Windows, being one of the most used OS, brings
great challenges for Microsoft to keep its users impressed in the next version
of Windows.
Although Windows 7 has done exceptionally well
since its release, Microsoft has been constantly working to make the next
version of Windows a better one by further improving upon the existing
features, and have added new impressive Windows 8 features along with a
stunning UI.
Released just last week in Developers Preview mode,
Windows 8 already contains more than 300 new features. At its Build developers
conference, Microsoft pointed to plans to keep adding more new capabilities
until Windows 8 evolves into a shipping product. Which of the
existing features are most important to get to know about right now?
While no list like this can even approach 'all
inclusiveness', our list of ten key features in Windows 8 ranges across new
jargon such as "charms" and "snap multi-tasking," to
first-time operability on ARM-based tablets, to major improvements
around support for USB 3.0, touch keyboards, file copying, and more.
Here, in
no particular order of importance, is the list of ten:
1. Support for both x86 PCs and ARM tablets
Windows 8 is the first edition of Windows to
operate on both ARM-based tablets and traditional x86 PCs based on
ARM processors from Intel and AMD.
“Support for ARM-based chipsets, touch, and sensors
makes Windows 8 work beautifully on your choice of a full spectrum of devices,
such as 10-inch slates with all-day battery life, ultra-lightweight laptops,
and powerful all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition
screens,” Microsoft contends, in a Windows 8 Guide distributed with
Windows Developer Preview
In addition, the ARM edition of Windows 8 includes
a new mode dubbed “always on, always connected,” designed to let tablets act
like smartphones. Tablets can remain in standby mode without disconnecting from
the Internet, and then wake up instantly.
Windows 8 is designed to work seamlessly across
both PCs and ARM tablets. Yet until developers get a real start on apps for
Microsoft’s still empty Windows Store, it’s tough to tell whether
that will be universally true.
2. Touch-centric, Tiles-based User
Interface (UI)
Although Windows 8 might look and feel like an
entirely new “user experience,”, Microsoft is actually layering a new
animation-enabled user interface (UI) on top of an only somewhat upgraded
Windows 7.
The Windows 8 Start Menu is customizable through a
mosaic of tiles, which differ from traditional desktop icons by letting you
view live information from Windows 8 Metro style apps without actually
accessing the apps.
In demoing the tile-based UI at last week’s Build
conference, Microsoft showed how the tile for a Windows 8 weather app is able
to display the current temperature in a city – along with projected temperatures
for the next two days – without requiring you to open up the app. A tile for
Windows Live Mail will show you your latest message, while a tile for a social
networking app will show you notifications. “The [Metro] apps are full-screen. They’re
beautiful. They’re designed for touch, but of course, they work great with a
mouse and keyboard as well if that’s what you have. We wanted to make it really
fast and fluid for you to switch between them,” according to Jensen Harris,
lead program manager on the Microsoft Office User Experience..
Windows 8 users are also able to access Windows 7
apps. “Everything that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8,” maintained
Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live division,
during a keynote at the Build conference. However, in order to access Windows 7
apps, you need to switch to a different built-in UI.
3. Charms
In large part, ‘charms’ is a new implementation of
the traditional Windows start bar. Charms can also be used to quickly configure
settings for individual apps. On an ordinary non-touch PC, dragging the mouse
to the bottom-left corner of the screen, to the same spot as the old Windows
start button accesses charms. On a tablet, you swipe from the right side of the
screen to bring up charms.
Microsoft recently applied for a trademark on
charms. The charms sidebar offers five sets of options, supporting both
app-specific settings and system settings such as volume and brightness. The
options include Start, Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. The Start option
returns the user to the home screen. The Devices option presents a list of
connected devices. Under the Share option, users can see social network sharing
apps.
4. Snap Multi-tasking
‘Snap multitasking” is designed to make it easy to
run two apps in Windows 8 side-by-side, to resize them, and to switch between
them. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can snap an app into place.
You can make an app smaller or larger by dragging
the bar for the app. To switch between apps in Windows 8, you swipe from the
left-hand part of the screen.
However, Windows 8 does not allow you to view all
of your running apps on a single screen.
5. Windows 8 Control Panel
Beyond revamping the Windows task manager,
Microsoft has also redesigned the control panel for Windows 8. New
options include Personalize, Users, Wireless, Notifications, General, Privacy,
Search, and Share.
As Metro style apps become available, you'll be
able to use the Personalize menu to customize the Start menu with tiles for
calendar, music, e-mail, Netflix, and much more.
In a demo at Build, Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's
corporate VP of program management for Windows, showed how you’ll be able to
position these Metro apps on the screen, and also to combine them into groups
such as friends and games.
6. Web Navigation by Touch
The Internet Explorer (IE) 10
browser built into Windows 8 is designed to offer faster browsing through
greater hardware acceleration, along with rapid gesture-based zoom, pan, and
Web site navigation.
As in other areas of Windows 8, you can quickly
access Windows 8 charms, as well as the two keyboards described below.
7. Two Touch Keyboards
Windows 8 also contains two soft keyboards: an
“enhanced” traditional keyboard, plus a new thumbs keyboard for non-touch
typists.
In efforts by Microsoft to make typing on a virtual
keyboard faster and more accurate, the revised edition of the conventional
keyboard suggests words on the screen as you type. You can then tap to selected
a suggested word. Microsoft also provides a spellcheck-like feature
designed to automatically correct mistyped words – although like any other spellchecker, this feature
carries the potential to cause its own errors. The keyboards are also aimed at automatically
adjusting to whaever human language you choose for Windows. These language
settings will automatically apply to the entire computer, instead of only to
specific apps
8. ‘Enhanced Copy Experience’
Windows 8 also introduces the ability to perform
all current copy operations into a single dialog box, instead of requiring you
to perform file copying in separate dialog boxes for each app.
The new dialog box for file copying lets you pause,
resume, and stop each sopy operation currently under way. It will also warn you
if you’re beginning to copy one version of a file on top of another.
Microsoft has also added a realtime throughput
graph. “Now each copy job shows the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate
trend, and how much data is left to transfer. While this is not designed for
benchmarking, in many cases it can provide a quick and easy way to assess what
is going on for a particular [copy] job,” noted Alex Simons, director of program
management with the Windows 8 management team.
9. Native USB 3.0 Support
New USB 3.0 ports operate at speeds up to ten times
faster than SB 2.0. To better support these speeds,
Microsoft is outfitting
Windows 8 with native USB 3.0 drivers. Meanwhile, though, USB 3.0 will purportedly
continue to work under Windows 7, through the use of third-party drivers. “By 2015, all new PCs are expected to offer USB 3.0
ports, and over 2 billion new ‘SuperSpeed’ USB devices will be sold in that
year alone,” said Dennis Flanagan, director of program management for the
Windows 8 Devices and Networking Group, in a blog post. “There are also
billions of older USB devices that Windows must remain compatible with.”
10. Better Support for Multiple Monitors
Windows 8 also brings increased support for
multiple monitors, The Developers Preview of the new OS includes first-time
capabilities for extending the taskbar across two PCs, without any need for
third-party apps. You can also stretch wallpaper across two monitors, or display
the Start screen on one PC and the desktop on the other, for instance.
It's also easy to switch between multiple monitors.
The primary monitor has a start button, and the secondary monitor has a
switcher button. Clicking or tapping on the switcher button will swap it out
for the start button, allowing you to turn the secondary monitor into the
primary one.