Archive for: windows 8
- September 14, 2011 2:12 am
With all the hubbub surrounding the Windows 8 keynote today there really wasn’t much mention of Microsoft’s other marvel Xbox Live. With the integration the latest Xbox Dashboard is supposed to have, it is fitting to offer that integration between computer and console.
This afternoon, Major Nelson confirmed that Microsoft will be bringing Xbox Live to the PC with Xbox LIVE on Windows!
We are confirming that we will be bringing Xbox LIVE to the PC with Xbox LIVE on Windows. We are very excited about Xbox LIVE coming to Windows 8. Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy. At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox LIVE. We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox LIVE on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future.
Anyone excited for this integration? You stoked to be able to hang with your Live friends while trolling the interwebs? Us Mac OSX users aren’t really sure what to think. I mean we feel using Live while on the Xbox only makes sense. We don’t need two devices to do one thing, which is why we own Macs!
If Microsoft follows through on the above “Black Screen Of Death”, that annoyingly bright blue hue we’ve come to loathe and fear may be a thing of the past. This newer more sophisticated error screen has been implemented in the latest Windows 8 builds. However, as many others have already noted, Microsoft has had both a black and red error screens of death in previous versions of Windows. They just never made it into the shipping retail versions. Perhaps it’s time for a change, Microsoft. What do you say?
For an OS that often has you running back to task manager to kill rouge processes (I kid, I kid — maybe), it’s rather surprising to see the task/process manager within Windows hasn’t changed in over a decade. But that all changes with Windows 8 according to new leaks via WinRumors.
The new task manager in Windows 8 introduces a new “Advanced Task Manager” UI that delivers more information to the user while also looking a bit more modern (and dare we say nice to look at) design that makes use of a color-coded system. The various colors represent varying levels of strain on your system. Overall, it looks nice.
One other nice touch coming to Windows 8 in regards to system monitor is the way in which users can kill programs and processes. Instead of having to right click and kill process/kill process tree, a simple red “x” is now displayed alongside processes allowing one-click killing. Nifty.
Hop inside for another shot…
If you weren’t a fan of Microsoft’s move to the “Ribbon” for navigational purposes in the latest versions of Microsoft Office 2007/2010, you’re going to have a hard time adjusting to Windows 8 if a fresh leak of images are indeed real. In the image above, one can see the revamped left navigation pain and top navigation area where the main toolbar currently resides. Though in anti-ribbon readers’ defense, there appears to be options to revert back to a more traditional pre-Windows 8 menubar type of layout.
So far from what we’ve seen, Windows 8 is looking to be a lot less revolutionary than once claimed and more evolutionary. Though keep in mind Windows 8 isn’t set to hit the market until 2012 at the earliest so there’s still plenty of time for things to change. Hop on past the break for a few more screenshots…
What you’re looking at are the claimed “first” images of Windows 8. While the UI looks just like the current Windows 7, Win7China reported that there is in fact a much more noticeable design refresh that hasn’t made its way out yet. Besides UI changes, the user icon is said to be tied to a Windows Live account and allow signing into your account across multiple devices and platforms including multiple Windows PCs, Windows Phone 7 devices, Xbox consoles, and more. The image inside also shows new video-based icons. Anyone looking forward to a new UI for Win8?
MyDigitalLife user, “canouna”, has leaked information regarding Windows 8 — or so he claims. The image above is supposedly the real deal. And while we’d certainly like to believe we’re staring at an early build of Windows 8, such things are actually quite easy to manipulate. Nevertheless, there is a growing amount information and documentation over at the MyDigitalLife thread. Head on over if your interest is piqued.
Ya ya I know, we’ve seen countless posts about so called “leaked release dates” for Windows 8. Why all the hubub about Windows 8 when Windows 7 — easily Microsoft’s best OS yet — was just released not more than a few months ago? It’s simple, even though Windows 7 is Microsoft’s best ever and even bests Apple’s Snow Leopard in some areas, it isn’t anything to write home about. What I mean is, there isn’t any feature or features that make me want to drop a couple hundred dollars on it. Most people do because the feel they have to, not because they want to.
Looking at the roadmap above and larger PDF linked here, we can see that the “Windows 8?” placeholder has a nice little green slider sitting firmly in the middle of 2011. It kind of sounds a little ways away — until you look at a calendar and realize it’s less than 12 months away!
It’s worth stressing that these are preliminary outlines for Microsoft’s product development cycle and as does happen quite often, are subject to rather drastic changes. Could we really see Microsoft launch Windows 8 in mid/late 2011? It’s surely possible and according to this early report by Microsoft, an internal goal. I for one would like to see Windows 8 be the Microsoft OS that I actually want, not just get it because.
Think 2011 is too soon?
Electronista > Microsoft Kitchen
The personified body of Windows 7 hasn’t even been born to die and turn cold yet and already people are speculating away on Windows 8 and even 9! Though, the big draw behind this freshly built rumor is rather through provoking. The current trend in the OS market is the *full* move to 64-bit. The pluses over 32-bit are countless with the most often talked about being support for higher RAM capacities and overall faster system performance. But those with an eye to the future and looking farther down the line at Windows 8 and 9 have some leads that 128-bit will usher in a new era in computing.
If you think that Microsoft researchers are just starting Win8/9 development now that 7 is mostly out of the way, you may be surprised to know that they’ve been in the digital pot cooking for some time. Perhaps the most interesting information on this subject was evident on Robert Morgan’s (Senior Research & Development at Microsoft) LinkedIn profile. The profile is your typical LinkedIn profile, though Windows 8 News found some pretty interesting info. Unfortunately Morgan’s profile has since been removed preventing us from having a look but the text that was there is being spread around like fire. It reads:
Working in high security department for research and development involving strategic planning for medium and longterm projects. Research & Development projects including 128bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 kernel and Windows 9 project plan. Forming relationships with major partners: Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.
Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.
Now, the first paragraph was his actual LinkedIn profile with the second being his status. Further backing up rumors based on Morgan’s now deceased profile are numerous job postings highlighted by Ars Technica showing a hotbed of activity going on deep within Microsoft. The news of potential 128-bit Windows 8/9 is a lot to comprehend right now. I mean, think of all the things that have to be changed to support that. Software and hardware across the board will have to be re-written to take advantage of the new found power. Of course, Windows 8 is at least 4 years away with Windows 9 probably a good decade from release. Still, it makes the geek in side of me eager for the future.
Ars Technica > Windows 8 News
Image Source
I know that technology and the gadget world as a whole move at a pretty fast clip, but a new job posting by Microsoft brings a new meaning to the words “forward thinking”. The job posting by Microsoft states:
Are you a talented SDE/T Lead looking for the next technical challenge on a key operating system component? Are you passionate about distributed systems, networking, file systems and want to be the leader of a cutting edge project? Are you looking for a team with abundant opportunities to grow? If so, we have the position for you!…
For the upcoming version of Windows, new critical features are being worked on including cluster support and support for one way replication. The core engine is also being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. We will also soon be starting major improvements for Windows 8 where we will be including innovative features which will revolutionize file access in branch offices.
Well I guess the good news is the job outlook at Microsoft is at least somewhat hopefull. Something that can also be viewed as good news is that individuals who are so far unimpressed with what Windows 7 has to offer can take comfort in knowing that Microsoft is thinking ahead…way ahead. There’s always next time, right?
Source: Alley Insider, Neo Seeker, *Image Source: i.Tech Republic*
