Articles about Windows 8

This year I revive my annual "give thanks" series -- what Microsoft has to be grateful for this Thanksgiving Day. In 2006, "employee bloggers" topped the list and "Google's woes", following a year-long collapse of the search giant's shares, in 2008. What about 2011?

I present the list in reverse order of importance. No. 1 is the last item and the reason for which Microsoft should give most thanks this year (so far).

Continue reading →

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.

As the name suggests, this is a simulation tool rather than a replacement for your existing operating system, and it can be used without there being any danger of damaging the copy of Windows you work with. Windows 8 Simulator is not even a transformation pack as it runs in its own sandboxed window that cannot affect any other part of your system.

Continue reading →

I have been using Windows 8 Developer Preview (32-bit build) for more than a month now, and must say that I am impressed. The first thing I did was test my own software to see how well Windows 8 supports programs that can run on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. So far the tests look good, and I only found one thing that did not work correctly (didn't handle a layered window properly).

I played with some of the supplied Metro applications, and they are quite interesting. At first, Metro totally confused me -- and I am a programmer! For example, you can't terminate a Metro application like you can a desktop application. Coming from the desktop experience, Metro may confuse some users. That said, I need to get some more information about Metro and how it works. Whether you are a programmer or not, I strongly recommend watching the Microsoft Build video about creating (and using) Metro applications, which you can find here.

Continue reading →

But you knew that already, right?

Today, DisplaySearch issued the most unusual of tablet forecasts -- one that looks at the totality of the market and takes Windows into consideration. Gartner and IDC use a separate "media tablet" category for Android tablets and iPad, based on the operating system, choosing to classify "Tablet PCs" running Windows as personal computers. DisplaySearch has more sensibly made the designation around processors -- ARM and x86 -- which better defines the market for the future, and isn't the future what a forecast is all about?

Continue reading →

Many Windows users are keen on tweaking their operating system and this is even truer when a big interface change is made. The public release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview means more people than usual are getting sneak peek at the upcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system, during its earlier stages of development. Windows 8 BluePoison is a free tool that unlocks a number of hidden features.

Moving through the options in the application, you can opt to revert to the old style Start menu and access the Applications folder, which are normally hidden as well as enabling the snap feature on small displays.

Continue reading →

Microsoft contacted me about yesterday's story on Metro-style apps only being available at the Windows store. One of the prominent facts in the story, which I got from Microsoft presentations, was that they would be taking a 30 percent cut of app proceeds from the store.

Turns out it was all a big mistake. The reference to a 70/30 split "...was actually a placeholder we neglected to remove (realize it was a mistake). We will have more to share about economics when the Windows Store goes live", according to a Microsoft spokesperson. Can you believe that? Editor: No.

Continue reading →

Apple sets the standard and Microsoft follows; has this ever happened before? The new example is that Metro-style apps will be sold only through the Windows 8 Store with the now standard 30 percent cut going to the house. Enterprises and developers will have ways to install their own apps, but you can't just sell to others without going through Microsoft. The result will be a much more secure 'ecosystem'.

It's all explained in a Primer for current Windows developers about Metro-style apps and the Windows Store:

Continue reading →

Windows 8 may not have been released yet, but there is the developer preview version available for free download by anyone who has an interest in the upcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system. No version of Windows would be complete without a selection of tweaking tools to enable users to stamp their mark on the software, and Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8 is one of a small but increasing number of such utilities that are starting to creep out.

This is a fairly basic and limited program, but as the name would suggest, it has been designed only with the aim of allowing for tweaks to the Metro user interface. Despite the fairly limited number of options available, Metro UI Tweaker for Windows 8 includes a number of settings that are likely to be of interest to any early adopter.

Continue reading →

It really should have been obvious, but in case you were confused, ARM versions of Windows 8 will not be able to run x86 apps and vice-versa. In fact, Microsoft has said as much in the past. This is a model Microsoft has used unsuccessfully in the past, but are things different now? Will ISVs make more than one binary?

Vague talk about the universal nature of Windows Metro apps led some to assume that such apps will run on any Windows 8 installation, either ARM- or x86-based. This is not the case. Metro apps will be composed either of x86 binary code or ARM binary code, and each can only run on the appropriate CPU.

Continue reading →

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".

The main feature chart for security improvements in Windows 8 is described by the ubiquitous Steven Sinofsky of Microsoft in this blog entry entitled "Protecting you from malware".

Continue reading →

One keynote. One word.

Used 33 times.

Continue reading →

"We still have a long ways to go with Windows 8", Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told BUILD developer conference attendees today. "We've got a lot of work to do". But the work is off to a good start, as he announced 500,000 downloads of the developer preview released last night at 11 p.m. ET.

Yesterday, Steven Sinofsky, Windows & Windows Live president, described the "re-imaging" of Windows. Today, Ballmer went further, calling the strategy bigger -- the re-imaging of Microsoft. "We're all in. We're retooling all that we do" around all Microsoft's platforms.

Continue reading →

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.

And it’s going to provoke plenty of debate.

Continue reading →

Don't laugh. I'm quite serious.

Yesterday during the Day 1 BUILD developer conference keynote, Steven Sinofsky delivered one of the most inspiring new Windows introductions ever. He was energetic and engaging. He honed in on key product benefits -- and that's tough to do with Windows because of the breadth of supporting third-party products and connection to Microsoft stuff like Windows Phone 7.5 or Live services. He spoke aspirationally and convincingly about Windows 8's benefits to developers and their customers. Apple Chairman Steve Jobs couldn't have done better. Whereas, Jobs casts the so-called "reality distortion field", Sinofsky brought reality into focus.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is handing out 5,000 Samsung-manufactured tablets running Windows 8 Developer Preview here at BUILD, the company's developer conference. I spent some quality time with one this afternoon. While my overall impressions are good, I must say that Windows 8 demos better than using it. Perhaps I'd feel differently having used the Windows 8 slate for a longer time.

Earlier today, Steven Sinofsky, Windows & Windows Live president, and several top lieutenants gave one of the best operating system demos ever. Not even Apple CEO Steve Jobs, in younger and healthier days, could have evoked such energy and enthusiasm as Sinofsky did today. It was infectious and aspirational in all the right ways.

Continue reading →