Windows 8

Well if you haven’t heard all the hype that’s going on right now with Microsoft, you probably don’t know Windows 8 is scheduled to be released in 2012. There is a developer preview that is available for download right now to those daring enough to try it out for themselves. Please note this is only a preview and not a final production release so you might want to try it out on an extra computer or virtual machine.

So what’s new with windows 8? Well first and most notable is the new metro user interface that if you use a windows phone you should be familiar with. Basically it has a mosaic of tiles that are grouped together instead of icons to represent your apps. These tiles can be personalized to show information like the weather forecast, twitter updates, stock information, RSS feeds, emails, and more. The task manager has been revamped to make managing programs better, and shows resource consumption in a more organized fashion.

Another major new feature coming in windows 8 is internet explorer 10. It will be released in two versions, a metro interface version and a normal version. A major difference in the metro version besides being optimizes for touch interactions, is that it doesn’t support the use flash or plug-ins. Following in the footsteps of Apple, Microsoft is betting on HTML5 to replace flash. Microsoft also says going plug-in free improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Building Windows 8 on YouTube

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by Le-Andris Daniel