Microsoft has today announced the editions for Windows 8; and has basically dumped the “Home Basic”, “Home Premium”, “Business” and “Ultimate” editions found on Windows Vista and 7, replacing them with the much more defined “Windows 8″ and “Windows 8 Pro”.
Today is the day where Microsoft finally ends mainstream support for Windows Vista (remember that?). The company, however, won’t stop supporting the OS altogether as Vista now moves off to ‘extended support’.
Microsoft has finally pushed out the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, as promised, from a Windows 8 event at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.
Not only is this version improved from the Developer Preview, with 100 000 changes, but it also includes plenty of Metro applications not seen in the previous Preview, such as Mail, Music, Calendar, Messaging, Video and a Marketplace to get more apps.
Windows 8 not only bring a whole new interface, but a brand new logo as well. Windows will soon drop the flag that has been synonymous with the brand since Windows 3.1, replacing it with a more Metro-inspired design that actually looks like, well, a window. And brand aficionados have mixed feelings about the new design.
Since Windows 95, Microsoft has included the Start button, a button that opened a list of Applications and Folder shortcuts, in each new version of Windows. While there have been changes, such as the change from the word “Start” to a Windows ‘orb,’ the main functions of the menu have remained the same.
The year 2011 was one year that we will all never forget. Even though they were all in the beginning of the year, the floods in Queensland and Brazil, the earthquakes in Christchurch and the tsunami in the north of Japan are still present in all of our minds. We also saw the death of a tech luminary, Steve Jobs; and the powerful News Corporation losing its influence over politicians in the UK after the phone hacking scandal took a drastic turn from celebrities to victims of crime.
A few weeks ago the Zune Music store finally arrived in Australia. But while we have enough online music stores, the big part of the announcement was Zune Pass. For $120 a year you get unlimited on-demand streaming music. But are there some hidden problems?
Microsoft has just finished their first keynote at their developer event in California called BUILD. You will be able to download Windows 8 at 1PM AEST from this website. The keynote was dedicated to Windows 8 and here are some of the highlights out of the keynote in chronological order.
It looks like Microsoft has recovered from the car crash of Windows Vista, with Steve Ballmer announcing at their Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows 7 has sold 400 million licences since it’s birth in 2009.
Microsoft Windows president Steven Sinofsky just dropped a bombshell at All Things Digital’s D9 conference, announcing the next version of Windows at Microsoft’s conference. The next evolution of Windows, codenamed Windows 8, will feature a touch-friendly Metro UI, similar to the UI seen in Windows Phone 7 as well as a classic desktop interface.
Football fans, another game is heading your way. Konami has announced a new title for its Pro Evolution Soccer line of football simulation with the PES 2012 that will be heading to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and the PC.
More images from the leaked early build of Windows 8 have started to emerge, with many features still hidden in its core – and can be revealed if you managed to deep digger. The latest is that of a much-needed update to Task Manager. What?
Image: Fertala/Flickr (Creative Commons)
New Zealand is about to get a three-strikes law that remains very controversial, in how it got passed and what’s in the law. The TECHGEEK Weekly Podcast discuss the impact it has, while also discussing about Android’s latest security flaw and the BlackBerry Playbook.
Image leaks of Windows 8 have revealed that Microsoft plans to integrate the Metro UI from Windows Phone 7 for its welcome screen and further integrate its Ribbon UI (found in Office and in many of the core apps) into Windows Explorer.
We’re back with a new episode, and while the tech industry is at a standstill, the Internet gets a red-light district, and the Zune bids adieu. Meanwhile, the week has been dominated by security flaw after security flaw, and Rebecca Black infects our Chris’ mind with the weekend.