Tag: windows 8

Hands-on with the Windows “Blue” desktop experience

The Beta fish is back in the new Windows “Blue” previews. This week, Microsoft is unveiling the previews for its Windows “Blue” operating systems—the Windows 8.1 client, Windows Server 2012 R2, and an update to Windows Server Essentials.  Last night, Microsoft released the previews through its MSDN and TechNet programs for its server platforms, which include a feature called “Desktop Experience”—an add-on which gives the server versions of the platform the same interface as Windows 8.1. As a result, Microsoft has tipped its hand about some of the interface changes it will be showing in the preview of the client, which it will release later this week. Here’s a quick look at the most significant changes in the interface we’ve found in our first hands-on with the preview revisions.   Read on Ars Technica | Comments

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Hands-on with the Windows “Blue” desktop experience

Two CPUs, two batteries, two OSes: Asus announces Transformer Book Trio

The Asus Transformer Book Trio takes the dockable tablet concept to the next level. Asus Asus has long offered a line of Android tablets that slot into keyboard docks, but at its Computex press conference it announced it would be taking this concept one step further. Its new Transformer Book Trio is a tablet running Android (an unspecified version of Jelly Bean, to be a bit more precise); when docked, it becomes a Haswell-equipped Windows 8 Ultrabook. The laptop contains all the ingredients for a standard Ultrabook in its base: a 4th-generation Haswell CPU, 1TB of storage, an unspecified amount of RAM, and a 33WHr battery. Behind the 11.6-inch 1080p display is an entirely separate computer based on Intel’s Clover Trail+ Atom platform: the 2GHz Atom Z2580, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of solid-state storage, and a 19WHr battery. When the laptop is docked, Engadget reports that a button press will switch between the Windows 8 installation in the base and the Android installation in the lid. Undocking the lid switches the tablet to a full-time Android tablet, though since the hardware is x86-based, one wonders if Windows 8 couldn’t be installed on it with some effort. The device combines a couple of concepts that Asus is already using elsewhere. Its Transformer Pad tablets have long been keyboard-dockable, and the Transformer AiO also uses a detachable screen to double as a tablet (though in that case the tablet’s hardware is ARM-based). Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Two CPUs, two batteries, two OSes: Asus announces Transformer Book Trio

Watch Leap Motion Turn a Windows 8 Rig Into a Futuristic Dream Machine

We’ve already seen what the Leap Motion can do in apps that support it, but it stands to make your everyday OS-level boredom into a futuristic gesture-controlled wonderland too. This new video shows exactly what kind of applications you can look forward to on your Windows 8 machine, at it seems at least as cool as touch. Read more…        

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Watch Leap Motion Turn a Windows 8 Rig Into a Futuristic Dream Machine

Six Hidden Windows 8 Features You Can’t Live Without

Windows 8 can take some getting used to. While the desktop app works very much like Windows 7, there are plenty of new shortcuts, options, and tricks built into the operating system. Think you know how to use it like a pro? Here are a few Windows 8 features that you probably haven’t found yet. More »

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Six Hidden Windows 8 Features You Can’t Live Without

How to Run Windows XP for Free in Windows 8

Microsoft gave Windows 7 users a way to run older applications via Windows XP Mode. With Windows 8, however, that mode is no longer officially supported, and if you want to run Windows XP in a virtual machine, you need the license for it. Lifehacker reader Miloš, however, has found a workaround. More »

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How to Run Windows XP for Free in Windows 8

Windows 8 sales are good, if not great, at 40 million copies in the first month

Tami Reller, corporate vice president (and chief financial officer and chief marketing officer) for Windows and Windows Live, announced today that Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses after its first month of retail availability. Is that number good, bad, or merely mediocre? Probably good, but perhaps not great. Microsoft sold 60 million copies of Windows 7 in the first ten weeks of that operating system’s availability, with the Wall Street Journal estimating that 40 million copies were sold in the first month. With Windows 8 selling 40 million copies in five weeks, it seems to be selling at about the same pace as Windows 7. Considering the different market dynamics—Windows 7 was an iterative release that fulfilled substantial pent-up demand as businesses chose to ignore Windows Vista whereas Windows 8 is a more controversial update being brought to a market that is generally happy with Windows 7 anyway—this is a healthy performance. Windows 7 sold very well and matching it is no mean feat. The apparent failure to surpass Windows 7’s launch could explain the mixed reports on early sales. Strong sales can still be disappointing if they were expected to be stronger still. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Windows 8 sales are good, if not great, at 40 million copies in the first month

Internet Explorer 10 finally comes to Windows 7

The tenth major version of Internet Explorer has been available to users of Windows 8 for months , in both the operating system’s pre-release days and since it hit retail on October 26. But while Microsoft declared IE10 ready to go for Windows 8, users of Windows 7 could not download the browser—until today. Even now, Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 is only available in a ” Release Preview .” It’s the first preview of IE10 to be usable on Windows 7 since last year’s Platform Preview . But what’s available today is a version of IE10 that is presumably ready for daily use, as installing it replaces the user’s previous version of Internet Explorer. IE10 is only for Windows 7 and Windows 8. The reason for the staggered releases hasn’t been confirmed, but as we noted in an article last month , “The extra time required for Windows 7 may be due to underlying platform differences—Windows 8 supports Direct3D 11.1, compared to 11.0 on Windows 7, for example. So if Internet Explorer 10 depends on Direct3D 11.1 features, either that dependence has to be removed, or Direct3D 11.1 has to be ported to Windows 7.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Internet Explorer 10 finally comes to Windows 7

Ballmer: four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days

Greetings in beautiful, gray Redmond, WA. What better time to kick off year’s Build event at the Microsoft campus than four days after the launch of Windows 8 ? CEO Steve Ballmer started the developer-centric event off with a nice little number: four million. According to the enthusiastic exec, that’s the number of Windows 8 upgrades MS has seen in the four days since launch — and there’s certainly a lot of excitement around the operating system this tent full of developers. Filed under: Laptops , Microsoft Ballmer: four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink    |   |  Email this  |  Comments

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Ballmer: four million Windows 8 upgrades in four days