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Windows 8 Consumer Preview is out, here’s how to get it

News

  • February 29, 2012 at 3:45 pm

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Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Over the past several months we’ve been closely following the development of Microsoft’s next version of Windows. Windows 8 offers a ton of improvements and changes over Windows 7 and since September, developers were able to try out the new operating system in the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Now anyone can download and install their own preview copy of Windows 8 with the Consumer Preview. Microsoft is not officially calling it a beta, though it will, hopefully, help shape the finished product. Microsoft claims to have made over 100,000 code changes following feedback it has received so far since the Developer Preview.
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Microsoft shows off Windows 8 SkyDrive cloud integration: Metro style app, sync and large file support

News

  • February 20, 2012 at 2:05 pm

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Windows 8 SkyDrive integration - Metro style app

We’ve been following the development updates from the Windows 8 team for a while now and we had no doubts that Microsoft would be adding some sort of cloud integration into the new operating system. We are users of Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage service and although you can already mount it as a network drive on Windows PCs you had so far been limited on the functionality and use.

Windows 8 will be offering much tighter integration with SkyDrive, actually in pretty equivalent terms to what Apple is doing with iCloud in the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion.
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Betta fish swims into Windows 8 Consumer Preview waters

News

  • February 4, 2012 at 2:29 pm

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Bing page for Windows 8 Consumer Preview - betta fish

We’ve been covering the next version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system for quite a while now. Windows 8 will be big, with a truckload of improvements over Windows 7. Installing or upgrading to Windows 8 will be easier and faster, it will offer a touch-friendly boot experience with 30-70% faster boot times. The new operating system will have a smaller memory footprint, able to run on just 1GB of RAM, and of course is built for a mobile future, to run on both desktops, laptops and tablets.
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Windows 8 engineered for a mobile future: instant Wi-Fi reconnects, better mobile broadband and cost saving abilities (video)

News

  • January 20, 2012 at 5:09 pm

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Windows 8 reduced connection time: PC can reconnect to Wi-Fi network from standby in about a second

Microsoft has put a lot of attention on making things simpler, smarter and faster in its next personal computer operating system. We have no doubt that Windows 8 will be a huge improvement over the already excellent Windows 7.

One the most confusing and frustrating things, on any computer, centers around wireless connectivity. Microsoft, in its latest post on the official ‘Building Windows 8’ blog, tackles all the improvements we’ll see with regards to Wi-Fi and mobile broadband (3G and 4G) connectivity. It’s also a recognition that we are moving towards a mobile future and Microsoft has re-built the wireless networking stack from the ground up.

In short, Windows will show all Wi-Fi and mobile broadband networks in one user interface. You can prioritize Wi-Fi networks over usually slower and perhaps costly mobile networks, so when your computer discovers a favored Wi-Fi network, it will disconnect you from mobile networks and power-down the mobile device to save you power. Connecting to a mobile network should now be as simple as Wi-Fi connectivity, just insert a SIM card and Windows should handle the rest. You can also manually turn individual radios on and off and disable all radios at once in the new “airplane mode”.
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Windows 8 setup to be easier and faster, designed for online delivery

News

  • November 21, 2011 at 4:29 pm

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Windows 7 vs. Windows 8 time to upgrade

I still wake up at nights running cold sweat from nightmares of past Windows setup experiences. Installing Windows was an extremely time-consuming and painful experience, especially if you wanted to keep your files or settings instead of doing a fresh install. Although the process has been improving with each new version of Windows, with Windows 7 making the experience much easier, it’s still very time-consuming and you need to keep a tech-minded person handy for help.

Microsoft has been keeping us deeply involved in the Windows 8 development process through an official blog, and their latest post deals with improvements made in the setup and upgrade process. Microsoft promises that the new install process will be easier, faster and extremely stable.

Microsoft faces a huge challenge when it comes to managing the install and upgrade process for a new version of Windows. Windows is designed to run on personal computers with millions of different configurations. Users’ demands may also vary widely, someone might want to do a clean and customized install whereas another would just want to upgrade a previous Windows installation with the least user interaction.
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Windows 8 to have a smaller memory footprint be able to run on just 1GB of RAM

News

  • October 7, 2011 at 12:46 pm

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Windows 8 (right) vs. Windows 7 SP1 (left) memory footprint

Windows 8 will do things better, faster and look nicer than Windows 7. The good news is that if you’ve bought a PC in the last couple of years you will probably be able install and take advantage of Windows 8 — note you can download your preview copy to give Windows 8 a try now. Microsoft has already said that Windows 8 will be able to run on previous generation machines, even an ATOM-powered netbook with just 1GB of RAM.

Well today Microsoft is showing us how it was able to reduce the system footprint, in order to be able to get Windows 8 to run smoothly on such a low-end netbook, while leaving memory available for other applications to run. In the image above you can see task manager memory usage on the same system, in Windows 7 SP1 on the left and Windows 8 on the right. To achieve this reduction, Microsoft has made hundreds of specific changes to minimize OS memory use in Windows 8. Hit up the link after the break for the full lowdown by Microsoft’s Bill Karagounis on the Building Windows 8 blog.
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Microsoft shows off revamped and touch-friendly boot experience for Windows 8

News

  • September 20, 2011 at 4:42 pm

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Windows 8 boot options new UI

You can already download the Developer Preview of Windows 8, so you can try the upcoming tablet friendly desktop OS for yourselves. Nonetheless, Microsoft continues to provide us with detailed info on the changes, improvements and new capabilities of Windows 8. It has already shown us that our PCs will boot-up faster, and today Microsoft is showing off the new boot experience with Windows 8.

Gone are, finally, the days of BIOS text screens from the 1980’s flashing by on your screen following by an incomprehensible list of boot-up options. Microsoft has now made the entire boot-up process seamless, keeping the same Metro UI and blue background throughout boot-up. Also because Windows 8 will run on devices without a hardware keyboard, the boot UI has also received the touch-friendly treatment; so now everything from dual-booting your system or performing a system restore or repair has received the same polish as the actual operating system — as has the new BSOD.

Windows 8 BSOD

Check out a demonstration video after the break.
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Microsoft previews Windows 8, our quick overview; plus you can download your copy today

NewsThe Lab

  • September 13, 2011 at 5:15 pm

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Windows 8 Start screen

Microsoft just showed-off the next big version of Windows, to a room packed full of developers, at the BUILD conference. Windows 8 features two interfaces, one resembling the current Windows interface and a more touch friendly Metro-style interface — which you can see in the screenshot above. This allows Windows 8 to feel at home on normal desktops, touchscreen all-in-ones, tablets, laptops, you name it.

However Windows 8 is not just a change of appearances, the new operating system features a lot of improvements, we’ve already seen how Windows 8 will speed-up your boot times, and new features compared to Windows 7. We’ve compiled below a list of features which we think are interesting, from today’s official preview.
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Windows 8 to offer much faster boot-up speeds

News

  • September 9, 2011 at 2:46 am

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System boot times, Windows 8 compared to Windows 7

Information on Windows 8 has been trickling from the official development blog, “Building Windows 8”, over the past few weeks, giving us an insight of what we should expect from Microsoft’s next operating system. The engineering team tackles one topic at a time, discussing the underlying issues and motivations, the challenges and what has been done in Windows 8 to address this. We can only say that this is a very engaging way of learning about Windows 8.

Today, Gabe Aul, takes us through what has been done to improve Windows cold boot-up times; that is, the time until you have a workable desktop from the completely off state — not from hibernate and not from sleep. Microsoft has been able to deliver significantly faster boot-up times in Windows 8 compared to Windows 7.

A quick search on YouTube will land you with tons of videos comparing Windows to MacOS boot speeds, an obviously important issue for the overall user experience and a benchmark of how “well” an operating system performs.

Although hibernating your Windows PC already leads to faster boot up times, a lot of users like to completely shut down their computers in order to start fresh.
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