Saturday, March 3, 2012

All Windows 8 Editions That Microsoft Will Release

Still wondering if Microsoft will cut down on the number of Windows 8 editions that the company will make available when the full version gets released later this year? Worry no more, we have all the information that you need.

If you search the Registry of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview version, you will find a listing of all the different versions that Microsoft intends to release. But first, let me explain how you can access the information in your version of Windows 8.

Open the Windows Registry Editor first. If you are on the desktop, use Windows-R to bring up the run box, enter regedit in there and tap on the return key. Select yes if an UAC prompt comes up. If you are in the Metro interface, type regedit, hit enter and select Yes in the UAC prompt.

Now navigate to the following Registry key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\PackageIndex\Product

windows 8 editions 580x326 All Windows 8 Editions That Microsoft Will Release

The Registry key lists the following Windows 8 editions:

  • Microsoft Windows Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Enterprise Eval Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Home Basic Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Home Premium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Prerelease ARM Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Prerelease Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Professional Plus Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Starter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Ultimate Edition

The majority of editions are identical to Windows 7. Only the ARM edition appears to be new. The Eval and Prerelease editions appear to be for testing purposes only. (via Caschy’s Blog)


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Why Windows 8 Aims to Provide Simplicity to Its Users

This is a Guest Post by Shannen Doherty. If you want to Guest Post on this site then please read our Guest Post Guidelines.

You won’t be surprised to learn that Microsoft is claiming its latest output, Windows 8, will aim for greater simplicity. Every Microsoft launch apparently aims for greater simplicity – though sometimes it’s not wholly apparent where the basic differences lie between the newest version and the one that came before it.

This time around, though, there are clear reasons for the upgrade. The landscape of technology has changed immeasurably in the last few years, turning even non techie people into pretty savvy users of multiple applications – which has spawned a whole generation of intuitive interface designs, popularise by devices like the iPod and iPhone and slipped into mainstream product design as a way of keeping up with competition.

So what is the new Windows going to look like? Its basic remit is to provide simplicity and ease of use, making non techie users feel empowered without taking away the more in depth functionality that so called “power users” get to play with. In other words: the Windows 8 interface is to look simple, appealing and easy to navigate, while extra functions are easily accessed by users who want to retain their tech control at a higher level.

There are no longer any extra tabs or confusing prompts tied in with the Windows 8 interface. Instead, the user looks at a list of applications on the task manager, clicks End Task if he or she wants the program to finish running, and off it goes. No more of that annoying Windows habit – the “are you sure you want to stop doing this?” pop up, which has probably caused more howls of frustration in offices up and down the country than any other piece of computer script!

Microsoft has been studying user habits on the task manager throughout its launch of Windows 7. The data it retrieved suggested that a massive percentage (85 per cent to be exact!) of users only ever use the applications and processes tabs. This is thought to be because most people use task manager simply to knock out a recalcitrant program that has stopped responding and won’t go away – a sort of manual override preferable to holding down the power button and forcing a shutdown.

Unsurprisingly, the momentum for the new interface design – a simple list of running applications, with a note appended where an application has stopped responding – has been hijacked from the Apple OS X, which offers a very similar look and feel for users who want to shut a process or a program down. The user who wants more information can still find it – he or she simply has to press the “more details” button when a process is highlighted to get deeper information about what is going on.

The detail view is pretty snazzy too. Intuitively set up to group operations into categories, the more details tab also has a heat map that shows you how much of your CPU is being battered by any one task – the darker the colour of the task, the more resource it is using.

Process names have also been included for the first time, so you can easily decipher what every process is doing. Rather than strings of letters and numbers for deeply hidden processes like drivers, Windows 8 will list a lay person’s term instead of its real name. So splwow64.exe will be revealed to you for the first time ever in its true guise – as the printer driver host for applications in question!

All in all, the new task manager looks nicer than the old one. It’s less daunting at first, with its simplified single panel and straightforward list of running processes. And even the detail view looks much more understandable than the old tabs did. With cascading layers of functionality, starting on the simplified “front page” with just an end task button, and finishing with the detail view’s nested categories and ability to research information on the web for any problematic application, Microsoft has managed to keep its old user-empowerment selling point, while at the same time leaning a bit more towards the block simplicity of a Mac product.

About the author:

The above article is composed and edited by Shannen Doherty. She is a technical content writer. She is associated with many technology and designing communities including www.broadband-expert.co.uk as their freelance writer and adviser.



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Admin Tools Quick Access and More Found in Windows 8

Windows 8 has been criticised by some IT Pros and businesses for, seemingly, forgetting all about them.  Now though it is beginning to emerge that Microsoft hasn’t forgotten about them after all.  On the face of things access to the full Control Panel, Administrative tools and Computer Management Console are difficult.  It’s not easy to access the Run panel or start the Command Prompt with Administrator rights.

If you mouse to the bottom left of your screen though and right-click (yup, this is a mouse only action) you get a menu giving you quick and easy access to all of the administrator tools and more.  Here you will find Programs and Features for uninstalling software, Network Connections, Power Options, the Event Viewer, System, Device manager, Disk Management, Computer Management, the Command Prompt (also with Administrator rights), the Task manager, Control Panel, Windows Explorer in case you accidentally unpin it from the Taskbar), Search and Run.

menu1 Admin Tools Quick Access and More Found in Windows 8This will be welcomed by a great many people as, to be honest, it makes accessing some of these tools even easier than in Windows 7.  Previously you could right-click on Computer in the Start Menu to bring up the Computer Management Console or simply access the full Control Panel from there.  Some more advanced features however were slightly more complex to access.

The removal of the Start Menu from Windows 8 meant that on the face of things some features and software would be harder to access.  It is good to see that Microsoft have addressed this problem in a sensible and common-sense way.  This bottom-left screen right-click works in both the new Start Screen and the desktop.

It is interesting to note that in the Group Policy settings for the Consumer Preview the references to both the Start Menu and the Classic Start Menu still exist.  This bodes well for people looking for third-party hacks to turn them back on.  No doubt many more useful information will be found in Group Policy and the Windows Registry in the coming weeks.

Additionally the screen grab feature has at long last been improved with WinKey+PrntScrn now automatically saving a screen grab for you in your Pictures folder.  There’s no longer any grabbing and saving of an individual window using this feature meaning that it’s still no alternative to third-party tools, but for casual use this will be welcomed by many.

psr 400x95 Admin Tools Quick Access and More Found in Windows 8

One of the most useful, and most hidden, tools in Windows 7 has also survived in Windows 8.  The Problem Steps Recorder, that can only be accessed by searching for PSR, takes screenshots of your desktop when something changes, automatically highlighting the change and annotating the image(s) with technical details of what is going on at the time.  This is an incredibly useful diagnostic tool for Windows and was originally only intended as a temporary tool for the Windows 7 beta, thus explaining why it never made it into the Start Menu.  Testers and IT Pros liked the feature so much though that Microsoft agreed to keep it in the final product.  It is very nice to see it is in Windows 8 as well.

Here at Windows8News we’ll continue to keep you up to date on everything that’s found in Windows 8.  Why not tell us what you think of this features in the comments below?


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Windows 8 Can Make Microsoft a Competitor in the Tablets Arena

I remember a remark by Steve Balmer shortly after Windows 2000 Professional came out. He said something to the effect that It was too bad that this product was going to replace the successful Windows NT product. In other words, you don’t kill a successful product. But that is what Microsoft did in 2000.  But recently, someone else said something like that, Samsung executive Hankii Yoon said at Mobile World Congress, “The best thing to survive in the market is to kill your products.” What this can mean for Microsoft, is that the successful introduction of a product can keep the company healthy in the long run.

Apparently, that is what must be done because computer products get old very quickly, and if you don’t replace them, then the market will leave you by the side of the road. So this brings up the case where Windows 8 may actually be in the right position to compete with the iPad. Here are some items that can make the case for the Windows 8 tablets arena.

htc windows 8 tablet 400x280 Windows 8 Can Make Microsoft a Competitor in the Tablets Arena

Legacy compatibility

The ability to run older Windows applications (for x86 tablets, not ARM) is huge. A lot of users of the Windows tablet are comfortable with it because it runs older applications, like Microsoft Office.

Enterprise Engagement

Microsoft is making an effort to have one operating system for mobile phones, tablets, and PC’s. That’s a relief because compared to Android that has multiple variants, the Microsoft way can establish a unified system for corporate/personal users.

True keyboard/mouse compatibility

Another thing that stands out is that other tablets from Apple or Google, don’t do well with mouse or keyboard connectivity. The iPad doesn’t handle the mouse, and Android can but to a limited extent. However, Microsoft tablets can do the job well. Now with the newer OS and an engaging user interface, that can change users views.

number21 400x266 Windows 8 Can Make Microsoft a Competitor in the Tablets Arena

Apps

Microsoft still has a ways to go to catch up to Apple or Google in this area, but in 2012, they could have their own app library that could compete with the others.

Windows 8, could be a salvation for Microsoft in both the mobile phone and the tablet market. At least it could offer Microsoft a better and alternative way to deal with those other competitors.


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Windows 8 for Consumers

I was considering what was the best way to write a review of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and thought it might be best to split it into four different articles, with each one being aimed at a different type of Windows 8.  So across Windows8News and our sister site gHacks I’ll write in the next couple of days about Windows 8 for Consumers and Enthusiasts (at Windows8News) and for IT Pros and Business (on gHacks).

It is appropriate to write reviews now too and pass judgement as Microsoft have declared Windows 8 feature locked, something that was also done with the Windows 7 beta and that hasn’t come as a surprise to anyone.  In this first part of the review I want to look at how consumers might use Windows 8 and what there is in it for them.

In a way consumers have always had the hardest time with Windows.  The operating system was originally designed for business and enterprise users after all.  They’ve had to get used to drop down menus, business productivity suites at home (many of which offer much more power, functionality and as a result, buttons and options, than the home user would ever want or need) and an interface focused primarily on getting work done.  At no point since the creation of Windows by Microsoft have consumers had an easy time of things.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Running Oracle VM VirtualBox 2 580x359 Windows 8 for Consumers

Now that is all set to change with what can be argued is an entirely consumer-focused operating system.  It’s still not going to be a completely easy ride for consumers though because with a new UI comes a new learning curve.  Some people might be resistant to this, some people such as the elderly who have had trouble learning how to use a computer for the first time might not want to have to start learning it all over again.

This problem will reduce over time and more and more consumers move to touch screen devices, let’s face it there’s not that much consumers want to do with computers that requires a full-time hardware keyboard anyway.  For the moment though, and on existing computers, some of the mouse and keyboard controls are fiddly.

As a result we can expect a plethora of help and how-to guides and books to appear in bookshops and on magazine stands when Windows 8 goes on sale, including my own “Windows 8: Out of the Box” from O’Reilly, which will of course be excellent and much better than the competition  icon wink Windows 8 for Consumers

Looking at the consumer computing market however it’s very clear that any interface learning curve will not be something that anybody will worry about.  Just look at how people have taken to smartphones, Android tablets, iPads and Windows Phones without quibble and are using them happily.  So people using Windows 8 for leisure will have everything going for them.

One of, if not by far the best feature for consumers will be the abaility to take your Internet favourites and Windows 8 preferences with you wherever you go.  Simply by logging into a Windows 8 computer with your Live ID the system will automatically download these for you, so it will be like working on your own computer.  The privacy implications of this feature have yet to be determined and it is something that I will be looking into.  What happens to your Internet favourites etc on a computer you will no longer use and that’s owned by somebody else?  Will they have access to them etc..?  For now though we can assume that Windows 8 is safe and secure for consumers.

The inclusion of anti-virus, however difficult Microsoft seem to have made it to find, is also something that will give people extra peace of mind.  In fact the whole experience of using Windows 8 is that only the things you actually want to do are in the foreground, with everything else pushed backwards, out of sight.  As an experience in how to create a truly consumer-focused operating system Windows 8 seems right on track.

One of the areas where Windows 8 will truly lead the tablet revolution is the includion of sensible multi-user profiles.  This is something Windows users have always enjoyed but none of the other tablet operating systems currently support it.  I say currently because we can probably expect Android to bring this feature in with a future edition of the OS.

So for the first part of this review, we can call Windows 8 a win and a resounding one at that.


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