Windows 8 news coverage here

By Steven P.
in The Fast Ring (Insider Previews)

 Share

Recommended Posts

Grand Master

BajiRav

Posted
Posted

that mini tile idea is crap!...

why do u need to show what the startscreen looks like?

also.

u have it in charms. why do u need it anywhere else? pointless.

it feels similar to the thumbnail you get in DP when cursor is near left edge (where it shows preview of prev/next app)

Grand Master

George P Global Moderator

Posted
  • Global Moderator
Posted

I don't expect many desktop side UI changes at this point tbh. I think the bigger molding of metro and the "desktop" will happen in Win9 after more people get use to the new UI/start screen.

I really believe that what we think of as the desktop is just going to turn into a part of the UI where you can manage/work with lots of apps together like now of course but even future WinRT apps not just older Win32 apps like we're getting in Win8. I don't expect a split between the two sections come Win9.

I also expect the next thing to go will be the systray in favor of a new notification area in the UI that will slide into view from the side or the bottom etc. Then the last part will be the taskbar itself.

Grand Master

Zain Adeel

Posted
Posted

brilliantly written post! :)

do read it. Very informative.

Im thinking that Steven talked alot about new devices coming from AMD and Intel. Im very excited. I want a x86 tablet and if the AMD low power PCs can give me the performance, battery life, slim and light design, they can have my money! :)

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

brilliantly written post! :)

do read it. Very informative.

Im thinking that Steven talked alot about new devices coming from AMD and Intel. Im very excited. I want a x86 tablet and if the AMD low power PCs can give me the performance, battery life, slim and light design, they can have my money! :)

And it also clears up some misperceptions (even mine) on why the multi-API support on Windows 8 outside of ARM exists.

I have called Immersive on x86/x64 a *superset* UI; apparently, I was severely underestimating the case.

Windows 8 on x86/64 is a *superset OS* - basically WOA-plus.

The blog post (and the video) point out that WinRT is, by design, CPU-neutral (which Win32 isn't). Writing to the WinRT API means that as long as the API support is there, the application will work. However, WinRT, with it being primarily designed for lightweight-power-miserly architectures (such as Ultrabooks and ARM) means that it isn't suitable for the heavier applications (such as Outlook or even Photoshop or Acrobat Professional). With WinRT, the CPU isn't relevant.

However, some heavier-duty productivity applications, existing games, existing applications, are simply unsuitable for WinRT. (Outlook. Acrobat Professional. The full version of Photoshop. MMORPGs - even the F2P sort. Etc.) Therefore, Win32 still has a place. That's where everything from higher-end tablets and slates (such as SAMSUNG's existing SERIES 7) to traditional desktops, notebooks, etc. and the Win32 API come in. There are times that a ball-peen hammer simply won't do.

However, here's where the big change from previous versions of niche-targeted Windows (WinMo and TPC Edition in particular) comes in - the learning curve goes away - completely. You still have the jackhammer - or even the sledgehammer - in your arsenal.

Yes - it's not what we're used to. (It's also not what Apple - or even Google - wants.)

Whoever would have thought that "Think different." (the old Apple slogan) could ever apply to Microsoft?

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Everyone of these screenshots over the last couple of pages give me orgasms.

So excited for Gmail and calendar integration.

The Google Calendar integration is nice. The Gmail support isn't surprising in the least (mainly because Outlook has supported Gmail since it began, and added IMAP4 auto-configuration of Gmail accounts across all of Outlook two years back). I'm hoping that I can actually use Google Calendar with Outlook in Windows 8 (either the Consumer Preview or the finished product) without requiring an upgraded version of Office.

Guest fornaks86

Posted
Posted

Interesting trivia courtesy of Long...

Photo EXIF evidence points to Windows on ARM before iPad release

Turns out Microsoft has been working on Windows on ARM for a while, quite a while in fact.

In Steven Sinofsky?s thesis of Windows on ARM (generically dubbed WOA) published on the Building Windows 8 blog today, two photographs of an early development build of Windows running on prototype ARM hardware dates the effort to as far back as 22 January 2010, almost a week before iPad?s announcement on the 27th.

Although Microsoft waited almost a year later to reveal WOA for the first time in public at a CES 2011 press conference, it?s now clear Microsoft too had future bets on an ARM-based ecosystem even before the iPad began selling and ARM took the spotlight for tablet devices.

As one might gather from Steven?s insight into the ARM development process, it became a lot more complicated to optimize the Windows experience on ARM than just porting all the code from one architecture than another. I think the dated photographs also reaffirm just how big of an investment this has been already with two years of development already in the bag.

Although no one can deny the influence the iPad has had and continues to have on Windows, Windows 8 is looking to level the playing field on ARM hardware with a vengeance. It?s safe to say WOA is not a knee-jerk reaction to the iPad, but a strategic move planned much earlier. But of course like most things Microsoft, with a longer lead time to market.

Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

The NT kernel has been portable since the times of NT 3.x in the early 1990s. NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 ran on four different CPU architectures: x86, MIPS, DEC Alpha, PowerPC.

I'm pretty sure MS had an ARM build of NT running in their labs for years, just like Apple had x86 builds of all versions of Mac OS X running in their labs before the switch.

Long Zheng's findings are nice, but not earth shattering.

Guest fornaks86

Posted
Posted

The NT kernel has been portable since the times of NT 3.x in the early 1990s. NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 ran on four different CPU architectures: x86, MIPS, DEC Alpha, PowerPC.

I'm pretty sure MS had an ARM build of NT running in their labs for years, just like Apple had x86 builds of all versions of Mac OS X running in their labs before the switch.

Long Zheng's findings are nice, but not earth shattering.

Well, I did say it's just trivia :)

Veteran

FaiKee

Posted
Posted

OK, I requested canouna to try to dl Classic Shell and see if it could install and run in the beta build he has on hand, and here's the report:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/31998-Windows-8-Consumer-Preview-Discussion/page4?p=544698&viewfull=1#post544698

image_186.jpg

:s

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Still using Classic Outlook? Microsoft highlights 15 reasons to switch to New Outlook

      By Usama Jawad96 · Posted

      Still using Classic Outlook? Microsoft highlights 15 reasons to switch to New Outlook by Usama Jawad As many of you may know, Microsoft has been trying to get customers to ditch Classic Outlook in favor of New Outlook for quite some time now. To that end, it has added numerous capabilities to the latter, including PST features, and it is working on several more, such as a unified inbox. However, customer response has been a bit lukewarm so far, with many considering the New Outlook to be "hot garbage". Now, Microsoft has highlighted 15 features that users can leverage in New Outlook in yet another attempt to get customers to migrate. Although not all of the 15 capabilities are exclusive to New Outlook, in fact, most of them are available in Classic Outlook as well. But Microsoft hopes that this combination of familiar and fresh features will be able to attract existing users as well as new ones. For ease of readability, we have summarized the 15 features below: Pin an email: This makes it easier to track important emails Snooze an email: You can temporarily snooze an email thread for a specific time frame until it becomes relevant again. This can be very useful in scenarios where you don't feel like actively following a thread or simply want to follow up on a later date Add multiple categories at the same time: You can assign multiple categories to an email through a single, simplified interface Sweep: As the name implies, you can define automated move processes on your inbox to declutter it, rather than cleaning it up manually Schedule send: Does exactly what it says on the tin, and can be useful when accommodating recipients in different timezones Simplified folder sharing: The sharing process has been simplified so permissions are automatically applied on parent folders Follow a meeting: This is an RSVP option that lets people know that you won't be able to join the meeting but would still like to access a recap Save calendar views: You can save different views for the calendar based on different workflows Improved meeting tracking: Organizers have more controls in viewing meeting responses, such as the ability to sort and download them. Typically useful when there is a large audience Meeting recap: The Outlook Calendar surfaces a meeting recap with recordings, transcripts, and shared files Filtered views: Allows you to declutter your Calendar so that it's easier to scan and schedule Change a recurring event: Users can modify future events of a series of meetings while preserving the configuration of previous ones Rename your email account: This labeling makes it easier to identify multiple accounts in Outlook Modern themes: Exactly what the name says, plus Dark Mode Keyboard shortcuts: This facilitates flexible user behavior as customers can choose between Outlook for Windows shortcuts, Outlook for the web, or turn them off completely There you have it. It's a decent list, but it remains to be seen if it will move the needle in a meaningful way for users who are attached to Classic Outlook. Again, a lot of the aforementioned features are already available in Outlook Classic, but for some, native functionality is not present, and people typically resort to workarounds. Microsoft will be hoping that it's primarily those capabilities that get people to finally switch.
    • CANT FIND SECURE BOOT ON BIOS

      By mobandz · Posted

      Please I need help I been trying to find this secure boot on my ColorFul motherboard in the bios But i cant i turned off CSM everything watch every video i cant find it. BATTLE-AX B660M-HD DELUXE V20
    • LibreWolf 151.0.3-1

      By Copernic · Posted

      LibreWolf 151.0.3-1 by Razvan Serea LibreWolf is an independent “fork” of Firefox, with the primary goals of privacy security and user freedom. It is the community run successor to LibreFox. LibreWolf is designed to increase protection against tracking and fingerprinting techniques, while also including a few security improvements. This is achieved through our privacy and security oriented settings and patches. LibreWolf also aims to remove all the telemetry, data collection and annoyances, as well as disabling anti-freedom features like DRM. LibreWolf features: Latest Firefox — LibreWolf is compiled directly from the latest build of Firefox Stable. You will have the the latest features, and security updates. Independent Build — LibreWolf uses a build independent of Firefox and has its own settings, profile folder and installation path. As a result, it can be installed alongside Firefox or any other browser. No phoning home — Embedded server links and other calling home functions are removed. In other words, minimal background connections by default. User settings updates Extensions firewall: limit internet access for extensions. Multi-platform (Windows/Linux/Mac/and soon Android) Community-Driven Dark theme (classic and advanced) LibreWolf privacy features: Delete cookies and website data on close. Include only privacy respecting search engines like DuckDuckGo and Searx. Include uBlockOrigin with custom default filter lists, and Tracking Protection in strict mode, to block trackers and ads. Strip tracking elements from URLs, both natively and through uBO. Enable dFPI, also known as Total Cookie Protection. Enable RFP which is part of the Tor Uplift project. RFP is considered the best in class anti-fingerprinting solution, and its goal is to make users look the same and cover as many metrics as possible, in an effort to block fingerprinting techniques. Always display user language as en-US to websites, in order to protect the language used in the browser and in the OS. Disable WebGL, as it is a strong fingerprinting vector. Prevent access to the location services of the OS, and use Mozilla's location API instead of Google's API. Limit ICE candidates generation to a single interface when sharing video or audio during a videoconference. Force DNS and WebRTC inside the proxy, when one is being used. Trim cross-origin referrers, so that they don't include the full URI. Disable link prefetching and speculative connections. Disable disk cache and clear temporary files on close. Disable form autofill. Disable search and form history...and more. LibreWolf 151.0.3-1 changelog: Upstream release, see the Firefox 151.0.3 Release Notes Notable changes: Clears the preference toolkit.winRegisterApplicationRestart, which may otherwise trigger an upstream bug on Windows (librewolf/issues#3056) Download: LibreWolf 64-bit | Portable 64-bit | ~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: ARM64 | Portable ARM64 Links: LibreWolf Home Page | Addons | Screenshot | Reddit Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Apple reluctantly forces strict new age checks on Texas users starting today

      By excalpius · Posted

      Unsurprisingly, there's what the law says and what the old white wealthy males legally enforce...
    • [NEWS] Over 105000 games are available to play on Linux.

      By Circaflex · Posted

      Or anything online that requires an anti-cheat

  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      mobandz earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Apprentice
      fernan99 went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • One Month Later
      nothanks earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      B2Proxy earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Year In
      MadMung0 earned a badge
      One Year In

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      479
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      248
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      79
    4. 4
      FloatingFatMan
      77
    5. 5
      Michael Scrip
      60
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!