Windows 8 - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Desire for Windows 8 tablet shrinking: Forrester

  Interest in tablets with Microsoft's Windows 8 is plummeting, Forrester Research said in a study released on Tuesday.

• Microsoft to 'align' Windows Phone, future Windows OSes

  Microsoft, which on Monday held an event in New York to mark the U.S. launch of smartphones running its latest Windows Phone 7.5 OS, said it is taking steps to "align" the smartphone OS with its future tablet and PC OSes.

• Windows 8: The InfoWorld Deep Dive report

  It's not the Windows you know and love. Microsoft has revealed a "reimagined" Windows -- code-named Windows 8 -- that boasts a very different, tile-centric user interface called Metro taken from Windows Phone that is touch-savvy, runs on ARM processors as well as Intel x86 chips, takes fewer system resources so it can run on a wider variety of hardware platforms, and works on both tablets and traditional keyboard-and-mouse PCs. It's not mobile versus desktop, it's mobile and desktop together.

• Windows 8 will be on ultrabooks next year, Intel executive says

  Ultrabooks with Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS are due to reach market next year, and the OS could help propel demand for the devices, an Intel executive said this week.

• Linux and Windows 8's secure boot: What we know so far

  Ever since it was first brought to light that Windows 8's secure boot mechanism could cause problems for Linux users, speculation has been running rampant as to the exact nature of the difficulties that may arise.

• Windows Server 8 first looks

  Microsoft's proposed Server Manager for Windows 8 Server Editions helps explain a lot of what Microsoft proposes in Windows Server 8: Ease and flexibility.

• Microsoft, Red Hat spar over secure boot-loading tech

  Is Microsoft using a next-generation computing boot-loading technology to lock out the use of Linux and other OSEs on certain computers? While Microsoft has denied malicious intent, one Red Hat developer maintains that this may be the case.

• Will Windows 8 PCs shut the door on Linux?

  It seems safe to say that a sizable proportion of Linux PC users in the world today installed the free and open source operating system on hardware that originally came loaded with Windows. After all, while there are preloaded systems available, it often ends up being cheaper to buy a Windows PC and load Linux yourself.

• Windows XP to Windows 8: Don't go there

  A majority of enterprises have migrated to Windows 7 or are planning to do so. But for Windows XP holdouts ready to side-step Windows 7 for the upcoming Windows 8 OS, you are risking a gap in support, stresses research firm Gartner in a new "first take" analysis of Windows 8 migration in the enterprise.

• Why Windows 8 on ARM Matters

  If Windows 8 works successfully on ARM-processor-equipped systems, expect to see thin, light, and innovative devices coming our way. This includes ultra-thin laptops with impressive battery life, and super-light, large-screen tablets.

• 10 best new features of Windows Server 8

  Microsoft claims 300 new and improved features in Windows Server 8, but after a few days in Redmond watching demos and stepping through lab sessions, we wonder whether the marketing guys accidentally left off a zero. It's hard to name a Windows Server feature that hasn't been tweaked, streamlined, wizardized, or completely revamped. Whatever grudge you may hold against Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 8 will almost certainly make amends.

• Windows 8 update: The end of Adobe Flash?

  Microsoft appears to be taking a page out of Apple's play book saying it will dump plug-ins such as Adobe Flash from Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8. Well, sort of.

• Windows 8 on ARM processors: Three working tablet demos

  This week has seen lots of talk about Microsoft Windows 8 coming to hardware running on ARM processors. Now, the first prototypes, from Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments, are on display here at the BUILD Expo. But questions remain.

• Ballmer: Microsoft is "reimagining" itself

  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a surprise appearance at the end of Wednesday’s BUILD keynote speech, telling the audience that Microsoft is in the process of reimagining itself.

• Windows 8 app store will change Windows software forever

  Windows 8 is coming, and apparently its bringing a Windows 8 app store with it. Speculation that began with hints of an app store in leaked builds of Windows 8 earlier this year have been all but officially confirmed in a blog post from the President of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live divisions, Steven Sinofsky.