Windows 8 is the codename for the upcoming version of Microsoft Windows that follows Windows 7.[2] It features a new Metro-style interface that is designed fortouchscreen, mouse, keyboard, and pen input. It also adds support for the ARM processor architecture in addition to the previously supported x86 microprocessors from Intel and AMD. Its server counterpart is codenamed Windows Server 8. A release date for the finished version of Windows 8 has not yet been announced, however a public beta ("Consumer Preview") was released on February 29th, 2012.
Development
Early announcements
In January 2011, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft announced that Windows 8 would be adding support for ARM microprocessors in addition to the x86 microprocessors from Intel, AMD and VIA.[3][4]
On June 1, 2011, Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 8 and some of its new features at the Taipei Computex 2011 in Taipei (Taiwan) by Mike Angiulo and at the D9 conference in California (United States) by Julie Larson-Green and Microsoft's Windows President Steven Sinofsky.[5][6] The main feature that was shown was the new user interface.
On August 15, 2011, Microsoft opened a new blog called "Building Windows 8" for users and developers.[7]
Milestone leaks
- A 32-bit Milestone 1 build, build 7850, with a build date of September 22, 2010, was leaked to BetaArchive, an online beta community, and to P2P/torrent sharing networks as well on April 12, 2011.[8] Milestone 1 includes a ribbon interface for Windows Explorer,[9] a PDF reader called Modern Reader, an updated task manager called Modern Task Manager,[10] and native ISO image mounting.[11]
- A 32-bit Milestone 2 build, build 7927, was leaked to The Pirate Bay on August 29, 2011[12] right after many pictures leaked on BetaArchive the day before.[13] Features of this build are mostly the same as build 7955.[14]
- A 32-bit Milestone 2 build, build 7955, was leaked to BetaArchive on April 25, 2011.[15] Features of this build included a new pattern login and a new file system known as Protogon, which is now known asReFS and only included in server versions.[16]
- A Milestone 3 build, build 7971, was released to close partners of Microsoft on March 29, 2011[17] but was kept under heavy security. However, a few screenshots were leaked. The "Windows 7 Basic" theme now uses similar metrics to the Aero 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.[18]
- A 64-bit Milestone 3 build, build 7989, leaked to Win7vista on June 18, 2011[19][20] after screenshots were revealed on MDL (My Digital Life) forums.[21][22] An SMS feature, a new virtual keyboard, a new bootscreen, transparency in the basic theme, geo-location services, Hyper-V 3.0, and PowerShell 3.0 were revealed in this build.[23]
Developer preview and BUILD conference
Microsoft unveiled new Windows 8 features and improvements on September 13, 2011, day one of the BUILD developer conference.[24] Microsoft also released a developer preview (build 8102) of Windows 8 for the developer community to download and start working with. This developer preview includes tools for building "metro style apps", such as Microsoft Windows SDK for Metro style applications, Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows 8 Developer Preview and Microsoft Expression Blend 5 developer preview.[25] According to Microsoft, there were more than 500,000 downloads of the developer preview within the first 12 hours of its release.[26]
On 16 February 2012, Microsoft postponed the expiration date of the developer preview. Originally set to expire on 11 March 2012, this release is now set to expire on 15 January 2013.[27]
[edit]Consumer Preview (The Public Beta)
In December 2011, Microsoft held an event in San Francisco to demonstrate Windows Store, through which all Metro-style Windows 8 apps will be sold. At the end of the event, Microsoft announced that the Windows 8 Consumer Preview would be released in late February 2012, along with the Windows Store Beta.[28][29]
On 29 February 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Windows 8 Consumer Preview can be installed side-by-side with other Windows OS products or can be upgraded from Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 8 Developer Preview without being able to keep the old programs.[30]. For the first time since its inception, the trademark Windows "Start" button will no longer appear - instead being replaced by a sliding panel-based menu.[31] Also, Microsoft has announced the list of compatible virtualization products that can be used to install Windows 8 Consumer Preview, which include Hyper-V in Windows 8 Developer Preview, Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, VMware Workstation 8.0.2 for Windows, VirtualBox 4.1.8 for Windows, Parallels Workstation 6 for Windows, Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows and XenDesktop 5.5[32] Windows president Steven Sinofsky said more than 100,000 changes had been made since the developer version went public.[33]
New features
Main article: Features new to Windows 8
Metro UI
Windows 8 will employ a new user interface based on Microsoft's Metro design language. The Metro environment will feature a new tile-based Start screen similar to the Windows Phone operating system. Each tile will represent an application, and will be able to display relevant information such as the number of unread messages on the tile for an email app or the current temperature on a weather application. Metro-Style applications run in full-screen, and are able share information between each other using "contracts".[34] They will be available through the new Windows Store.[35] Metro-Style apps are developed with the newWindows Runtime platform using various programming languages; including C++, Visual Basic, C#, and HTML/Javascript.
Other features
- A desktop app will be included for running legacy non-Metro applications. Unlike the Windows 7 desktop, however, the Start button on the "Developer Preview" build opens the Start screen instead of the Start menu, and recent leaked builds leading up to the "Consumer Preview" revealed that the Start orb had been removed entirely, in favor of a hotspot in the bottom-left corner.[36]
- Internet Explorer 10 will be included both as a Metro-style app, which will not support plugins or ActiveX components, and a desktop version which resembles Internet Explorer 9 and will maintain legacy plug-in support.[37][38]
- Ability to sign in using a Windows Live ID. This will allow for the user's profile and setting to be synchronized over the internet and accessible from other computers running Windows 8, as well as integration withSkyDrive.[39]
- Two new authentication methods: picture password, which allows users to log in by drawing three gestures in different places on a picture,[40][41] and PIN log in, which allows users to authenticate using a four digit pin.[42]
- Windows Explorer will include a ribbon toolbar, and have its file operation progress dialog updated to provide more detailed statistics, the ability to pause file transfers, and improvements in the ability to manage conflicts when copying files.[43]
- Hybrid Boot will use "advanced hibernation functionality" on shutdown to allow faster startup times.[44][45]
- Windows To Go will allow Windows 8 to be run from a bootable USB device (such as a flash drive).[46][47]
- Two new recovery functions are included, Refresh and Reset. Refresh restores all Windows files to their original state while keeping settings, files, and Metro-Style apps, while reset takes the computer back to factory default condition.[48]
- A new lock screen[50]
Secure boot
Secure boot is a [51] UEFI-based feature to "prevent unauthorized firmware, operating systems, or UEFI drivers from running at boot time".[52]
Microsoft will require new PCs to have the UEFI secure boot feature enabled by default to be given Windows 8 certification. Microsoft requires that manufacturers must offer the ability to turn off the secure boot feature on x86 hardware, but must not offer such an option on ARM hardware.[53][54][55]
Effects on the use of other operating systems
See also: Windows 8 Hardware Restrictions and Trusted Computing
| "This effectively makes it impossible to boot anything but Windows 8 on these ARM devices, rendering these devices entirely useless as general computing devices." |
| — Thom Holwerda, writing about secure boot, forOSNews[56] |
In September 2011, Matthew Garrett, a Red Hat developer, raised the possible risk of Microsoft locking out alternative systems,[57] leading to wide media coverage.[58][59][60][61] Microsoft addressed the issue in a blog post,[62][63] stating that the manufacturer is free to choose which signatures are accepted by the feature.[64] In January 2012, the company revealed ARM manufacturers must not allow Secure Boot to be disabled, and it caused widespread concerns,[65][66][67] particularly in the Linux community.[68] Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, writing for ZDNet, suggested Microsoft is locking out other systems forvendor lock-in reasons, among other hypotheses.[67]
Canonical and Red Hat, two of the biggest companies involved with Linux, released a whitepaper regarding the issue, recommending that "PCs include a User Interface to easily enable or disable Secure Boot".[69]
Hardware requirements
Microsoft says that the developer preview works well on hardware suitable for Windows Vista or Windows 7; these system requirements may change in the final release.[70]
| Architecture | IA-32 (32-bit) | x86-64 (64-bit) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | 1 GHz | |
| Memory (RAM) | 1 GB | 2 GB |
| Graphics Card | DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver | |
| HDD free space | 16 GB | 20 GB |
A multi-touch screen is recommended for touch input (single-touch screens are supported, but do not allow for multi-touch gestures).
For Metro applications, a screen resolution of 1024x768 or higher is required to run one app at a time, and a resolution of 1366x768 is required to run two app side-by-side using snap.[71]
A blog post by Microsoft notes that the setup process is error-prone when installing in a virtual machine, and installing without hardware virtualization support can be particularly problematic.[72] It is reported to work under VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VirtualBox, and Parallels Desktop for Mac — detailed instructions for installing in these environments have been published.[73][74]
Software compatibility
Legacy applications
Windows 8 for x86/64 processors will run most software compatible with previous versions of Windows, with the same restrictions as Windows 7: 64-bit Windows will run 64-bit and 32-bit software while 32-bit Windows will run 32-bit and 16-bit software (although some 16-bit software may require compatibility settings to be applied, or not work at all). Windows 8 on ARM processors (WOA) will not support running, emulating, or porting existing x86/64 desktop applications.[75]
Metro-style applications
Metro applications will also be cross-compatible with both x86/64 based systems and Windows on ARM. Apps are region locked and using an app outside of its intended region will result in a "This app is not available in your market" error.
Logo
On February 18, 2012, Microsoft confirmed that Windows logo will be significantly updated to reflect the new Metro design language. The formerly flag-shaped logo has been transformed into four windowpanes, perspective was added, and the entire logo has been made one solid color.[76]
| Windows 8 | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Microsoft Windows family | |
 | |
| Developer | |
| Microsoft Corporation | |
| Website | Windows 8 |
| Releases | |
| Preview version | Consumer Preview (6.2.8250.0) (February 29, 2012) [info ] |
| License | Proprietary commercial software |
| Kernel type | Hybrid |
| Platform support | IA-32, x86-64, and ARM[1] |
| Preceded by | Windows 7 |
| Support status | |
| In development | |
| Further reading | |
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