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Windows 8 is the codename for an upcoming version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.

History

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced that it would be including support for system-on-a-chip (SoC) and mobile ARM processors in Windows 8.

Milestone 1 (build 7850, with a build date of September 22, 2010) was leaked to BetaArchive, an online beta community, which was soon leaked to P2P/torrent sharing networks on April 12, 2011. Milestone 1 includes a ribbon interface for Windows Explorer, a PDF reader called Modern Reader, an updated task manager called Modern Task Manager, and native ISO mounting.

A Milestone 3 build, build 7971, was released to close partners of Microsoft on March 29, 2011 but was kept under heavy security. However, a few screenshots were leaked. The Windows 7 Basic theme was replaced by a new theme referred to as "Aero Lite", which uses similar metrics to the Glass style, but maintains its non-hardware accelerated design, and also supports taskbar thumbnails. The boxes that encase the "close, maximize, and minimize" buttons have been removed, leaving just the signs.

Milestone 3 includes a new Welcome screen, a new packaged application model called AppX that is based on Silverlight, Windows Store to review and buy applications online, and a setting to automatically adjust window color to fit the wallpaper. It also includes a stripped down "Immersive" version of Internet Explorer, similar to the mobile version of Internet Explorer, but using the desktop Trident rendering engine.

Other new features found in leaked builds include a new "Hybrid Boot" option that uses "advanced hibernation functionality" on shutdown to allow faster startup times. Another is the ability to create a Portable Workspace, an installation of Windows 8 on a USB storage device.

At the Microsoft Developer Forum in Tokyo on May 23, 2011, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the next version of Windows will be released the following year (in 2012).

"And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."

However, the company quickly corrected Ballmer's words in a company statement issued that afternoon.

"It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows."

On June 1, 2011, Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 8 and some of its new features at the Taipei Computex 2011 in Taipei (Taiwan) and at the D9 conference in California (United States). The main feature that was shown was the new user interface.

Microsoft will cover more of the new features and improvements in Windows 8 at the BUILD developer conference, September 13-16, 2011.

Features

The main feature that was shown is the extensively redesigned user interface. The Start menu is replaced by the new "Start screen", which includes live application tiles. The user can return to the regular desktop by choosing a "Desktop" application. Examples of applications on the Start screen include a weather application, Windows Store, Investments, RSS news feeds, user's Personal Page, and user's Windows Live Account. The new interface is primarily designed for 16:9 screen resolution, with 1366×768 and larger screens able to display two Windows 8 applications using "Snap". 1024×768 screens can display one Windows 8 application in full-screen, and 1024×600 screens can only use the traditional Windows Desktop. It has been confirmed by Microsoft that PCs with mice and keyboards can also use Windows 8.

Microsoft also announced that Windows 8 will use the processor and the physical memory more efficiently, to make Windows 8 run more smoothly.

Mike Delman, Microsoft’s vice president of global marketing hinted in an interview that windows 8 would have xbox live intigration just like windows phone 7 has.

Hardware requirements

Microsoft has confirmed that the system requirements for Windows 8 will be the same as or lower than those of Windows 7.

References

1. "Sinofsky shows off Windows 8 at D9". CNET. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
2. "Microsoft Announces Support of System on a Chip Architectures From Intel, AMD, and ARM for Next Version of Windows". Microsoft. January 5, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
3. Rosoff, Matt (January 5, 2011). "OK, So Windows Is Coming To ARM Tablets...Someday (MSFT)". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
4. Ankur Mittal. "Whats next.. Windows Next or Windows 8 ??".
5. "Leak: Windows 8 M1 Build 7850 Screenshots".
6. Thurrott, Paul (April 4, 2011). "Windows 8 Secrets: Windows Explorer Ribbon". SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
7. "Registry Hack Enables Windows 8 M1 Webcam, Modern Reader, Ribbon & Task UI".
8. "Leaked Windows 8 M1 Build 7850 Screenshots".
9. "Microsoft begins shipping Windows 8 Build 7971 via Connect". Windows 8 Center. March 29, 2011. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
10. "Windows 8 Aero Light UI Revealed". Windows 8 News. March 16, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
11. Thurrott, Paul. "Windows 8 Secrets: Welcome Screen". SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
12. Thurrott, Paul (April 5, 2011). "Windows 8 Secrets: Modern Reader". Supe rSite for Windows. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
13. "Windows 8 new features".
14. Thurrott, Paul (April 06, 2011). "Windows 8 Secrets: Aero Auto-Colorization". SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved April 10, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. Thurrott, Paul (April 5, 2011). "Windows 8 Secrets: Internet Explorer Immersive". SuperSite for Windows. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
16. "Windows 8 "Hybrid Boot" discovered".
17. "Windows 8 Portable Workspace, push notifications & other apps discovered".
18. ^ Ballmer, Steve. "Steve Ballmer: Microsoft Developer Forum". Microsoft News Center. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
19. Keizer, Gregg. "Microsoft backpedals from Ballmer's Windows 8 comments". Computerworld Inc. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
20. ^ "Microsoft Computex D9 Conference on Engadget.com".
21. "Previewing 'Windows 8' at Microsoft Website".
22. "Windows BUILD by Microsoft".

External links

• Windows 8 Press Release
• Windows Newsroom: Video Gallery

• Use mdy dates from August 2010
• Windows NT