Today, Windows Division prexy Steven Sinofsky treated Build 2011 attendees to a walkthrough of a few of the tweaks, subtle or otherwise, Microsoft’s made to Windows 8 . Staying true to its roots, the recent OS implements the familiar keyboard commands users are getting conversant in through the years — , like CMD and Ctrl+F. And as for its update to Internet Explorer, MS has imbued its tenth iteration having the ability to switch between the much-hyped Metro-style UI and plain old desktop view — all consistent with your whimsy. In fact, Redmond’s instituted other sweeping changes around the platform, and you may check a few of the highlights after the break.
All Windows 7 applications will run natively on Windows 8
Security update notifications were minimized to the lower right of the log-in screen
Refreshed Windows Task Manager suspends apps when they don’t seem to be running on-screen
New “Reset and Refresh PC” functions enable simplified system wipe and restore
HyperV virtualization software comes pre-loaded on Windows 8
Multi-monitor support now enables a single background across screens, in addition to monitor-specific task bars
Multi-touch support enabled for Internet Explorer 10
Magnifier function enhanced for desktop manipulation
Optional thumb-by-thumb input mode
SkyDrive storage support integrated into all cloud-based apps
Metro-style refresh for Mail, Photos, Calender and folks apps with Windows Live ID
Settings roam enables preferences to sync across a user’s Windows 8 devices
Continued update support for Windows 8 Developer Preview Beta
Even a 0 Lenovo S10 0 (first-gen Atom + 1GB of RAM) can “run” Windows 8
There’s “no overlays” with Windows 8; Metro-style goodness is baked into the core
Both Metro-style and standard Win32 apps 1 would be sold 1 within the Windows Store
Windows 8 devices equipped with an NFC chip would be in a position to use a 2 tap-to-share 2 feature to either send content from one device to a different, or just receive content from something like an NFC-equipped card.
Logins will use a photograph-based system
Apps could be ready to natively connect and understand each other (if written as such)
Built-in antivirus software will ship in Windows 8
There’ll not be yet another edition of Windows 8 for tablets, and presumably, not for Media Centers either
It’s unclear what number of “editions” (Home, Professional, Ultimate, etc.) of Windows 8 there’ll be
ARM devices may be supported, but not within the developer preview
The unabridged fact sheets surrounding the developer preview are located 3 here 3 , and you’ll dive right into the joys this evening by 4 downloading a duplicate of your individual 4 . Searching for our tackle Windows 8 on a Samsung tablet? 5 Look no further 5 .
Follow our continuing Build 2011 / Windows 8 coverage 6 here 6 !
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