Microsoft first developed for its cloud computing Azure platform; the result is a new Server version that thoroughly rethinks the product for a new age of connectivity and capabilities.
The latest blog post on Building Windows 8 confirms an observation made earlier this year, back in April, when screenshots of development Windows 8 builds began leaking onto the Internet. Windows 8's new Explorer will be getting the Scenic UI, also known as the "ribbon."
That's the date when mainstream support for Windows Vista officially ends. And it cannot come soon enough for Microsoft, whose public image was badly damaged by the massively unliked Vista. If the rumors about a possible Windows 8 release in April 2012 are true, it will be an almost perfect changing of the guard.
With 500 new features, Mango's a juicy release for Microsoft's Windows Mobile team: third-party application multi tasking, HTML5-compliant browser and video voice mail.
Lodsys has not gone after Windows developers with claims that they're violating the company's in-app purchasing patents. But could this happen with Windows 8?
The amazing truth is, despite the orgiastic deluge of Windows 8-related news that we've reported this week, there're still a ton of features, changes, and clarifications that we haven't even begun to cover. With the Build Windows conference over, however, it's now time to fill in the gaps. It will now be a matter of weeks or months until Microsoft releases another public build, and so we finally have a chance to contemplate the repercussions of what we've learnt over the last week.
A developer pre-beta version of Windows 8 OS for laptops, tablets and desktops based on x86 architecture was released a couple of months ago. In February, Microsoft will also launch the first developer Win 8 version for ARM-based devices, accoring to CNet's sources.
Posting another installment of the "Building Windows 8" blog last Friday, Windows and Windows Live Division President Steven Sinofsky responded to user feedback over some recent blogs, including one from August 29 in which the company revealed that Windows Explorer would sport a ribbon interface.
Microsoft has used its BUILD developer conference to make available a developer preview edition of Windows 8, which gives the closest look yet at what the next generation of the operating system is going to offer.
During a demo of the new operating system, public relations director of the Windows Business Group Janelle Poole said, "Windows releases come round about every three years and this year will be three years in October since we launched Windows 7," according to a posting by Pocket-lint. "So I think that's a good guideline to consider."
This should be obvious, but something needs to be stated by somebody: Based on previous development cycles, Microsoft's plans for public beta and the PC market's desperate need for a new OS this year, Windows 8 is tracking for October launch. Actually, the public beta coming this month is the last milestone for hitting October, otherwise Microsoft might be forced to repeat history and, like Windows Vista, miss the holidays. That's unthinkable.
There's been much discussion this week about a Microsoft mandate for its new Windows 8 operating system, which requires that devices with ARM processors carry a controversial feature known as Secure Boot. This feature will limit the range of operating systems that can be used on the device. The information was discovered in an update to the 'Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements' documentation, published back in December.
Windows 8 news is gushing forth from Microsoft's BUILD conference up in Seattle, as the company exposes the inner workings of the latest iteration of their operating system. Here's a look at all the latest Windows 8 news we're seeing today.
A new entry in the "Building Windows 8? blog has been published, titled "Delivering Fast Boot Times in Windows 8?. He recognizes that boot time is one of the features most discussed about, and says the Windows division wants your boot to be as fast as possible. It comes as a welcome addition to the information that we've been given about Windows 8 -- Windows 7 and its predecessors seem like lightyears behind Apple products in terms of booting up. I'm sure that everyone reading this post has encountered long periods of frustration as your computer restarts in what seems like an eternity.
Microsoft revealed in a post on the Building Windows 8 blog that the next-generation Windows OS will require fewer reboots for Windows patches and updates. To anyone who has lost hours of work thanks to an unexpected automatic reboot, that probably sounds awesome. But, there is a reason the system reboots, and the solution proposed by Microsoft doesn't solve the issue.
Microsoft provided its first public demo of Windows 8 this week. The UI looked flashy, but Microsoft is still trying to marry tablets and desktops, and it could ruin the standard version of Windows this time.
Because Windows 8 will run on laptops, ultrabooks, and tablets as well as desktop PCs, access to mobile networks is important. On the Engineering Windows 8 blog on Friday, Windows president Steven Sinofsky detailed five improvements to Windows 8 that will simplify connecting to mobile networks and managing network connections.
Monday Futuremark said that it's already working on a new version of 3DMark that's designed for gaming performance measurement and comparison across all Windows 8 tablets, notebooks and desktops.
Next week, Microsoft will host its inaugural BUILD conference, an amalgamation of previous Microsoft conferences such as PDC (Professional Developers Conference), WinHEC (Windows Hardware Engineering Conference), and MIX (which typically targets web and phone developers). But unlike those other shows, BUILD is owned and run by the Windows Division at Microsoft, and it has only one aim: To reveal Windows 8 to the world.
Microsoft's official architectural diagram of Windows 8 has been a source of controversy since it debuted last week at Build. Here are some attempts to redraw and re-explain what's going on under the covers with Windows 8 from around the Web.
It's not the most detailed look, but Tom's Hardware noticed a cameo of the newest Start Menu in a Windows 8 video demo. It looks... pretty bare. Stark white-on-black text, very few buttons, and, importantly, where are the programs?
The Start Screen is part of the Metro user interface in Windows 8 that was showcased at Microsoft's Build conference last month. It's a radical change for Windows desktop OS users, meaning that people will either love it or hate it when Windows 8 is released.
Analysts parsing what Microsoft revealed of Windows 8 earlier this week are split today on how big the company's gambling with its operating system cash cow, some saying the bet was for the farm, while others said it was the best move Microsoft could make.
Microsoft will be giving Windows 8 users the option to log into their PCs and tablets using their Windows Live ID. Here's what you'll get if you do so.
With Windows 8, Microsoft is reimagining the most basic premises of personal computers. CEO Steve Ballmer recognizes the drastic changes coming in Windows 8, even calling the platform one of the biggest risks taken by the industry giant. The UI changes and fundamental paradigm shifts that Windows 8 brings to the table are making a lot of power users eager to give the platform a trial run, even in its current state as a Developer Preview.
The Windows 8 Developer Preview is out and, let's face it, you want to give it a shot. Windows 8 marks a major departure from any other version of the OS and it behooves any geek to get out on the front lines of such an introduction. Even so, you might not have an extra computer lying around to install the young operating system on. Virtualization to the rescue.
Still on the fence about Windows 8? Not convinced that it's got serious potential? Here's a direct side-by-side comparison with an iOS 5 iPad that might be enough to sway you.
It has been revealed in a recent leaked build, that the operating system Microsoft currently code names Windows 8, contains Hyper-V 3.0 technology and a new virtual hard drive format called VHDX.
Mary-Jo Foley's article about a slide shown at last year's Microsoft BUILD conference raises uncertainties that bug me as a developer. It's the graphic that attempts to lay out the architecture of Windows 8, particularly in relation to Metro versus the Desktop. As a long-time Windows API programmer, I regard this graphic as the most important yet about Windows 8. Something doesn't seem right!
I hate the term fanboy. It's a pejorative meant to denigrate someone's opinion. A conversation-ender. After applying it to someone, really there's nothing left to say. But seeing the reaction to Windows 8, I get why people use it.
Microsoft kicked off a new Windows 8 engineering blog about a month before the company is expected to release a first widespread test build of the next version of Windows.
Microsoft is back at it again with its Imagine Cup 2012 challenges and this time around is targeting in on Kinect and Windows 8. These two platforms offer a wide range of flexibility and the challenges will test the contestants to step outside the box and use innovative and unique ways to solve challenges that face us everyday.
More and more information is leaking out about Windows 8, and this time it's over at WinUnleaked.tk which claims the screenshot of Windows 8's Start screen is of the latest build of Microsoft's upcoming PC operating system.
By Intel's own admission, its attempt at an app store has been a flop. Even though the company supplies the processors for more than 80% of the PC market, it has barely even scratched the surface at bringing a solid method for software distribution to all those devices it powers.
There was nothing too terribly revealing in Intel Senior Vice President of Software and Services Renee James' comments about Windows 8 during Intel's shareholders meeting this week. But even the fact that James called Microsoft's next-generation operating system by its codename will, no doubt, be ill-received by the powers-that-be in Microsoft's Windows division.
Microsoft may be porting Windows 8 to the ARM architecture, but the general manager of Intel's software and services group insists she's not losing any sleep over a bruising battle in a more-competitive arena. At least when it comes to PCs.
I've managed to install the Windows 8 Developer Preview into a VirtualBox session, after spending a few hours in frustration trying to find a way around not having a dual layer DVD-R handy, and all of the suggested workarounds either requiring a large USB flash drive or not working on a UEFI boot machine. I'll just start by saying, yeah, Metro gets in the way so far. I'll leave it at that since it's clearly unfinished and I'd like to talk about other things.
The Windows 8 feature that logs users in if they touch certain points in a photo in the right order might be fun, but it's not very good security, according to the inventor of RSA's SecurID token.
Microsoft on Tuesday revealed that it will provide a public preview of its app store for Windows 8, called the Windows Store, alongside the public Windows 8 Beta, which is now due in late February. This amounts to a slight delay for the release, which was widely expected to ship over a month earlier.
We've known that Kinect for Windows is coming for a while now, but The Daily got its hands on the first computers that have the technology built directly into them:
Another week, another Windows 8 leak. This time it's the turn of PCBeta, who have revealed four new screenshots from a developer build. The version shown is build 8172.
Windows 8 may or may not be the final name of Microsoft's next version of Windows client, due out in 2012. If it is just a codename, what should the actual final name be?
A new draft of Microsoft's Windows 8 hardware certification specs confirms what we already knew: the new Secure Boot feature won't lock out Linux on hundreds of millions of new PCs. But Linux backers are demanding the right to hack a new class of devices that doesn't yet exist.
Microsoft gave a taste of what you can come to expect from Windows 8 at last week's BUILD conference. The most obvious change is a new touch-friendly user interface known as Metro. If you want to try Metro for yourself, you can download the developer preview of Windows 8, or wait until the final release candidate arrives. Or you can get a taste of it by installing an add-on for your browser.
The amount of threats to PCs and mobile devices continues to increase, according to a new paper released today by Intel-owned cyber security company McAfee. The paper, which can be read in full in PDF format, goes over those predictions which include an increase in malware attacks on mobile phones and an increase of rootkits that could affect PC operating systems, including Microsoft's Windows 8.
In a new post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Windows boss Steven Sinofsky confirmed that Windows Media Center will be in Windows 8. But the code won't be in early releases, and it's still not clear how this little-used feature will be delivered.
Design simplicity is the key for Windows 8, and Microsoft recently discussed on its blog yet another popular Windows feature getting streamlined in Windows 8: the task manager. The new task manager echoes the design simplicity Microsoft was showing off earlier with the new copy file dialog.
But although Microsoft went to pains to say that it would not discuss the business end of the app store -- including what percentage the company will return to developers -- a primer of the download market published by Microsoft said that it, like Apple, will take a 30% cut of all sales.
For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free. The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.
Microsoft is trying to shed light on the new secure boot process in Windows 8 to address concerns from people who may want to dual-boot a non-Windows OS, such as Linux.
Windows 8 includes a storage scheme suitable for business deployment that can treat hundreds of disks as a single logical storage reservoir and ensures resiliency by backing up data on at least two physical disks.
Microsoft has allegedly fired two of their own employees due to their role in the recent Windows 8 leaks. After a long stream of Windows 8 screenshot and feature preview leaks, the first build leaked in April, with the most recent being a Milestone 3 server edition of Build 7959. This move by Microsoft will surely set a strict precedent for any future leakers.
With the UEFI Secure Boot it seems MS is back to some of their old, dirtier practices. This time around it involves the ARM platform. Does Windows 8 want to be the only player on tablets and phones?
The next version of Windows will be called Windows 8 and it's coming in 2012, or is it? Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called the new OS Windows 8 on Monday and said it would be coming out next year during a speech at a developer conference in Tokyo, according to a transcript on Microsoft's site. Previously, Microsoft had been careful to refer to Windows 8 only as "the next version of Windows."
Microsoft announced plans for its Windows 8 developer conference in mid-September, known as Build, back on June 1. As of August 1, the Build Web site now shows the conference to be sold out.
Microsoft's Build event for Windows developers is just 10 days away. Here are a few tidbits about agenda changes, an unofficial preconference and more for those following the twists and turns.
There is a lot of excitement around Microsoft's upcoming BUILD conference that will dig deep into Windows 8. For the press who are going, the pre-conference sessions that were under embargo have been canceled.
I've refrained from posting much on the Windows 8 under-the-hood features that individuals with access to recently leaked Windows 8 builds have been unlocking as of late.
Today in the Windows 8 Blog, Microsoft talked about the integration of Hyper-V embedded into Windows 8. The company plans to offer Hyper-V with Windows 8 when it launches, allowing consumers to create virtual machines on their desktops or laptops without the need for third-party software, like VMware.
While technology enthusiasts are still wondering whether the next major Windows Phone version will be based on Windows 8 or the existing Windows Phone codebase, Microsoft this week did provide an answer to one important question: The company revealed that existing Windows Phone apps will indeed run on Windows Phone 8.
A Microsoft executive last week confirmed that the software giant will use its popular Xbox brand for media services across devices types in more specifically in Windows 8. I had previously and exclusively reported that Microsoft was retiring its lackluster Zune brand over time and that the products and services that currently fall under Zune would be rebranded as part of this change, most likely to Xbox. This now appears to be the case.
As Microsoft pushes toward the official beta release for Windows 8, the company is still being harangued over accusations that its Windows 8 hardware specs will exclude the Linux operating system.
To be certified as a fully-compliant, bona fide Windows 8 logo device, a prospective PC must replace its aging BIOS with the new-fangled Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). On the outset, this is certainly a good thing -- UEFI is the reason that Windows 8 can detect rootkits and malware at boot time, and it's part of the reason that Windows 8 can start so quickly -- but UEFI could also be used to block other operating systems, such as Linux, from being installed.
Microsoft yesterday condemned and rebutted comments made about Windows 8 by Renee James, an Intel senior vice president who heads the software and services group. At an Intel investors meeting on Tuesday, James revealed details about the next version of the Windows operating system that apparently ticked off some of the higher-ups in Redmond.
With Windows 8, Microsoft is joining Apple and Linux-shop Canonical in trying to make its signature operating system mouse-free and more touchable for use on devices like tablets.
And so the smartphonification of the general purpose computer continues. This time around, though, it might actually be for the better. Microsoft has detailed two new features in Windows 8: refreshing and resetting your computer. Reinstalls will be a thing of the past.
One of the keys to Windows 7's roaring success in the market was delivering on the promise of using less memory than its predecessor, Windows Vista, while being just as fast if not faster. Users of older machines or netbooks stand to benefit the most from a more responsive experience with a limited RAM capacity.
One of the challenges of Microsoft's new Metro-style Start screen in Windows 8 is how to provide the constant "live tile" updates that the design calls for without destroying battery life or crippling system performance. A recent Building Windows 8 blog post by Ryan Haveson details how the company's new, lightweight update system works, and why Microsoft felt it had no choice but to kill the "Gadget" functionality introduced in Windows Vista in favor of a new approach.
Microsoft is doing good on their "no compromises" approach to developing Windows 8, as the new searching capabilities of the operating system demonstrates. Existing searching techniques via keyboards and mice are retained and improved upon, while touch users are accommodated just as well.
Microsoft has a surprise for users tired of waiting forever while their computers boot up. It will take less than 10 seconds for a Windows 8 PC to go from powered down to the start screen, according to a Microsoft video demonstration. The speedy boot is thanks to a new hybrid system that mixes processes used in cold boots and hibernation mode. Microsoft showed off the new functionality in yet another blog post on its Building Windows 8 blog.
Look at this video of it, and you'll understand. Look what happens when they show Microsoft Office. Other things to look out for: how it handles multitasking. I have to say - pretty damn awesome.
Windows 8 is currently expected to launch sometime in the mid-to-late 2012 time period. By that time the capacity for mechanical hard disk drives for PC desktops could be much higher than they are now, even with the current hard drive shortage.
Microsoft's Windows 8 developer preview has been out for about a month, and the software giant is ready to discuss some new changes to Windows 8 based on user feedback. In an incredibly long and detailed blog post, Marina Dukhon, a senior program manager on the Windows 8 Core Experience team, discussed upcoming changes to Windows 8's apps screen, start screen customization, and a replacement for Windows 7 jump lists in Windows 8.
Microsoft officials provided more information on plans for UEFI secure boot support in Windows 8 in response to fears by some users that they may be blocked from dual-booting Linux on Windows 8 machines.
The most visible change in Windows 8, the new Start screen, has arguably been the focal point of discussion on the Building Windows 8 blog and across the web regarding the upcoming operating system. Starting today, Microsoft is kicking off a set of posts on the blog to better address the concerns of a move to a new launcher mechanism that, to some, appears more touch-friendly than for keyboards and mice.
Tim Cook, via Engadget, proclaimed that "Windows 7 -- it took 20 weeks to reach 10 percent of the Windows install base. It took Lion two weeks." Going further, "Six million copies of Lion downloaded so far -- 80 percent more than Snow Leopard". These may not be direct quotes but contain the message of what he said at the event in terms of growth rate.
Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system was the first Windows OS to natively support touch screen interfaces. Although the feature has yet to be used by most PC makers and software creators, Windows 8 is expected to add even more touch screen features when it is released in 2012. Microsoft-News.com posted word that the company recently revealed it has filed for patents for several different types of touch screen interfaces.
Charms may not be as ubiquitous in our daily lives as Windows and Office, but they may soon be with the onset of Windows 8 machines about. Microsoft describes "charms" as the menu of icons and commands invoked by flicking from the right edge on tablets, or by pointing the mouse pointer to the lower left corner of the screen.
And so the war on general computing continues. Were you looking forward to ARM laptops and maybe even desktops now that Windows 8 will also be released for ARM?
In its first post-BUILD blog post, Microsoft further discusses one of the more incredible things about Windows 8: Its ability to boot from a dead start in just seconds. While incredulous Mac users continue to insist that Windows 8's blink-and-you'll-miss-it boot times must simply be fake, Microsoft says that's not so. Windows 8 is just really, really fast.
Microsoft on Tuesday provided another glimpse at changes coming with the next-generation of Windows software that powers most of the world's computers.
Microsoft has given details on a variety of ways in which the upcoming Windows 8 operating system does a better job than its predecessors at letting users manage their connections to Wi-Fi and mobile broadband networks.
From Microsoft's syrupy commercials, consumers already know a little bit about what the cloud can do. When they're stuck in an airport, for example, Windows 7's cloud features let them enjoy recently-recorded TV shows from their PVR at home while they wait for their flight. From a consumer standpoint, access to pictures, movies, music, and documents on the go is a big part of the cloud's attraction right now.
Microsoft's Corporate Vice President Dan'l Lewin has provided a clue as to when the next version of Windows will hit the shelves, with indications showing that the last few months of next year is the planned for the OS to hit retail availability. This comes as he was speaking at a startup event in Silicon Valley for the BUILD conference coming later this year in September.
Microsoft knows that to successfully launch Windows 8 to the consumers, you must execute a near flawless media campaign leading up to the platform release. Because of this, Microsoft has pulled in a director from Disney to help facilitate the impending launch.
Last week, Microsoft unleashed a three-prong attack in which it revealed a major overhaul of the Windows UI, coming in next year's Windows 8 release. This includes a live appearance by Windows Head Honcho Steven Sinofsky at an industry conference, a professionally made video starring Microsoft UI Guru Jensen Harris, and a separate appearance at the Computex trade show in Taipei by Microsoft Hardware Lead Michael Angiulo.
Microsoft will post the first developer preview beta of Windows 8 late on Tuesday, the company announced as it showed off the new OS running on a Samsung tablet.
Microsoft has demonstrated how the forthcoming Windows 8 will communicate with the Xbox platform, in its first showing of how the company aims to bring "everything you know and love on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to Windows."
Microsoft is demoing their latest and greatest build of Windows 8 at at CES today, and we spotted something slightly new when taking a look at a device. There's a new application, that's deeply integrated with the OS called "Microsoft Music" and it looks awfully like something that could replace Zune.
One bit of Windows 8 that has been circling around the web for sometime is the inclusion of an App store. We have seen the leaked slides and the little tidbits from the AllthingsD presentation but neither have come out and said, "we will have an app store".
In a blog post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Steven Sinofsky, wrote that Microsoft has been getting a lot of reactions and suggestions. I hope that means some changes are on the way! Check out this fan-made video:
In a detailed Windows 8 post last week I outlined some issues around Windows 8 and mobility. One of the biggest issues is the resolution requirements. 1366×768 is going to he expensive to implement on 10? and smaller screens. I also found a lot of issues with portrait mode. The apps included in the developer edition weren't optimised for portrait mode at all. Fortunately most ofbthe problems lie in the applications and not the operating system itself. In the video below, Microsoft talk directly about portrait mode. It's very much a promo video but its good to know that Microsoft are on the case. I like to think that the article and detailed comments helped. Keep thone thoughts flowing.
If you're dying for more Windows 8 news then you'll want to bookmark Microsoft's brand new blog, Building Windows 8 where the software giant plans to start dishing on the next iteration of its OS. Microsoft says it will use the new blog to talk about forthcoming features, user interface decisions, engineering and other Windows 8-related news. "We know developers, IT pros, and gamers all want to know what's new [in Windows 8] for them," wrote Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division. "There is so much packed into Windows 8...so we want to be sure to take the time to cover as many of these topics as possible."
Hold onto your socks Windows 8 fans, because Microsoft is adding some new enhancements to its file manager application, Windows Explorer, in the next version of its popular operating system. And the first Explorer feature Microsoft wants to show off is (drumroll please): the new copy dialog. Huh?
Microsoft's annual partner conference last week featured previews of the Windows 8 server and desktop operating systems, talk of integration between Skype and Lync, and a barrage of insults aimed at the company's competitors.
Web delivery of software, be it games or operating systems, is rapidly superseding the DVD disc. In preparation for this, Microsoft is working on making Windows 8 optimized for download over the internet.
Over the weekend, Microsoft published yet another deep dive into Windows 8, this time focusing on how mobile broadband (3G, 4G) is seamlessly baked into the new OS. Where possible, Windows 8 will automatically use WiFi over 3G to save you money, and there's granular control over which wireless radios are turned on/off.
Responding to complaints over the Metro-based Windows 8 Start screen, Microsoft is still trying to defend the new user interface but has promised to make some tweaks to appease unhappy users.
For the second time in Windows history, a new release of Windows will not increase its memory system requirements, but rather it will remain the same or even go down. Windows 7 required a minimum of 1 GB, the same as Windows Vista, which also asked for 1 GB. Windows 8 is likely to stay at that level or even drop slightly as the OS apparently is much more considerate when acquiring available memory resources.
For years, we've wondered when Microsoft would bring its Server-based Hyper-V virtualization platform to the Windows client. In Windows 7, of course, that didn't happen: Instead, Microsoft's corporate customers must make do with expensive and complex server-side solutions like App-V and MED-V, while end users can utilize the free Windows Virtual PC with XP Mode. So we've turned our attention to Windows 8, and when Rafael Rivera and I examined early pre-release versions of this upcoming product, we did indeed see proof that some Hyper-V code was in there. The question remained, however: What, exactly, are Microsoft's plans for integrating Hyper-V into Windows 8 on the PC client?
Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will support a number of the company's Windows Live online services. That includes Skydrive, the cloud-based data storage service. Today the official Skydrive web site has been updated with a new video that gives more information on how Windows 8 will work with Skydrive. When the final version is released, Windows 8 users will have to sign up for Windows Live but once that's done they will find that Skydrive support can be accessed directly from the OS.
Yet another new feature for Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system was shown off on Thursday during the BUILD Conference. Computerworld.com reports that Microsoft demonstrated Windows To Go, which allows a person to copy their entire Windows 8 installation onto a USB drive. That drive can then be plugged into any PC or laptop which will then boot up Windows 8, with all of the person's files intact. The person can resume working on their own files and applications.
I got a bunch of flak for condemning the new Windows 8 Metro interface, but now that we've see what Microsoft is scheming at its Build conference, I feel vindicated.
The software giant's notorious Blue Screen bug check, or error screen, is now black inside the latest Windows 8 builds. Microsoft has used the Blue Screen of Death since early copies of Windows 1.0. The first Windows error screen composed of code page 437 symbols against a blue background. The first proper Blue Screen was present in Windows 3.x. Microsoft started using a Red Screen of Death inside early Windows Vista builds. The company also used Red Screens inside early beta copies of Windows 98.
While most PC users are probably familiar with the concept of hardware peripherals based on technologies such as USB, there's a new generation of hardware coming to tomorrow's Windows-based devices that borrows some ideas from the smartphone world.
Microsoft wants to make upgrading to Windows 8 from older Windows versions easier and faster through online delivery, no product key entry for at least one installation method and a process that involves 82 percent fewer screen clicks.
It appears as though Microsoft has revealed that their popular Xbox Live service will be built into "the PC" -- something that indicates it could very well be a part of Microsoft's next operating system, Windows 8. Mike Delman, VP of global marketing at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business group, was interviewed by The Seattle Times at E3 and had this to say:
Microsoft officials are promising USB 3.0 support will be part of Windows 8, which will help with battery-life and power-consumption on tablets and desktop PCs.
Microsoft is doing away with its annual Mix designer/developer event. This year, instead, the company is planning a developer conference likely to focus on Windows 8.
One of the biggest, if not the biggest, shortcomings of Windows 7 as a tablet operating system is the fact that it is not touch-centric; it is still designed first and foremost for keyboard/mouse input.
"Fundamentals such as memory usage represent a key engineering tenet of Windows 8. In building Windows 8 we set out to significantly reduce the overall runtime memory requirements of the core system. This is always good for everyone and especially in a world where people want to run more and more apps at the same time or run on systems with only 1 or 2GB of memory."
Windows 8 testers and potential users aren't completely sold on the new start screen (the Metro-style look and feel) of the coming version of Microsoft's operating system. Some positive changes may be coming, however.
Details about Windows 8, Microsoft's newest operating system expected in 2012, have been leaking out thanks largely to Microsoft previews and a stream of blog posts on the company's Building Windows 8 blog.
Microsoft designed its Windows 8 app store to make it easy to find and download content. But that goal proved challenging given the variety of apps expected.
It's funny to me that the latest post on Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog is about unwanted Windows 8 reboots, since that was the issue I had this week and documented in two "8 Is Enough" articles, When Bad Things Happen to Good OSes and Putting Things In Perspective.
Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system may still be over a year away from launching, at the very least, but if you have an idea or feature for the OS that you want to graciously offer to Microsoft, you might not want to waste your time. Cnet's News.com has a story today that a person who offered a Windows 8 suggestion was told by Microsoft that it won't be accepting any outside ideas for the OS.
Microsoft will be able to throw a "kill switch" to disable or even remove an app from users' Windows 8 devices, the company revealed in documentation released earlier this week for its upcoming Windows Store.
It has been rumored that Microsoft would be releasing a beta of Windows 8 in the fall. Specifically, it is rumored that a beta release will happen at this year's BUILD event that will take place in September. While there has been previous talk that a pre-release of Windows 8 arriving in the fall, this new information helps to confirm that Microsoft is still on track for a fall release.
Perhaps some of you are still bathing in the pride you felt when Microsoft accepted your ideas for Windows 7. Several of you seem, indeed, to have appeared in the company's advertising (played, perhaps, by slightly more photogenic humans).
Having learned its lesson the hard way with Windows Vista, Microsoft offered assurances Thursday that its upcoming Windows 8 operating system won't require users to buy a new PC.
During remarks at a developers conference in Japan on May 23, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer referred to the next version of Windows as "Windows 8." He also said the next generation of Windows systems will be out next year.
Give Microsoft's spinmeisters credit for a job well done. They got the desired headlines out of this week's big developer conference where the company offered a long, detailed look at Windows 8. But the most important headline for application makers--and ultimately consumers--still remains unwritten: When will the product really ship?
At its Build conference in Anaheim, Calif., Microsoft today gave developers a deep dive into Windows 8, the company's upcoming operating system designed to run on desktops, notebooks, and touch-screen tablets.
Microsoft is starting to launch a new design for its many different hardware and software products that have the same basic design interface. The tile-themed UI, also known as Metro, started over at Windows Phone 7. The tile interface was recently put into the new Xbox 360 Dashboard.
Microsoft spooked .NET developers earlier this year by emphasising HTML and JavaScript as the programming platform for Windows 8. Any questions were met with the answer: "Wait until BUILD." Well, BUILD took place last week, so what is happening with .NET and Windows?
Here's more of the back story behind Microsoft's holiday 2011 ad campaign, courtesy of a Microsoft OEM fact sheet focused on the Windows 7 PC marketing component.
Microsoft has introduced a new developer concept known as "Contracts" with Windows 8. Think of it as a universal clipboard for apps and services that ties back to Internet Explorer 10.Microsoft has introduced a new developer concept known as "Contracts" with Windows 8. Think of it as a universal clipboard for apps and services that ties back to Internet Explorer 10.
Microsoft has already begun hinting about its plans for Windows 8 which is currently planned for release sometime in 2012. The next version of Microsoft's operating system will be made for desktops, laptops and the new trend of tablet devices and will run on ARM based processors in addition to the normal X86 processor designs. But that doesn't mean that Microsoft is done trying to sell its current operating system, Windows 7. ZDNet reports that the company has taken a marketing approach that basically doesn't sell the operating system anymore but PC products that have Windows installed.
Windows 8 is Microsoft's newest operating system and like any other major operating system release, it features major changes. Notable changes already seen so far include the new Metro user interface and Xbox Live integration. However, the front end is not the only place where the team is looking to make changes. In a blog post made on MSDN, reducing energy consumption in Windows 8 is just as important as any other aspect of the overall presentation.
At Microsoft's recent BUILD conference, technical fellow and C# creator Anders Hejlsberg presented a session on the future of C# and Visual Basic. Visual Basic? There were few VB developers evident at BUILD and it seems to be in decline among professionals. Nevertheless, Microsoft is keeping the two in parity: read on for why the difference between them is becoming smaller.
Windows Media Center will be part of Windows 8, though it won't be in the first pre-release builds, Microsoft Windows President Steven Sinofsky acknowledged in a new blog post.
More details about Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 have apparently leaked onto the Web, revealing new surprises and some makeovers to existing features.
It's been a while since I blogged about another of my (not so) crazy Microsoft rumors. It's also been a while since I've heard any kind of an update on Windows 8 timing. In that spirit -- here's the latest, plus the ground rules for those weighing how believable this information may or may not be.
Chinese website PCBeta has posted up images of another leaked build of Windows 8, build 8158. This time showing of an updated "Longhornesq" charm bar on the right side of the screen, and unlike the Windows Developer Preview, it's brought out by bringing the mouse to bottom-right of the screen.
A widely rumored file system makeover called ReFS, for Resilient File System, is indeed coming to Windows 8. But it won't appear in the client OS that will be purchased by hundreds of millions of people each year. Instead, it will be relegated to the Windows Server 8 OS for servers only.
Windows 8 will include a PDF reader, greater customization of the Aero interface, and a new version of Internet Explorer 9 that works like its Windows Phone counterpart, according to new details posted online by Microsoft partners.
One of the new features in Windows 8 that I'm particularly intrigued by, mostly because I've been asking for this for years, is the ability to log on to the PC with a Windows Live ID instead of a more traditional local user account. Today, on the Building Windows 8 Blog, Microsoft group program manager Katie Frigon tackles this new feature and provides some interesting context.
Ever since Microsoft showed off Windows 8 for the first time public at the BUILD Conference earlier this month, there's been a ton of media coverage and opinions about the the next version of Microsoft's operating system. Now the company Mashwork has created a new infographic that goes over what the reactions to Windows 8 have been like from Twitter users. The company collected 65,968 Twitter messages from June 15 to September 22 that mentioned Windows 8 in their tweets.
It has been two weeks since Windows 8 build 7955 leaked to the Internet. The particular image that leaked that day was an extracted install.wim combined with the Windows 7 installer, so the new installer graphics which were first revealed here were not present. Since that day, we also had a leak of build 7959, but now it's time to pay another visit to build 7955 as an updated build with the new installer surfaces. As a reminder, build 7955 is considered a pre-M3 build.
Windows 8 may not be officially in beta yet, but a new story over at Winunleaked.tk claims that Microsoft is getting close to completing the beta build of their next operating system. The story claims that "Microsoft will sign-off the Beta build this month."
Microsoft has enabled more detailed previews of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, by giving away Win 8-based tablets to developers and journalists.
Companies are gearing up for the imminent release of Windows 8, and it seems the operating system has shown enough promise to pique the interest of app developers. ZDNet.com has found that Robbie Dillon, the art director of the newspaper USA Today, updated his portfolio with this image of a proposed Windows 8 USA Today app. It appears to be running on some sort of tablet/slate device.
In Part 1 of this discussion, I did a recap of Steve Sinofsky's presentation at D9 that formally introduced Windows 8 to the world and took a look at some of the more interesting reactions and commentary it inspired. Most agreed that the new GUI looks good, but is that enough? Let's delve a little deeper into some of the things we didn't see in the D9 demo, and the implications of a new Windows that "changes everything."
Does Windows 8 mean Microsoft can finally close the technology and credibility gap with Apple, putting a touchable mass-market version of Windows on tablets?
Nvidia has been outlining a future that sees a Qualcomm/Nvidia duopoly providing processors for every computing platform, which will share apps as well as chips.
Microsoft made some shocking news nearly a year ago when it announced that it would develop a version of its next Windows operating system that would run on processors based on designs from ARM in addition to its normal x86 version for Intel and AMD chips. Now NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, speaking at a tech conference in Asia earlier today, said Microsoft should only have the ARM version of Windows run on tablet devices, at least at first.
In previous posts on Microsoft's official Windows 8 blog site, the company has discussed a number of topics related to the development of its next PC operating system. Those topics included Windows 8's new Metro user interface, its support for ISO disc images and VHD files and the new "ribbon" UI for its Explorer file system, among others. In the latest post on the blog, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky goes in a different direction. This time he writes about how Microsoft is handling feedback from the general public concerning what has been revealed so far about Windows 8.
Three days ago, near the end of his last Consumer Electronics Show keynote, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer boomed: "There's nothing more important at Microsoft than Windows". He better mean it, because the Windows PC is in big trouble. Fourth-quarter US personal computer sales were outright disastrous, while overall 2011 global growth was the worst since 2001. Recession that year devastated PC shipments, despite Windows XP's late-year launch.
This is the Microsoft I thought was locked up in history: The company sparked broad interest in the user model that will be introduced with Windows 8 and will largely rely on the new Metro GUI environment. Is it innovative enough to save the PC?
As reported this past fortnight, Microsoft's new Storage Spaces for Windows 8 is only half the story; the operating system builder is also throwing in a new Resilient File System (ReFS) while retaining most NTFS features and semantics.
Who says you can't teach an old operating system new tricks? For years, Windows was the world's most annoying piece of software. It would blithely interrupt your work to tell you that there were unused icons on your desktop. Its search feature--even in the Professional version--inexplicably involved a puppy dog. It made paying customers jump through hoops to prove they hadn't pirated the software, and sometimes accused them of stealing it anyhow. It rebooted itself to install updates when it felt like it, regardless of what you might be doing at the moment. I get irritated just thinking about it.
For the past couple of weeks I have been strongly suggesting that it is time to drop Windows XP as your organization's official desktop operating system. There are still very large contingent that are planning to stick with Windows XP for as long as they possibly can.
There is an odd air of mystery around the next-generation operating system from Microsoft. Windows 8 was dubbed by Steve Ballmer, CEO, as the "riskiest product bet" to date.
The new Metro user interface will make Windows 8 a totally different experience for XP, Vista and 7 users, but it will especially challenge those of us who use a desktop PC. Why? Because we are accustomed to mouse input and Windows 8 emphasizes touch. Metro is much better suited to touch than the mouse.
A new report suggests that Microsoft is close to having a build of Windows 8 running on quad-core tablet hardware, and it may soon give away units to developers.
Microsoft's next-gen operating system won't yield big returns for Qualcomm in the near future, but ultimately will carry the chipmaker into a wider range of computing devices.
That game onscreen in the picture below? It's Firefall, a full-fledged online first-person shooter for PC. Razer says Firefall, and other PC games, will run on its Project Fiona tablet in Windows 8.
A senior Red Hat engineer has lashed back at Microsoft's attempt to downplay concerns that upcoming secure boot features will make it impossible to install Linux on Windows 8 certified systems.
Several weeks ago rumors surfaced that Windows 8 would have some sort of integration with the Xbox 360. The particular rumor stated that it would allow for Xbox 360 games to be played in Windows 8 utilizing the Games for Windows Marketplace.
Citing anonymous sources, Microsoft enthusiast site WinRumors says that Hewlett-Packard, among other vendors, are currently receiving Milestone 3 build 7971.0.110324-1900 of Windows 8 through Microsoft's Connect testing system. CNET sister site ZDNet reported back in January that its own sources said Windows 8 was at the Milestone 2 mark at that time.
As the clock ticks down toward the Microsoft Build conference, discoveries about what's inside Windows 8 are continuing to trickle out. The latest -- from ITworld's Sandro Villinger -- has to do with MinWin.
Unfortunately, not every piece of Windows 8 rumor is real. Windows 8 Center keeps a close watch on its sources and tracks down the reliability of them. However, reality is that the leaked Windows 8 App Marketplace rumors and screenshots to date have been false.
At the moment, Microsoft is working on Windows 8, the next version of its long running PC operating system. Windows 8 should launch sometime in 2012 and plans are for it to be made available for PCs, tablets and other devices. But what about the next version of Microsoft's operating system beyond Windows 8? According to a story on This Is My Next, unnamed sources inside Microsoft claim that the company has a radical plan that could change pretty much everything about how Microsoft develops its operating system.
Things have been relatively quiet since the last set of Windows 8 leaks, and the announcement of the tablet interface at Computex and D9 last month. However, today, we're hearing new news that Microsoft will be finishing the Windows 8 Beta sometime towards the end of July.
Microsoft is going to leave no stone unturned when it comes to Windows 8. The company has previously shown off the UI for the tablet based interface and a few more details are now surfacing about the upcoming platform.
If you're dying to get your hands on a Windows 8 tablet, right now for $2,000 or more on eBay you can pick up several Samsung Series 7 700T tablets running Windows 8. The one-panel slate was handed out for free to all 5,000 developers who attended Microsoft's recent BUILD conference.
A legion of Silverlight developers have threatened revolt after Microsoft revealed it would focus on HTML5 and Javascript for its upcoming Windows 8 operating system.
We're going to be reading between the lines every time Steven Sinofsky and others on the Windows team post to the Building Windows 8 blog ahead of BUILD. But today's "meet and greet" post, in which he introduces the various feature teams working on Windows 8, doesn't really require that much thought. Here, for the first time, is a peek at some general Windows 8 features, including such things like App Store, Hyper-V, and Windows Online.
The Windows 8 tablet teasers keep rolling in, first with Microsoft showing a brief glimpse of a quad-core slate, and now with two early prototypes of Windows 8 tablet apps.
Windows 8, especially its new Metro touch screen interface, could be very popular for app developers. But some are already thinking that their creations could be a target for Lodsys. This is the patent troll company who has already taken legal action against a number of iOS and Android app developers, claiming their apps are in violation of Lodsys' patent which it says covers in-app billing technology.
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, took the stage during the second keynote at BUILD in Anaheim, California. He made the announcement that there has already been over 500,000 downloads of the Windows 8 developer preview.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was expected to make his big CES 2012 appearance at Microsoft's own keynote address. But as Engadget reports, the head of Microsoft decided to make a surprise appearance on stage at AT&T's press event earlier today at CES. Ballmer was on stage primarily to announce that the first Windows Phone-based devices that will support the faster LTE network would be sold first on AT&T, such as the just announced HTC Titan II.
Just weeks before Microsoft is set to reveal all about Windows 8 (and, presumably, Windows 8 Server), Microsoft's Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky has provided the first post to the new Building Windows 8 blog, a successor to the earlier Engineering Windows 7 blog. This early in the game, there's not a lot of details, but here's what he's got to say, along with some commentary.
We've had gesture control with Microsoft Kinect. Now get ready for gaze control. Swedish firm Tobii is at the Consumer Electronics Show this week to promote the use of its eye tracking technology in PCs and tablets, though it could be a couple of years before it's ready for mainstream use.
Windows 8 is still in heavy development, and still has a long way to go before it ends up on our desktops, laptops, and tablets. One of the major concerns is how Windows 8 is going to deal with a traditional keyboard and mouse/trackpad combination - especially on non-tablet computers where touch input is pretty much not an option. While Microsoft assures us it's all good, Synaptics decided to see what it, as trackpad maker, can do.
Speaking at the Build Windows conference, and then later reiterating it during Microsoft's Financial Analyst Meeting, Steven Sinofsky -- the President of Windows -- confirmed that ARM-powered Windows 8 tablets will not run the vast, multi-billion-strong arsenal of existing x86 applications.
Before the conference starts, here is one new tidbit: the Windows 8 start menu. Microsoft has not officially talked about any of its changes in the start menu from Windows 7 to 8, but you can see below that there's been some tweaks that draw from Windows Phone 7.
Earlier today, Steven Sinofsky (the president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, as we all know by now) has posted another entry on the "Building Windows 8" blog, centered on the UI of Windows 8 and how the new Metro experience could affect consumers.
In bringing what was traditionally a desktop operating system into the mobile space, Microsoft went ahead with cooking up an interesting scheme for logging into a Windows 8 tablet - using your favorite photos as a password.
Windows enthusiast Sandro Villinger has a nice summary of some of the known and unknown Windows 8 features that various folks have discovered since internal "milestone" builds began leaking over the past couple of months.
There are parts of Windows 8 that look really amazing (like this, holy shit!). But now, Microsoft offers up a video of the new Explorer UI. More functional, perhaps. But it doesn't look so great.
Last month, I discussed some alarming issues concerning Windows 8, Microsoft's curiously still-mysterious coming OS generation. Since then, Microsoft has done an admirably lousy job of communicating its plans for Windows 8 to the public and ignoring pleas for it to fully reveal its plans.
Microsoft is showing the next version of Windows sometime this week. On a tablet. With a brand new touch interface. I will wager it's one that's not stupid.
One of the biggest problems when it comes to installing Microsoft's Windows operating system, whether on old or new PCs, is how long and invasive the setup process can be. The next iteration of the OS, Windows 8, is looking to change all of that.
With so many Windows 8 screenshots floating around, it's very hard to tell fact from fiction. Unless you have inside knowledge by knowing the person who leaks you information, or are the one actually leaking the information yourself, it's almost impossible to tell what's real.
We all know that Windows 8 will work well on a touch screen computer. One of Microsoft's biggest touch screen devices, it's Microsoft surface product, would be an interesting option for installing Windows 8.
Small and midsize businesses often can't afford file servers, and struggle with the best way to provide their users with enough space to store data and keep it safe from hardware failure.
That's not saying a lot, though, as demos of Microsoft's next operating system on ARM processors have been extremely restrictive, if nonexistent to date in public (Nvidia's untouchable, relatively static CES demo is behind closed glass).
With developers now tearing up the Windows 8 developer preview and looking for hidden gems, we're going to soon see an amazing number of utilities aimed at improving the Windows 8 experience and, in some cases, making it work more like its predecessors. While I can't endorse or support that kind of thing, let alone recommend individual utilities quite yet, I figured it would be useful to collect what's out there in a single location.
Quite a few of you have been asking about apps that allow you to tweak Windows 8. Let me introduce you to my favorite - Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8.
So far, I've seen plenty to like about Windows 8. The History Vault looks like it could really come in handy on the computers I administer (both at home and at work), the cloud profile synchronization will make switching between my desktop and laptop much more seamless, and the Windows Store is set to provide a more convenient way for average users to discover and download new programs.
Microsoft officials are remaining adamant that they plan to stay mum about the details regarding the Windows 8 developer story until mid-September, when the company holds its Build conference. But that doesn't mean that developers who are curious, if not outright anxious, about the future of .Net and Silverlight are sittling idly by waiting for all to be revealed.
If you still plan to install Windows 8 old school style by booting up to the installation CD, then the added Cleanup Disk functionality from within the installation wizard will be a real treat. Otherwise, it is a small addition that is nice to have for most people who will be installing with Windows already booted.
Windows 8 is just around the corner and it seems that almost every week there details emerge about just what can be expected from the latest version of Microsoft's operating system. With every new Windows that is announced, there follows a rush to mimic the look and features long before the software hits the shelves, and things are no different with Windows 8.
On June 9, 2011, Greg Shultz asked: Should there be separate tablet and desktop editions of Windows 8? A poll indicates that we are ready for a one cross-platform version of Windows 8, but there are still doubts.
Microsoft's Windows revenue may come in lighter than expected because of sluggish PC unit growth, Apple's popularity and delayed purchases due to Windows 8 publicity.
With the Internet's importance steadily gaining, it's not as if Web programmers needed an ego boost. But Microsoft has given them a major one anyway with a radical change coming in Windows 8.
In recent years, Windows and Office have moved on parallel development tracks. Today's announcement of an Office beta "later this summer" offers some useful hints about the Windows 8 schedule. Will Microsoft spring a big upside surprise?
In the two weeks since Microsoft unveiled its Windows 8 Developer Preview at Build, more than a million people have downloaded the bits, leaving the vast majority of IT pros wondering what in the world their organizations may someday be getting into.
Microsoft has pulled back the curtain and given the world its first glimpse of what we can expect from Windows 8. Microsoft made a point of clarifying that Windows 8 will run on existing hardware, but it failed to mention that you might need a new desk.
The past few years have seen the rapid and inexorable shift of computer services towards a centralized, cloud-based topology. This about-turn, which seems at odds with the decentralized nature of the internet, has been propagated by faster internet connections, and the recent development (and massive popularity) of mobile, smartphone-powered computing. Cloud computing is cost effective, much easier to maintain than disparate software and servers, and most importantly it enables the ubiquitous, cross-platform experiences we've grown to love, and are now actively demanding from software and hardware vendors.
In the interest of stirring up trouble to no good end, I present a fairly obvious and uninspiring idea for how the desktop should look in Windows 8. That is, yes, please, give us a full-screen Metro-style Start screen with its full-screen apps, and make that the default on tablets and other small devices.
Enterprise IT had a good business case for moving off Windows XP and onto the more modern Windows 7, but Windows 8 is shaping up to be a different story
When Microsoft gave the first public demonstration of Windows 8 a week ago, the reaction from most circles was positive. The new Windows 8 user interface looks clean, attractive, and thoughtful, and in a first for a Microsoft desktop operating system, it's finger friendly. But one aspect of the demonstration has the legions of Windows developers deeply concerned, and with good reason: they were told that all their experience, all their knowledge, and every program they have written in the past would be useless on Windows 8.
Wednesday at the Wall Street Journal's D9 conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., the big news was about Microsoft. The company's Windows Division President, Steven Sinofsky, appeared on stage with the Journal's Walt Mossberg, and he unveiled Microsoft's official response to the iPad's massive success. And there was a lot to be impressed by in the demo, but in the end it seems like an approach that is utterly poisoned by Microsoft's old ways of thinking.
This week saw the latest step towards the release of Windows 8, the next major version of Microsoft's operating system that represents one of the biggest changes in the history of the platform.
If Windows 8 works successfully on ARM-processor-equipped systems, expect to see thin, light, and innovative devices coming our way. This includes ultra-thin laptops with impressive battery life, and super-light, large-screen tablets.
Microsoft's first quarter played out largely as expected--Office, its communications platform Lync, servers and tools carried the day--but there are multiple wild-cards that need to be considered before assuming that the software giant can juice growth again.
Microsoft has been coy about certain details on Windows 8 ARM devices. But a new rumor suggests that some type of desktop interface may join the new Metro UI on such devices.
Security vendors will have an increasingly hard time making a case for expensive subscriptions as Microsoft keeps pushing Windows to be "secure enough" out of the box. Windows 8 adds a number of impressive features that really should make a difference in the "ecosystem".
Windows 8 will come packed with many new features, while some have already been found, others are still hidden away. But, just because features are hidden/locked, does not mean that talented individuals can't find a way around these barriers.
In the midst of the latest Windows 8 welcome screen and ribbon UI interface leaks comes the next change to Windows 8 functionality, auto-colourization to the personalization options. Both Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott have been releasing secrets about the next major operating system, and today brings us one more secret, Aero auto-colourization.
Microsoft has given us a first taste of Windows 8. Unfortunately, while it has some attractive visual elements, Microsoft's approach shows that the company hasn't learned much from its product failures over the past decade.
Browsers exist primarily to display HTML pages, use the internal JavaScript engine to make displayed pages active, and let the user interact with the back-end server. Browers are limited to HTML/CSS for the user interface and subject to the limitations of HTTP for communication with the server. To offer a better UI and a richer user experience, companies have used plug-ins.
In a recent blog post, Microsoft describes how it works to reduce memory usage even further in Windows 8, undermining those out-of-date complaints from haters who think Windows is too big for iPad-like tablet devices.
I've written separately and exhaustively about Windows "8" and Windows Server "8"--yes, both are still code names--but as you might expect with such major upgrades, there's a lot to discuss. So I'd like to focus on the Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 issues I didn't have time to address in my formal reviews.
Microsoft has finally shown off Windows 8, but for those who are looking to create applications for the new store, Microsoft has outlined, at a high level, the approval process that you should be aware of.
Late to--but not quite out of--the app store game, Microsoft has a challenger after all: images have surfaced of the Windows 8 App Store, the company's challenger to Apple's Mac app emporium.
Windows 8 is coming, and apparently its bringing a Windows 8 app store with it. Speculation that began with hints of an app store in leaked builds of Windows 8 earlier this year have been all but officially confirmed in a blog post from the President of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live divisions, Steven Sinofsky.
Wondering what buying apps in Windows 8 will be like using Microsoft's new app store, dubbed the Windows Store? Microsoft shared some details Tuesday about its plans during the company's keynote at the BUILD developer conference.
Following several leaks of Microsoft's next generation OS, we're getting tidbits that Windows 8 is getting close to the Beta phase of it's development. Unconfirmed sources indicate that build 7996 is now in testing, according to centrumxp.pl.
Windows 8 will certainly contain a number of new features and one of them is being set up as a safety net against any Windows 8 apps that might cause a security risk. In the Terms of Use document posted up for the upcoming Windows Store feature, Microsoft says that any application purchased and downloaded from the store can be disabled or even deleted from Windows 8 remotely by the company.
According to a member named canouna over on the MDL website, the latest build he has managed to acquire is 8141.0.winmain.111021 and includes Windows Media Center.
A plethora of rumors have been circulating regarding the release of Windows 8, as well as its RTM, pre-release, and beta counterparts. Windows8Center wrote about the possibility that Windows 8 beta release would take place at Microsoft's BUILD Conference in September.
Two weeks ago, Microsoft confirmed that the public beta of Windows 8 will arrive in February 2012, missing the projected date by a mere month. Now a batch of leaked screens has surfaced, seemingly backing up Microsoft's release schedule by revealing the final build of Windows 8 beta -- a build which the company will supposedly sign-off with love an affection by the end of the month.
I, like many others, believe that Windows 8 will re-enable the pocket productivity market and lift us out of this strange consumer-focused mobile mess we're in at the moment and get us back to a place where we have ultra mobile PC choices for our mobile, flexible working practices and scenarios. Marketing, social networking, price wars and tablet fever are getting in the way of what many people want -- productivity in the pocket.
Screenshots and a changelog have leaked from what appears to be the latest Milestone 3 (M3) developer release of Windows 8. This leak comes from PCBeta (and BetaArchive) and shows the Windows Developer Preview Setup, rumoured to come straight from Windows 8 build 6.2.8064.0.FBL_EEAP.110806-1000; which as the string suggests was built on August 6th. This would also nicely coincide with previous rumours that Windows 8 hit build 8063 on August 4.
Other purported details about the latest Windows 8 build, known as 8064, were revealed earlier this week by WinRumors, which is a Windows enthusiast site, and other sites. The new build is apparently the Windows 8 Developer Preview that Microsoft is likely to unveil at its Build conference next month.
It has been discovered that a CD which contains a copy Windows 8 Milestone 3, is on sale at the popular internet auction site, eBay. The seller, which appears to be based in Canada, is offering the CD for $1,500 or $100 as a starting price for auction.
Welcome to Windows 8 Center, the one-stop resource for Windows 8 news, rumors, screenshots, and downloads. Windows 8 news is still scarce right now, but we will continually update the site as news flows in.
After the leak of Windows 8, we expected to find out more about features as users across the internet got their hands on the bits, and some users have already pulled apart Windows 8 and discovered interesting references to functionality that we haven't seen yet.
Microsoft is on fire with Windows 8, and the leaks are pouring out all over the place. We've seen new features surface, and even found registry keys referencing Windows 8 cloud features, as well as a "roaming profile" interface, but are yet to see them in action.
Microsoft will make at least four different versions of Windows 8 for devices with ARM processors, but you won't be running older Windows apps on any them, according to an Intel executive. Renee James, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of Software and Services Group, also reaffirmed that Windows running on ARM devices will be focused on tablets and other mobile devices, according to Bloomberg.
There's lots to learn from the demonstrations and information on Windows 8 from the last few days. Not only from Microsoft themselves but through the reactions and thoughts of commentators. I've given it some time, made some notes and am ready to put my thoughts down.These are the thoughts of someone that's used tablets in both the commercial and consumer world, someone that loves social networking but someone that also knows how important Windows is for getting things done.
I've been using the Windows 8 developer preview now for long enough to come across a number of design flaws that MUST be addressed for the OS to be usable on desktops, notebooks and tablets.
Microsoft kicked off the preliminaries of its Build conference on Monday by describing just how its new code-named "Windows 8" operating system will make the case for IT professionals, developers and users.
Way back in April, my Windows 8 Secrets coauthor, Rafael Rivera, and I revealed that Windows 8 would include a new Aero auto-colorization feature in the Windows Explorer Personalization control panel. This feature automatically configures the color of Aero glass elements--like Windows Explorer windows and the taskbar--based on the desktop wallpaper.
Microsoft this week provided reviewers with a very temporary loan of a specially made slate PC running the Windows 8 technical preview. And when I say temporary, I mean temporary: We have to give this machine back on Thursday evening before we leave BUILD.
Mainstream consumers buy tablets for many reasons, but rarely because of the OS it runs. This will hammer Microsoft's Windows 8 when it finally appears in the future.
Microsoft deciding to release early code to trusted partners is always going to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it allows for valuable feedback and bug identification on software before it gets released to consumers and business users alike, on the other, it's an opportunity for the less scrupulous among us to share that early code with everyone.
Microsoft may have plans to release the desktop version of Windows 8 sometime in 2012 but a variant of the operating system, Windows 8 Embedded, is also in development. Computerworld.com reports today that Microsoft revealed its plans to show off a version of Windows 8 Embedded to developers sometime in the first quarter of 2012.
We have good news and bad news. The bad: In possibly the longest blog post ever, Alex Simons from the Windows 8 management team has spent over 3,000 words justifying the addition of the infamous ribbon UI to Explorer in Windows 8. The good: Microsoft, either to soften the blow of the ribbon or simply to prove that someone at Redmond cares, is bringing back the much-loved Up button which, for some reason or another, met its untimely demise between XP and the release of Vista.
Ahh, the Windows Explorer progress dialog. For years it has been struggling to figure out how to calculate how long our copy and delete operations would take, sliding the progress bar back and forth in a seemingly random, haphazard way, the laws of time all but ceasing to exist -- five seconds remaining one moment and 13 minutes the next. That's (almost) all going to change, with the arrival of a greatly improved file management experience in Windows 8.
Microsoft's next-gen OS, Windows 8, will be user-aware according to the latest APIs discovered, suggesting the platform could well be able to track and identify users when they sit at their PCs. Windows8Italia spotted the "Detect human presence" API in among their M1 copy of Windows 8; Microsoft has used a similar system on the Xbox 360 with Kinect, to log users into Xbox LIVE services using face recognition.
I was having lunch recently with a friend who runs an Apple-oriented software developer firm. He was curious about my take on Windows 8 and Windows Phone, and how Microsoft's latest platforms would fare in the coming year. "What's interesting," I said, "is that Windows 8 is actually more controversial than Windows Phone. Sure, Microsoft's smartphone platform isn't selling well, but the consensus seems to be that the company was right to start over from scratch and that -- go figure -- the platform itself is actually very solid."
Hell hath no fury like a Windows power user scorned, as Microsoft learned when it introduced big changes to file management in Windows 8. Now, the company is responding to the feedback by tweaking or walking away from some of the changes it planned to make.
Windows 8 fans will have heard about Protogon at some point. The new file system has been spotted lurking in developer builds, but details are a little on the murky side. The important facts are these: disks can only be formatted in Protogon from the command line, Windows 7 and earlier can't read it, and it shares a lot of features with NTFS.
Searching within Windows, much like tackling the Task Manager, has always one of the most nightmarish components. It was ugly, disorganized, and slow. Not anymore. Part of Microsoft's "now Windows is actually pretty great" initiative means making search un-horrible. Finally.
Early this month, Microsoft dropped something of a bombshell on Windows developers: the new Windows 8 touch-friendly immersive style would use a developer platform not based on .NET, which Microsoft has been championing for the past decade. Instead, it would use HTML5 and JavaScript. Since then, the company has refrained from making any further comment on the issue. In particular, the question that has many Windows developers particularly concerned--how can I make use of my existing skills and experience when developing these new applications?--remains unanswered; the company plans to reveal nothing until its BUILD conference in September.
According to tech-exclusive, the newest feature to be uncovered in leaked builds of Windows 8 is a very nifty drag and drop function in Windows Explorer. If you're familiar with the Vista and 7 implementations of the Explorer address bar, you'll recognize the separated format of the address. Each step in the path is its own clickable link, making for easy navigation upwards in a directory tree. Windows 8 is implementing a feature that allows you to drag a file or folder onto any one of those links, moving the object into that folder. Currently, you have to cut and paste the object, hope that the destination folder is viewable in the sidebar, or open another Explorer window to get the job done.
Windows 8 development is being followed by millions of PC developers and fans as they all wait for Microsoft to release the public beta build (or is that the Consumer Preview build?) sometime in late February. Now Winunleaked.tk has updated its Windows 8 build number list with the latest version, which it claims is the final pre-beta version of Microsoft's next PC operating system.
As with any major product that leaks, all the secrets and features begin to surface on the Internet. Earlier today, Windows 8 build 7955 leaked onto a private FTP server and is expected to popup around public torrent sites later on.
According to WinBeta, who have sources close to the matter, Windows 8 has reached build 8063.0.110804-1922 -- which as the date suggests was compiled on August 4, 2011 (last week). While this build is still in the Milestone 3 (M3) stage, it is rapidly approaching the beta stage which could see select groups of people outside Microsoft access to the early builds of Windows 8.
ZDnet's Mary Jo Foley is reporting on a rumor: Microsoft may be trying to finish up work on Windows 8 by April of next year. She thinks it's plausible--or at least not obviously crazy. Me, too. For one thing, the conventional wisdom that the OS is likely to show up for the holiday 2012 season is, as far as I know, based more on history than on anyone knowing anything specific about Windows 8. For another, Microsoft has a huge incentive to get this thing out the door--not so much for its PC business, but for tablets, where it's not yet really in the game and won't be until Windows 8 is available.
Why do people choose not to upgrade to the newest version of Windows? In plenty of cases, it's because they don't want to deal with the hassle of the upgrade process. In a new blog post, Microsoft has outlined its plans for how upgrades to Windows 8 will work.
Windows 8 has a lot riding on its virtual shoulders. Its success or failure will mean a lot not just for its creators at Microsoft but for one of Windows 8's biggest cheerleaders Intel. News.com reports that during the Credit Suisse technology conference on Tuesday, Intel's CEO Paul Otellini was highly optimistic about the prospects for Windows 8, saying, "I think it's one of the best things that's ever happened to our company."
Windows 8 represents the biggest change between versions of the operating system on most consumer PCs, and for better or worse it is going to be very important for that industry.
Services like 1Password and LastPass are life changers, you sign in with one master password and the app logs you into everything. No need to remember how many symbols and alphanumeric codes you've used. No need to remember 312 different passwords. Well, Windows 8 is going to have the same awesome password management built in.
Bravo, Microsoft, for making a bold move with Windows 8. Yesterday at the All Things Digital: D9 conference, you showed the world that Windows is not constrained by, well, windows. It can wear a radically rethought interface that strips away window frames and lets control, content, and information live in a far more free-form way; one that's more natural for any touch- and gesture-driven device.
Looks like Ballmer wasn't just blustering. "Windows 8," or whatever it ends up being called, has a radically new interface--a sleek, touch-centric look that draws more on Windows Phone 7 and general trends in phone and tablet design than it does on a quarter-century of Windows history. Anyone writing about the operating system at this point needs to insert a disclaimer that we've only seen bits and pieces of it in action for a few minutes; that's way too little to come to any firm conclusions pro or con. But we do know that Microsoft is going to attempt something big here.
With so many Windows 8 images floating around, you may never know if what you have on your computer is the real deal. Luckily for everyone, the Windows 8 ISO Verifier has finally been released to help you determine whether your Windows 8 image file is legitimate.
A user over at My Digital Life forums has posted a number of Windows 8 Developer Preview Language Packs put together by using files from Windows 7 SP1, with the latest going up early this morning and shown to be working.
Windows 8 was one of the biggest topics of discussion at CES 2012. The next version of Microsoft's operating system was the subject of a number of announcements at the trade show. We've already posted up some impressions of a pre-beta build for Windows 8 on a tablet device.
The Internet is abuzz this morning with reports that an early version of Windows 8 has been leaked on BitTorrent and the newsgroups. Designated as "Windows 8 Milestone 1", the early release would be an information coup for those looking to get a sneak peak well before the 2012 projected release date. But is it really Windows 8?
They include a different name than previously rumored, a logo, and the ability to deliver software directly to a person's desktop, according to Windows enthusiast site WinRumors and other sources.
It's no secret that Microsoft is betting big on Windows 8. With a new design language being introduced called Metro and a host of other implementations, Windows 8 is turning out to be a great product. One thing that has been slowly tweaked in the leaked builds is the login screen and the evolution has been captured below.
I've been running it for a few days inside a virtual machine, tinkering with it and taking a look at what new executables it has to offer. Much of what's on offer isn't new, but I did find two executables that offer some interesting insight into what the release of Windows 8 might have to offer.
Slowly trickling down the pike is a freshly-baked Windows 8 M3 build purportedly distributed out to select OEMs via Microsoft Connect recently. Since then, the flood of information hitting the Internet has been exciting, but not particularly revealing in the way of visuals.
Windows 8 may be several months away from its final release, but more software companies are already pledging to support Microsoft's next operating system with Windows 8 version of their programs. At CES 2012 today, Cyberlink announced plans to offer three of its programs for Windows 8, all of which will be adapted to work on the Metro touch screen interface.
The world is anxiously awaiting a Windows 8 leak and it is becoming more apparent that many users now have their hands on the alpha platform. Since we initially reported that Windows 8 was now on Microsoft Connect, new information has been surfacing from a multiple directions.
Every new version of Windows brings with it 'the next big thing' and puts a nail in the coffin of 'the last big thing that didn't take off.' While Microsoft's new Metro UI is the 'next big thing' in Windows 8, it's the latest of a number of failed attempts by Microsoft to turn the Windows desktop into more than just a place to store files.
Many of us have downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview to give it a test run and I think it's fair to say that the most exciting feature to test is the Windows 8 Metro UI. Focused on touch, app-snacking, consumption and entertainment it has been an interesting product to think about in terms of mobile computing; real mobile computing. Getting the balance of UI right for both on-the-go and bum-on-seat activities hasn't been achieved by anyone yet. Windows 8 is the big hope for that in the future.
I'm going to have a lot more to say about the leaked Windows 8 build 7955 'Milestone 2' in a future post, but satisfy those of you craving for information, here are a few screenshots of the first-run process and the desktop.
Since the NTFS filesystem was introduced with Windows NT, ITWorld's Sando Villinger seems to have discovered that Windows 8 may perhaps be the OS that Microsoft will use to debut a next generation filesystem -- Protogon.
While the first leak of Windows 8 was an early build, there are still many features that can be found if you are willing to get your hands dirty and dig around. Found within build 7850 is a new bit of information about the Task Manager that will be included with Windows 8 and showcases an updated kill process.
Microsoft is working hard on Windows 8 and the multiple leaks show that the OS is progressing rapidly. If one source is to be believed, Windows 8 is now also on Microsoft Connect, in a tightly closed beta for OEM suppliers.
Another week and another Windows 8 image has leaked, or part of an image has leaked this time. The image above shows part of the interface that will be used to install Windows 8, according to the source who provided the image.
Windows 8 will bring to the table many new features and among those will be a new login with pattern recognition. The feature, which looks very similar to the one currently used on the Android platform, has more combinations than what the Android pattern unlock currently utilizes.
Designing Windows 8 for virtually any device from smartphone to PC, Microsoft says it's had a key goal in mind for all hardware platforms--energy efficiency.
Though the term prerelease version is a bit vague, Sinofsky is likely referring to the beta of Windows 8 since he said that the company wants to "begin an open dialogue with those of you who will be trying out the prerelease version over the coming months.
When Microsoft released Windows 7 it was a worrying time for Microsoft. Windows Vista was terrible, and Windows 7 was an operating system Microsoft had to get right to rebuild confidence with consumers and business users alike. It did that by releasing a preview build anyone could experiment with months before the final release, and by responding to feedback.
Still a year or more from final release, the next version of Windows has been making its fair share of appearances on leak sites in recent months. Codenamed Windows Next, the OS release we've come to know as Windows 8 will look much like its recent predecessors on the surface, but looks to be getting a serious revamp from the kernel up.
On June 1, 2011, Microsoft unveiled some of its plans for Windows 8, its next Windows client release, for the first time. This unveiling included a public appearance from president Steven Sinofsky, the man most directly responsible for Windows, but also a video in which Microsoft Director of Program Management Jensen Harris directly manipulates what appears to be a touch-screen-based PC running Windows 8, and running through various new features.
Development of Windows 8 is proceeding nicely by all accounts. In the last two days alone, two interesting updates about the new operating system have emerged -- details from Microsoft on how the OS will handle larger data storage devices; and the latest on the Protogon file system, which has now been updated and renamed ReFS.
As expected, now that a preview build of Windows 8 is available to a privileged few, so there is an opportunity for someone to leak a few screenshots of what the next Windows operating system looks like.
Microsoft is getting close to the beta launch of Windows 8 and a few new screenshots of one of the latest builds has leaked. The screenshots have been independently confirmed by Canouna and show the name “Consumer Preview” which indicates previous rumors that the beta tag would be dropped; images are from PC Beta.com
I wrote about my daily use of the Windows 8 Developer Preview and how I configured the Windows 8 Start Screen to more accurately reflect the way I use the PC. This type of customization is common with Windows users today, of course, but the ways in which we can configure things to our liking is changing yet again in Windows 8.
Windows 8's worst-kept secret, perhaps, is that it will include a Windows Phone-inspired, Metro-like, tiles-based user interface as an alternative to the more mainstream Aero and Aero Lite (formerly Aero Basic) UIs. Aimed at small, touch-based devices like tablets and phones, this new UI, called Immersive, is also one of Windows 8's most locked-down features. And in the recently leaked builds, it's proven impossible, so far, to unlock.
Microsoft has promoted the fact that its upcoming Windows 8 operating system will have built in malware and virus protection. One of those features would require any software that would be loaded by Windows 8 when it boots up to have a digital authentication. In theory this would defeat any malware that might reside in the Windows 8-based PC.
Computer scientists warn that proposed changes in firmware specifications may make it impossible to run "unauthorised" operating systems such as Linux and FreeBSD on PCs.
Over the last few days it has emerged that Windows 8 ARM computers, be it tablet, laptop, or possibly even desktop form factor, will be locked down and unable to run any other operating systems. This is in strong contrast to x86 Windows 8 PCs, which Microsoft has mandated must be able to run other operating systems.
Microsoft's Secure Boot plans for Windows 8 stirred up quite a hornet's nest of controversy in the Linux world last fall, and recently that debate has started up again.
In October, Microsoft officially acquired the Internet phone company Skype. So it's not exactly a shock to learn that Skype is looking for developers to work on new Skype products for Windows 8. As spotted by iStartedSomething.com, Skype's web site has not one but two job openings available for "Software Development Engineer -- Skype for Windows Metro."
There may be another win for the open source movement today, as there has been some interesting legalese found in the recent publication of the Windows Store Application Developer Agreement. If you are unfamiliar with the Windows Store, basically Redmond is launching a storefront for Windows 8 aimed at cashing in on the micro-transaction craze going on.
Windows 8 screenshot leaks, particularly from China-based web sites, seem to be coming fast and furious now. A site called PCBetacom.com has now posted up some screenshots showing a new feature called Storage Spaces.
With yet another beautiful example of feature creep and an overwhelming belief that Windows 8 must please all of the people all of the time, Microsoft has unveiled Storage Spaces, a new RAID-like storage solution that will be built into Windows 8.
So, Apple's been granted a patent on the 'Slide to unlock' feature present on the iPhone and iPad. Where does this leave Windows 8 which features a similar unlock mechanism?
In all the previous versions of Windows, there have always been some kind of Task Manager which showed users what programs and processes were currently running on the operating system. A lot of users have accessed the Task Manager to close uncooperative programs. Today, the official Windows 8 blog goes into detail about how its version of the Task Manager will differ and improve from previous versions.
The buzz about Redmond's upcoming release of Windows 8 has been clogging up the intertubes lately. Fanboys and haters alike have been testing the developer release, and either pointing out what they think is stellar, or another weak attempt my Microsoft to keep their product relevant.
If you have a quad-core CPU with eight logical cores after Hyper-Threading, you have probably noticed that the Performance tab of the Windows 7 Task Manager really struggles to display real-time graphs of per-core utilization. It tries to squeeze in eight, time-on-the-x-axis charts in a small horizontal window. Now imagine what it would look like with two CPUs and 16 logical cores, or four CPUs and 32 cores -- or, as Microsoft details in its latest Building Windows 8 blog post, 160 logical cores.
Windows 8 may launch a public beta version sometime in late February but the final launch of Microsoft's next PC operating system won't happen for at least several months. However a number of third party developers are already making apps that will work on Windows 8.
As I noted in yesterday's tip, much has been made about the touch-first new shell in Windows 8. But this shell, as exemplified by the new Start screen, also works equally well with the keyboard and mouse, or with a Tablet PC-style stylus. And since a mouse (or a similar device, like a laptop's trackpad) will be the most commonly used pointing device in Windows 8, it makes sense to investigate how you use one in this supposedly touch-centric UI.
One of the big myths about Windows 8 is that its new shell, as most obviously seen in the new Start screen, is somehow touch-centric. It's not, and as Microsoft has tried , this new shell works equally well with the keyboard and mouse, as well as with a Tablet PC-style stylus, or pen. Regardless of your stance on this UI, at least know this: Microsoft realizes that the number one selling form factor for the Windows 8 generation of PCs will indeed be traditional laptop-style portable computers. And for this reason, it's engineering the system to work well on such hardware. And laptops, as you know, come with keyboards (and mouse-like pointing devices).
Earlier on we learned about the new steps Microsoft is taking in making Windows 8 the most wireless connection-friendly version yet with its simplified and integrated Wi-Fi and mobile broadband controls.
Microsoft's new Windows 8 OA 3.0 verification system will add complication and costs for ODMs (Original Device Manufacturers) who create and build PCs for the big name OEMs. These costs will, undoubtedly, be passed on to us, the consumers.
Microsoft has revamped the Start screen's search feature in Windows 8, hoping to help users more easily find and view specific apps, settings, and files.
Windows 8, specifically the Windows Store part of the operating system, has been in the spotlight this week. However a new rumor claims that Microsoft's next operating system will soon be able to support a new wireless data transfer feature. The rumor Twitter account MS_Nerd posted up a new message that claims, "Zune 'squirting' to make a come back on Microsoft's 3 screens with NFC, Bluetooth and WiFi Direct pairing, to be called 'beaming' now." The message had no other details.
We're all running systems these days with at least a couple of cores in our CPUs, right? And we want to take advantage of those cores too. Windows 8 will do that in a way that Windows 7 doesn't -- in the turning on and off of your computer.
While we are still at least a few months away from then next major public release of Windows 8, new shots of the touch keyboard have been leaked. The latest leak comes from Winunleaked.tk and shows a couple new options for the keyboard that are not currently available on the developers preview.
If early leaked screenshots are to be believed Microsoft is to bake into Windows 8 a file verification tool based on the SmartScreen Filter currently employed in Internet Explorer and Windows Live Messenger 2011. Is this a smart move or yet another of Microsoft's attempts at protecting the end user by throwing dialog boxes at them?
Another day, another Windows 8 screenshot exposed by Microsoft. This time, the company has revealed a new start menu that sports the "Metro" user interface found in Windows Phones and elsewhere in Windows 8.
Yes, to allay any concerns you might have had about the next version of the most popular operating system in the world: Windows 8 will fully support USB 3.0 and retain full backwards compatibility with the 10 billion existing USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices in the wild.
When build 7955 leaked, we knew it was only a matter of time until new elements of the Metro UI would be discovered. That trend continues today as the system settings UI has now been unlocked to show off more of the new Metro design language.
The small bits of information about Windows 8 continue to be discovered as more users get their hands on Windows 8. Small details like icons, themes, and features have slowly leaked over the past few weeks.
Arguably the biggest graphical change to the Windows UI in previous versions has been the implementation of Aero, the glass-like, and subtly transparent window decoration that has personified Windows until today. In Windows Vista, it was only available on versions above Windows Basic, and even in Windows 7, it requires at least basic hardware acceleration to run, and certain graphics-intensive applications would cause Aero to turn off.
In her column yesterday, Foley cited a "trusted source," who says that Microsoft is currently on track for Windows 8 to be released to manufacturing by April. RTM, or release to manufacturing, is the final version of a product just before it reaches consumers. For example, Windows 7 was released to manufacturing in July 2009 and then officially launched a few months later in October.
Among the many new features that have been slowly surfacing over the past few days, 'History Vault' can now be added to the list. History Vault appears to be much like Apple's Time Machine in that it will replicate your information automatically to an external location for backup.
Only three days after Windows 8 build 7955 officially leaked on a private FTP server, and slipped onto public filesharing websites, hackers have uncovered even more windows 8 secrets.
Yes, the Windows 8 rumour mill is really spinning up now. This time around though, they're not really rumours, since the information is coming from Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott, long-time Microsoft enthusiasts with loads of insider access. They've got a bunch of screenshots showing a work in progress of... A ribbon in Explorer. And yes, it looks just as bad as it sounds.
While Microsoft is hard at work on the next major operating system, codename Windows 8, the leaks for the upcoming OS begin to roll in. Because Windows 8 is still in the pre-alpha stages, M3 to be exact, the feature sets and UI remain very limited or unchanged.
The company is tweaking its Windows Defender tool, which has been part of the last few versions of Windows, by essentially adding some of the more robust features from its free Security Essentials product. Launched in 2009, Security Essentials has garnered generally positive reviews but requires a separate download, while the built-in Windows Defender has lacked certain key elements as a defense against malware.
Windows 8 will let users more easily and seemlessly bridge the gap between online and offline by directly tapping into Microsoft's Windows Live service.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz takes a look at the Microsoft Touch Mouse and discusses the ways in which it will help us to gradually move to the Windows 8 touch screen interface.
Ah, yes, the sweet smell of revolution. Thanks to even the smallest bit of Windows 8 news, those of us on the Windows side of the fence now face a sunny future. In fact, we haven't been this excited since 2003, when Microsoft unleashed its vision for "Longhorn" on the world. The end to that story, of course, wasn't so positive--in fact, I think it triggered or was at least emblematic of a decade-long funk at the software giant--but there's a new sheriff in town now. And if I know anything about Steven Sinofsky, the man most directly responsible for Windows today, it's that this is a guy who keeps his promises. And when Mr. Sinofsky says that the changes coming in Windows 8 represent the biggest change to Windows since Windows 95, I don't just believe him. I think he's under-selling it.
Windows 8 was apparently a big hit at CES 2012, but it looks like Microsoft brought an older build version of the operating system, 8175.0.fbl_dev_dp4.111216-2019, to Las Vegas this week. Now Winunleaked.tk is reporting that the latest version of Windows 8 is in fact at 8184.0.winmain.120113-1850.
Windows 8 will offer people the option of logging in with a Windows Live ID, giving them the ability to access the same files and settings across multiple PCs.
Fancy having a sneak peek at how the forthcoming Windows 8 will look? Put off by the idea of finding a beta version to install? Windows 8 UX Pack offers you a glimpse into the future of Windows without committing you to installing the full operating system. It basically skins Windows 7 to give it the distinctive look and feel of Windows 8, including the Metro theme, which basically uses a widget-like display to give you access to various tools and apps.
Microsoft shook up the tech world with a very advanced look at the upcoming Windows 8. It was previously believed that Windows 8 would have a separate version for touch tablets, and a more traditional version for desktops and laptops. That doesn't seem to be the case according to Microsoft, as the statement that the new interface will be on "desktops, laptops and tablets." Microsoft may be biting off more than it can chew with this goal; as nice as the tile interface looks the user experience will come down to apps, and those must vary widely for the three devices types.
Windows 8 will reportedly have a new verification process for new PCs and according to Digitimes, via unnamed sources, it's causing problems for PC makers. The story says that Windows 8 will use OEM Activation 3.0 (OA 3.0) and as a result PC manufacturers are reportedly saying it will take longer to install the OS into PCs and therefore cost them money.
As we have seen in the past week in our extensive coverage of Microsoft's BUILD Conference, Windows 8 will have a ton of new features, along with a brand new touch-based interface, when it finally launches. But will one of those new features allow users of the operating system to telephone others directly from the OS? While Microsoft has yet to confirm that such a feature is planned for Windows 8, Istartedsomething.com reports that there is evidence that Microsoft is working on such a service for the operating system.
IDC's top 10 system software predictions for 2012 are out. One of them casts doubt on Microsoft's potential market for Windows 8 among traditional PC users.
Microsoft held its first major unveiling of what's in store with Windows 8 at the D9 conference this week. Windows 8 looks bold. It looks slick. It looks impressively innovative. But, it also looks like it will be a major battle to convince business users to embrace it.
The jump in system requirements going from Windows XP to Windows Vista was significant. The move from Windows 7 to Windows Vista, however, wasn't anything of the sort. In fact, Windows 7 ran better than Windows Vista on modest systems.
With some confidence I can say that all of us have been a victim of the diabolical, automatic 3am Windows Update restart. With Windows 8, Microsoft is finally fixing Windows Update to behave a little more sensibly.
Called "Windows To Go," the feature seems aimed at enterprises that want to equip employees with "complete managed Windows images" that they can use to turn a PC into a doppelganger of a secured in-house machine.
Worried that you'll have to buy a new PC in order to be able to run Windows 8? Don't! Microsoft has said that the Windows 8 system requirements will be the same, or perhaps even lower, than those of Windows 7.
Windows 8 gadgets fitted with NFC will have a logo showing where on the case a pay-by-wave radio signal can be picked up, given a tablet might be bigger than the wireless technology's range.
The more I use Windows 8 , the more I realize what's missing: great apps. If Microsoft wants people to fall in love with their new OS, it needs a collection of killer apps. Here's my wish list. What apps are you waiting for?
This week, Microsoft revealed a little of what to expect from the next Windows operating system. With its Windows Phone look and touch - literally - and tiles everywhere, it will be a major refresh, but there's a still a number of unanswered questions. Here are my top five:
The buzz is building over Microsoft's BUILD conference that starts Tuesday, where the company will provide more details about Windows 8, which the company bills as the most radical change in its OS since Windows 95. "In 1995, Windows changed the PC," Microsoft says. "BUILD will show you that Windows 8 change everything." But what everyone's wondering is whether Windows 8 will change everything for better or worse?
Given my choice of desktops, I'm running Linux, but over the years Windows has gone from being a bad joke of a desktop operating systems--Windows ME and Vista--to being a reasonably good choice-Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7.
After spending several days with the Developer Preview of Windows 8 on a PC, it's clear that Microsoft's new operating system -- which offers two separate interfaces, Metro and Desktop -- is a transitional one between traditional computers and mobile devices. All of Microsoft's energy and creativity has been devoted to the new Metro interface; there's very little new of note for the old-fashioned Desktop.
At its first-ever BUILD conference this week in Anaheim, California, Microsoft is showing off its upcoming Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 releases to the public for the first time. I received an early peek at both, but because of non-disclosure concerns, I can't discuss Windows Server 8 until next week. So this time around, I'd like to focus on Windows 8 and how this release will affect businesses. Long story short: not much at all.
But in the past few days, rumors of a possible leak of one of the newer Windows 8 internal builds have been gaining steam. Some known beta-leaking sites have been posting new screen shots of what they are claiming to be leaked Windows 8 builds. These builds may be from one or more select OEMs, who supposedly are finally starting to get private test builds of Windows 8 from Microsoft.
As a casual aside, while discussing the future of the tiletastic Windows Store, a Microsoft vice president announced that the Windows 8 beta would begin in late February 2012. The beta will be feature-complete and will allow developers to begin listing their apps in the Store.
Now that the Developer Preview of Windows 8 has been released and the highly anticipated BUILD Conference has passed,Windows8Center is eagerly awaiting the next step in the Windows 8 process: the beta. Finally, we have some real leaks, not the standard Microsoft-authorized "Building Windows 8" blog posts. First up, some pictures from Winunleaked that provide a glimpse into a pre-beta version of Windows 8:
With the unveiling of Windows 8, there have been many new features that were not initially shown off when introduced. One small, but unannounced feature, was a new boot manager.
As might be expected with any new software from Microsoft, early users of Windows 8 are complaining about malfunctioning apps, device driver woes, installation snags, and a burgeoning managerie of other bugs -- except that in a new twist, the first crop of early users this time around includes consumers and business customers, not just developers.
I installed Windows 8 on a touch tablet sold with Windows 7 onboard, and while I like the Metro interface the dual personality of the new OS is not natural.
Microsoft in August said Windows 8 would be the most significant reimagining of its trademark operating system since Windows 95. But all those changes may not be for the better, at least based on what we know so far. There are some interesting innovations headed your way such as a new touch-centric interface, a version for ARM-based processors, and deep SkyDrive integration.
The Windows 8 Developer preview offers the first official look at Windows 8 for the general public. This early build was designed to give a high level look at the new Metro UI and because of that, it omitted some simple features like the ability to change the background. While we fully expect that these features will be available in the RTM, some eager users have already figured out how to change the background in the developer preview.
The Windows 8 developer preview is now out in the wild. Many have you, including almost all the Neowin staff, have downloaded the new preview and are getting used to the many new features in the OS.
Shortly after Windows 7 launched, Microsoft began testing Microsoft Security Essentials for the PC to help keep users secure and safe from malware, spyware, Trojans and viruses.
If you were worried that, like Windows Phone 7, Windows 8 would be locked in landscape mode, fear not! On the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft has outlined that while landscape is certainly the prevalent orientation, Windows 8 will be fully optimized for portrait usage.
In Arlo Guthrie's famous song, Alice's Restaurant, the defendant is prosecuted with the use of "twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back." That's how it felt reading Microsoft's response to user criticisms of Windows 8. In a lengthy and unbelievably technical post, Marina Dukhon, a senior manager, valiantly defended the new Metro user interface against the withering criticism it has received for being a large step backwards in productivity for current Windows users, using a raft of statistics and formulas.
In the end, operating systems are merely a means to an end. Nobody runs Windows to run Windows, or OS X to run OS X, or Linux to run Linux. They run them to get stuff done, and they get most of that stuff done in applications.
Windows 8 will be Microsoft's complete reimagination of the PC, and Microsoft is hard at work optimizing it for full blown desktop business powerhouses to SoC devices. Microsoft has been especially focused on the immersive, Metro UI tablet experience it provides. An important part of that is how Windows 8 will react to portrait and landscape modes -- we've never seen this functionality displayed before in a demo of Windows 8.
Earlier this month, members of the Windows 8 team posted back to back posts (here and here) to the Building Windows 8 Blog in which they described the ways in which previous Windows versions, dating back to Windows 95, handled application launching, mostly through the Start Menu but more recently, in Windows 7, via the taskbar as well. In Windows 8, of course, these facilities are being taken over by the Start screen. For this reason, the Start screen is widely considered a "Start menu replacement." But it is, of course, much more than that.
An early copy of Windows 8 leaked to the Internet this week and enthusiasts have been digging their way through the various new bits in Microsoft's next-generation operating system.
When it was announced that Windows 8 would also support the ARM architecture, it was immediately questioned if x86 applications would run on ARM PCs. There has been some confusion on the matter but Steven Sinofsky clarified during a Q&A session this week that x86 applications will not run on ARM based PCs.
It's time again for more Windows 8 information based on the job resumes and portfolios of employees, as well as job ads placed by Microsoft itself. As I did previously in the last Windows 8 post I wrote like this, I've linked directly to the source for each item in quotes below. Some of these mentions are here just for the sake of continuity, but there is certainly some good information to be gleaned from what some of these people are saying. I've done all the leg work, so now it's your turn to have a field day analyzing it all and coming to your own conclusions.
As many of you are aware, Windows 8 is a hot topic right now. Rumors abound and walk circles around what little factual data we have about Microsoft's next OS, but there are perpetual truths to be found in the aspects of how Microsoft develops each new version of Windows. For instance, we know that Microsoft gives the UI a face-lift in each new major release. In knowing that, we can only wait and see what's to come down the pike... or, we can be proactive and seek out information for ourselves to help us glean what little insight we can!
In a new "Building Windows 8? blog entry, Microsoft elaborates on how Windows 8 will react to storage files like ISO and VHD. An ISO file is usually found on a CDROM -- but those are rare these days and ISO files are mostly found online. So in Windows 8, ISO files will be automatically "mounted," creating a virtual CDROM that will function just like a normal one.
A day after Microsoft showed off an early version of its user interface for Windows 8 -- and I've actually had a chance to actually see it (via videos and photos) -- I've got mixed feelings.
We wish we knew exactly what's in store here, but we've found some exciting tidbits in Windows 8 that indicate that Microsoft's top-secret new filesystem -- Protogon -- is finally coming to fruition as part of Windows 8.
I have a longstanding rule for evaluating new tech products: Don't judge anything by the demo. I've seen far too many product previews that hid fundamental flaws in usability. Until you can touch and play with the product on your own, seeing the little details of fit and performance that make it delightful or frustrating, you won't really know if it's worth your time.
There is a lot of buzz about a recent set of tests by NSS Labs that show the Smartscreen reputation system in Internet Explorer 9 head and shoulders and most of the rest of the body above the competition in blocking malware on the web.
On Monday, the day before Microsoft formally unveiled Windows 8 at its BUILD conference here in Anaheim, it held a event for the press. Tech journalists from around the world (including me) got a preview of the news that would break a day later, and we went back to our hotel rooms with loaner Samsung tablets loaded with the developer preview of Windows 8. We agreed to a Microsoft embargo that said we could publish our stories at 9:05am on Tuesday, once the BUILD keynote was underway.
With most developers around the world having to wait until BUILD to find out how to develop for Windows 8, some companies are already cranking out Windows 8 apps! See two of them here.
The new start button in Windows 8 is a drastic change from the previous iterations of Windows. Knowing this, we posted up how to change the new start menu back to the classic start menu in Windows 8.
This morning, Microsoft changed everything with the announcement of Windows 8, showing off their latest OS which really is their "biggest bet yet." The company unveilved it's new touch interface, developer tablet PC's and talked about some other new features.
Microsoft showed its first public demo of Windows 8 on Wednesday, and it's not at all like the Windows operating systems you've come to know over the past 25 years. The next version of Microsoft's operating system ("Windows 8" is just a codename) is a radical departure, designed around touch screens.
After the big unveil of Microsoft Windows 8 Developer Preview, the software giant is turning to its loyal developers to help take Windows 8 to the next level.
I see no reason to update laptops or desktops to Windows 8, which so far seems to be simply a UI change. If Microsoft wants people to upgrade, it better come up with some real features.
Windows 8 will be a new animal that merges mobile design thinking with that of the traditional PC computing. The clear sign of this is the Metro design that's currently being used in Windows Phone -- and to a smaller extent in the latest Xbox 360 dashboard.
Many of us have been in this spot before. You run Windows Update in Windows 7 or Vista and install the updates. Then suddenly, when you are away or asleep, the system restarts. Not only did it restart, but you were working in a program and left it open. All that data is now gone. Microsoft has now detailed how they aim to fix the problem in Windows 8.
From Windows to Office, cloud and server applications, and maybe a Metro-inspired dance remix on YouTube, Microsoft's next-generation user interface will be everywhere by Windows 8's launch.
Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, will reuse code from Windows 8, due this year - specifically the kernel, network stacks, security and multi media. That means Windows Phone 8 will ditch the current Windows Phone 7.5 core that uses Windows Embedded Compact.
Users at the My Digital Life forum apparently discovered the application in the latest pre-beta build of Windows 8, dubbed 8141. One poster said it seems to be the old Windows 7 version, while WinRumors noted that it appears to be a standalone desktop app.
The saga of the Windows store has been full of fakes and misinformation. But it now appears that we are finally getting more reliable information that has been uncovered within the Windows 8 leaks.
In 1993, I was an Amiga user, a proud Amiga user, really, and openly disdainful of Microsoft and its products. At the time, the current version of Windows was 3.1, and while this was the version of the OS that catapulted Windows ahead of the Mac for good, I viewed it at the time as something that just happened to suck slightly less than its predecessor. Most readers probably aren't familiar with the Amiga, but suffice to say that we had true multitasking almost a decade before the Mac and Windows, and it worked on floppy-based systems too.
The next version of Windows is being billed as a radical reinvention of Microsoft Corp.'s flagship operating system - the most extensive overhaul since Windows 95.
Why won't Microsoft tell PC manufacturers how to implement secure boot on their computer designs? Because anything they say can be used against them in a court of law. Literally.
Aaron Suzuki, CEO of Prowess, argues that the migrating to Windows 7 has to be systematic, well thought out, and that you have to be prepared to address five specific problems.
In his Keynote opening the Build developers conference, President of Microsoft's Windows Division Steven Sinofsky touched on some updated facts on the still-relatively-young Windows 7 before diving into the demonstration of the next-generation Windows 8.
Ten years of Windows XP means that the whole world knows how to use it, from administrators to users. How much training does it take to migrate to Windows 7?
By the end of March 2011, Windows 7 was powering 20.9 percent of corporate PCs, according to a new Forrester Research report, while Windows XP was on 60 percent of business PCs -- down from 69 percent a year ago.
Windows 7's share of the PC market is continuing to grow steadily, while Apple's, Linux's and Google's shares are making slow inroads, according to new worldwide PC usage data from Gartner Inc.
We know from research we've done with you that lots of you are either knee deep in a Windows 7 roll out, or you're about to be, so we thought we'd try and help.
Windows 7 may be Microsoft's fastest selling OS, but some of the larger scale roll outs have started only recently. Rev 1 teething problems, combined with the effects of a slump, fuelled the initial caution.
High-performance PC hardware doesn't always deliver the speed users expect. But you probably shouldn't blame the hardware. The slowdown may be due to a software conflict.
There doesn't appear to be a supported way to integrate Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1), though of course various third party tools will no doubt step in to fill that gap. While I ensure this is the case with Microsoft, I thought I'd touch on a related topic I've been thinking about lately: New Windows 7 installs. I'll be migrating my home server to Windows Home Server 2011 when the final version of that product becomes available, and will be documenting that process when it happens. But I've also been looking at my various desktop and portable PCs and have begun the process of wiping them out and reinstalling a fresh copy of Windows 7 with SP1.
Welcome to Just Show Me on Tecca TV, where we show you tips and tricks for getting the most out of the gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you how to set up parental controls on Windows 7.
Following several months of beta testing, Microsoft is shipping a pair of updated tools meant to aid IT professionals in migrating to Windows 7, and is preparing a customer technology preview (CTP) of an edition of Windows 7 meant to enable PCs to be configured as thin clients.
Last July, Microsoft posted up a note on the official Windows blog site that recommended strongly that companies that were still running Windows XP on their PCs to upgrade to Windows 7. This week, during Microsoft's BUILD Conference, company officials were once again pushing for enterprise customers to dump Windows XP. Information Week reports that Microsoft's chief operating officer Kevin Turner told financial analysts this week, "We are end-of-lifing XP and Office 2003 and everything prior, in April 2014."
Just a little over a year ago, we were talking about the rapid success of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. That success? A whopping 150 million copies sold. In the intervening year, Microsoft has managed to almost treble that amount. The new total is an outstanding 400 million copies sold - a success by any metric.
Repurposing Windows machines as thin clients isn't the only way that Microsoft customers can go the thin-client route. They also can use dedicated thin clients running the newly released Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack (SP) 1 to do the same.
Globally, 190,000 Microsoft users received an OS upgrade recently from Microsoft Vista to Windows 7. It was a large and complex roll-out - but it certainly wasn't the logistical nightmare you might imagine, nor was it a heavily locked down, centrally managed operation. This is the story of how it happened for Microsoft's users here in the UK - some 2,000 people.
After writing last week's blog, Take advantage of the Taskbar features in Windows 7, I found myself focusing on the taskbar to make sure that I was taking advantage of all of the features that it has to offer. While I was doing so, I began to think about the only icon that I had on the desktop - the Recycle Bin - and began wondering if there was a way to put the Recycle Bin on the taskbar.
Laptops and desktops from Lenovo with the upgraded Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) will become available starting in early April, with Hewlett-Packard planning shipments of business PCs soon after, the companies said.
Deciding to move to Windows 7 is the easy bit. The crunch comes in planning and executing the migration. Should it be a big bang or incremental? How much new hardware and software is needed? What can go wrong?
According to a recent Gartner projection, Windows 7 will be on 42 percent of all PCs at the beginning of 2012. Also, it predicts that 94 percent of all new PC shipments this year will run on Microsoft's latest OS.
Last year I published a ZDNet article about installing Windows 7 as the default operating system on a MacBook Air. It was well-received, and generated a number of questions from the readers.
Last week, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. I've been monitoring the release in online forums and via individual reports since then. I've also talked, unofficially, with some people who have access to Microsoft's customer support database.
A brace of "fatal errors" is hampering Windows 7-based computers that have been updated with Microsoft's first service pack for its current operating system.
Don't get too comfortable with Windows 7. Microsoft is already hard at work on Windows 8 (and probably Windows 9, at the very least). While it's still only in the "rumor" stage, tidbits are spilling out as to what the upcoming operating system will offer. We already knew that it would support system-on-a-chip and mobile ARM processors, which could signal a new direction for PC development, but will these be true game changers?
Conventional wisdom has it that Apple's Mac OS X system is more secure than Windows. And though partisans on either side of the OS fence have differing reasons for believing that to be so--Mac users believe it's because of the inherent superiority of OS X's UNIX underpinnings, and Windows users claim that OS X's tiny 5 percent usage share isn't a sufficient target for hackers--this is perhaps the one area where they do agree.
In last week's article, Keep device drivers updated with Windows 7 Device Installation Settings, I stirred up users from both sides of the debate about whether to use Windows Update as a source of device drivers. As I mentioned, there are two schools of thought.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to get to the Windows 7 System Recovery Options menu and describes each of the tools on the menu.
In this issue of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz describes how the Windows 7 Live File System format works and how you can use it for backups or additional storage.
If your Windows 7 PC is running low on disk space, it might be time to do a little digital spring-cleaning. But, where do you start? How do you quickly find old files that you no longer need? During this week's TR Dojo episode, I show you how the Windows Explorer Arrange By feature can help you weed through your files.
Greg Shultz shows you how to use the DiskPart utility to configure a bootable USB flash drive that you can then use to install the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system.
The question "How can I get around the User Access Control (UAC) in Windows 7 when doing a remote session with TeamViewer?" has come up quite a lot in my email conversations and chats with fellow support specialists on TechRepublic. Here's my answer.
It's generally not a good idea to use a true Windows administrator account for day-to-day computing. But, there are times when being logged in as a machine's local admin does make things easier. During this week's TR Dojo episode, I show you two ways to activate the hidden Administrator account on Windows 7 and Vista.
Using the options available from the command line version of the Windows 7 defragmentation utility you have much more control over the maintenance of your storage devices.
If you have ever been responsible for managing stand-alone or workgroup Windows XP systems with multiple user accounts, chances are that you wished you could have used Group Policy to set different policies for different users. Unfortunately, Windows XP's Local Group Policy doesn't work that way. You can use it to create a specific desktop configuration, but this type of Group Policy applies to all users of the computer regardless.
Bill Detwiler shows you how Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder can show you exactly what was happening when a computer problem occurred. For more posts like this see TechRepublic's TR Dojo blog.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz examines the benefits of allowing Windows 7's to detect and install updated device drivers and shows you how to enable or disable this feature.
Windows XP's Local Group Policy is a handy way to create specific desktop configurations on stand-alone or workgroup systems. It doesn't however, let you create user-specific configurations, which can be helpful on machines used by multiple users.
One of the most obvious differences between Microsoft Windows 7 and the previous versions of the operating system is the concept of libraries. In Windows 7, files are stored a library folder, which is essentially a folder that references other available folders. The idea is that you don't have to worry about the actual physical folder that houses the file in question because it is referenced in your library - let the operating system worry about where it actually sits.
For some reason, Windows 7 does not have a built-in way to adjust the number of Recent Items listed on the Start Menu. Mark Kaelin shows you how to do it yourself with a registry tweak.
The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache is a crucial component of IP networking on any operating system. What ARP does is link Ethernet addressing (IP Addressing) to hardware addressing (MAC addressing). Without this system, a machine could not communicate to the outside world as one addressing scheme could not communicate with the other.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to create your own Libraries in Windows 7 and gives you some tips on how you can use this knowledge to personalize your Windows 7 experience.
You can get a lot more mileage out of Windows 7 if you perform a few tweaks and tap into some timesaving tricks. Here's a collection of 10 popular Windows 7 Quick Tips.
If you're keen to try out Windows 8 before it officially hits the shops, your craving can be satiated by turning to the Developer Preview. While this is handy, the process of setting up a dual boot system, configuring a virtual machine or setting aside a dedicated computer to run the operating system is enough to put most people off. If you'd prefer not to go to these lengths, Windows 8 Simulator may be just what you have been looking for.
Keyboard shortcuts are the essence of PC productivity. While newbs slowly mouse around their screens in search of buttons to click, seasoned tech vets hammer through a day's work with ease thanks to a wealth of arcane hotkey combos that knock out useful tasks in seconds. Of course, every PC user knows a few handy shortcuts, and hardened system tweakers like yourself have forgotten more hotkeys than most users will ever learn. But here are 10 cool combos that even you might not know.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to use the System Diagnostic Report to gather troubleshooting information on-the-fly.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how the Windows 7's Problem Steps Recorder works and how it can help you troubleshoot.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to use the GUI version of Windows 7's Check Disk tool to perform two hard disk analysis operations.
Whenever I connect to a WiFi network which requires in-browser authentication, such as university networks and hotel access points, Windows somehow magically knows. Windows also knows when your internet connection isn't working, and can differentiate between having local LAN access, no network access at all, or full internet access. But how?
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz takes a look at the Windows 7 Startup Repair Tool and explains how it works to automatically troubleshoot and repair the operating system.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to launch and use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to test for defective RAM.
Remember what Windows 95 was all about? Besides a whole new platform, it also brought us the Start menu, which was big enough to get its own Rolling Stones theme song.
Amalgamation of four separate authorities, 270 offices that needed to be reduced into four hubs and 70 outlying offices, and many constraints including a host of governmental regulations, were among the challenges facing Wiltshire Council as it planned to roll out Microsoft Windows 7, which was at the core of its workplace transformation programme.
Last week, I selected LogMeIn Ignition for my first-ever mobile app pick. It was an obvious choice because I've been a loyal and satisfied customer of LogMeIn's paid Pro service for years. But a number of readers tipped me off to another LogMeIn product, this one free, which could answer a pressing need for Windows users. And it's a fantastic solution for remotely accessing the contents of PCs.
The integrated Windows Troubleshooting tools works well in Windows 7, and they're one of many reasons that this OS is superior to its predecessors. But sometimes you will run into an issue that isn't covered by the built-in troubleshooters. When that happens, it's time to escalate the issue, either with Microsoft Support or, if you're a corporate customer, with your IT help desk.
According to the latest results of the desktop OS market share in the US for April 2011 collected by StatCounter, it looks like people are finally leaving Windows XP behind and getting an upgrade to Windows 7. For the first time since it became the most popular operating system around, Windows XP's market share has been trumped by Windows 7. Windows 7 is now used on 31.71% of desktops in the US, while Windows XP has dropped to 31.56%.
As a software developer I do lots of market research into the current trends of both software and hardware. I read, read, read as much as I can about what is going on in the industry, for starters. There's a whole lot of hype about iPad, and near silence about Windows tablets. But there are plenty of them out there.
Computer Management is a Microsoft Management Console -based tool that combines a number of administrative utilities into a single UI. It debuted in Windows 2000 and has soldiered on in ever version of Windows since. But in Windows 2000 and XP, the only simple way to access this tool was by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Manage, so many users simply didn't even know it existed.
Every time you make a configuration change, that information is automatically written to the Registry. Change the system time, and the Registry is updated; change your desktop wallpaper, the Registry is updated; change the home page in Internet Explorer, the Registry is updated. The Registry is also updated whenever you install a new software program or hardware device. And it all happens automatically, in the background.
While almost everyone in the Western world has at least one laptop or desktop in their household, it's important to remember that a huge percentage computing is done in an office and enterprise environment. The use-cases of home and office machines are understandably quite different -- we play World of Warcraft at home, and fiddle with Word and Excel documents at work -- and thus the hardware specifications are very different, too. It's very rare to find an office machine that has more than a bare minimum of memory and processor power.
One day after Microsoft launched the first beta of the next generation of its Windows desktop operating system, Windows 8, the company previewed the next version of its server operating system, Windows Server 8.
Today, Microsoft dropped the other ball during the second big BUILD developer conference keynote. The company is releasing Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview and Windows Server 8 Developer Preview. The software will be available for MSDN subscribers.
Microsoft kicked off their second day keynote with a deep look into Windows Server 8. The keynote kicked off with a demonstration of the latest Visual Studio 11 developer preview with Windows Azure integration for developers to take their applications to the cloud.
People sometimes ask me where my early and often unofficial peeks at upcoming Microsoft products come from. More often than not, it's a Microsoft employee, or someone close to the company, who reaches out to me and not vice versa. And the information I get is sometimes voluminous.
One of the more intriguing tidbits to come out of last week's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 was a brief mention and then private demonstration of Windows Server 8, which should ship alongside Windows 8 next year. Until the show, Microsoft had never publicly discussed Windows Server 8, to my knowledge, or even mentioned a codename.
Microsoft has got a lot to talk and show at next week's BUILD Conference but it looks like one interesting development has been revealed ahead of time. The person known by the handle "Canouna" has posted up a screenshot of a build of Windows Server 8 on the My Digital Life message boards.
Can I allow specific programs to run with automatic user authorization at PC start-up? I have two programs (mounting an external drive and background backup) that I have to authorize every time I boot my PC.
The flash and polish of Windows Vista seduced you, but so far the glamorous interface is just sucking the life out of your PC. Fear not, this guide has everything you need to turn Vista into the beautiful *and* speedy OS you were dreaming of.
The National Security Agency (NSA) recently published a report, "Best Practices for Keeping Your Home Network Secure" (PDF) in which it makes numerous recommendations designed to help home computer users avoid malware and other common problems.
Microsoft's official support for its Windows Vista operating system with the first service pack has now officially ended. As noted on the Windows support web site, the official support for that version of the OS ended on Tuesday. People who are still using Windows Vista with SP1 installed are now advised to upgrade to the second service pack for the OS if they want to continue to receive updates that will protect and fix Vista from exploits and bugs.
Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), will not run on Windows Vista, either now in its developer preview form or when the software ships, the company confirmed today.
User Account Control (UAC) is one of the most important new security features in Windows Vista. It protects against malware elevation of privileges, even when someone is logged on with an administrative account. Here's a look at what UAC does and how you can configure its behavior.
In late August, Betanews published a series of seven stories, sharing memories using Windows XP. The majority came from readers like you. The first set of recollections commemorated the tenth anniversary of XP's release to manufacturing. Another date remains. Microsoft launched Windows XP on Oct. 25, 2001, and we'd like to celebrate the decade since with even more Windows XP memories.
Microsoft continued its campaign yesterday to convince stuck-in-the-mud Windows XP customers to upgrade to Windows 7, the company's current operating system.
Windows XP is still used as the main PC operating system by individuals, small and large businesses and, as we reported recently, even at the White House. Today, Microsoft used its official Windows blog site to issue yet another reminder that its support for Windows XP won't be around for much longer.
Microsoft Windows XP is 10-year old technology; it is time to dump it for something better and safer. Whether you agree or disagree, take the poll to let us know.
During the six month study, researchers from Avast have sampled 630, 000 Windows rootkits, to find out that 74% of infections originated from illegal copies of Windows XP.
It is not every day that we see a Government agency telling us what platform we should use for our business and personal computing needs. While it is known that Vista and Windows 7 provide better security enhancements than Windows XP, the NSA is now calling it a best practice to upgrade from XP to a newer OS.
Windows XP is slowly being phased out as new PCs are deployed, but the migration is still far from complete. Recent poll results suggest Windows XP is going to be around for a long time.
Windows XP users, your favorite operating system is a decade old, and if you're still using it, you're not cool anymore, at least according to Microsoft. That's the software giant's recent take on its aging OS, which is still more popular than Vista or Windows 7 worldwide. Microsoft is hoping the final cadre of users hanging on to XP will start to dump it and move to the more modern Windows 7.
The decade-old XP closed July with 49.8%, a 1.3-percentage point drop from June, Net Applications said today. Although XP still powers a majority of Windows machines, July's decline means it has lost its majority status among all operating systems.
