Windows 8 - Preview

Today, Microsoft demonstrated the next generation of Windows, internally code-named “Windows 8,” for the first time. Windows 8 is a reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface. A Windows 8-based PC is really a new kind of device, one that scales from touch-only small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse.

The demo showed some of the ways it is reimagined the interface for a new generation of touch-centric hardware. Fast, fluid and dynamic, the experience has been transformed while keeping the power, flexibility and connectivity of Windows intact.

Here are a few aspects of the new interface:

• Fast launching of apps from a tile-based Start screen, which replaces the  Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps.
• Live tiles with notifications, showing always up-to-date information from your  apps.
• Fluid, natural switching between running apps.
• Convenient ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so you can really multitask using the capabilities of Windows.
• Web-connected and Web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that have access to the full power of the PC.
• Fully touch-optimized browsing, with all the power of hardware-accelerated Internet Explorer 10.

This also has effortless movement between existing Windows programs and new Windows 8 apps. The full capabilities of Windows continue to be available to you, including the Windows Explorer and Desktop, as does compatibility with all Windows 7 logo PCs, software and peripherals.

Although the new user interface is designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard. Our approach means no compromises — you get to use whatever kind of device you prefer, with peripherals you choose, to run the apps you love. This is sure to inspire a new generation of hardware and software development, improving the experience for PC users around the world.

The demo also includes about how developers will build apps for the new system. Windows 8 apps use the power of HTML5, tapping into the native capabilities of Windows using standard JavaScript and HTML to deliver new kinds of experiences. These new Windows 8 apps are full-screen and touch-optimized, and they easily integrate with the capabilities of the new Windows user interface. There’s much more to the platform, capabilities and tools than what was shown today.

This brings an innovative new platform and tools to developers and see how their creativity jumpstarts a new generation of apps. Windows 8 apps can use a broad set of new libraries and controls, designed for fluid interaction and seamless connectivity. Apps can add new capabilities to Windows and to other apps, connecting with one another through the new interface. For example, a developer can extend the file picker control to enable picking from their own app content or from within another Windows 8 app, in addition to the local file system and the network.

And this isn’t just about touch PCs. The new Windows experience will ultimately be powered by application and device developers around the world — one experience across a tremendous variety of PCs. The user interface and new apps will work with or without a keyboard and mouse on a broad range of screen sizes and pixel densities, from small slates to laptops, desktops, all-in-ones, and even classroom-sized displays. Hundreds of millions of PCs will run the new Windows 8 user interface.

The video below introduces a few of the basic elements of the new user interface.

View the preview::

 

Next is Internet Explorer 10

Microsoft has already made a technical preview version of the Internet Explorer 10 platform available.

Close to a month after the release of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft has already started talking about engine 10. While developing IE9, Microsoft was already allowing for the testing of the IE10 technical platform via their Test Drive.

This is a preliminary version, without the normal user interface, with the aim being to allow developers to see how their applications will react while testing changes made to the engine. An initial IE10 Platform Preview is available, with a new release to be made every 12 weeks. 

For the final IE engines, Google’s Chrome release rhythm will probably not be followed in the same way that Mozilla has with Firefox. Microsoft’s Vice-president and manager of Internet Explorer Dean Hachamovitch nevertheless slipped in this remark: "Increased cadence just means bigger version numbers".

According to Dean Hachamovitch "The only native experience of the Web and HTML5 today is on Windows 7 with IE9". With the Platform Preview, this starts with the support of new standards (and not only for HTML5).

·         Cascading Style Sheets Level 3 (CSS3) support

o    Flexible Box (“Flexbox”) Layout

o    Grid Alignment/Layout

o    Multi-column Layout

o    Gradients (on background images)

·         ECMAScript 5 (ES5) support

o    The strict variant of ECMAScript (“ES5 strict mode”)

For the next preliminary version of IE10, these are 3D CSS3 transitions and transformations. We can also point out that these standards have already been integrated into competing browsers. 

During the MIX11 conference which is currently taking place in Las Vegas, a demonstration of IE10 was made using a machine powered by ARM architecture and therefore running Windows 8. One of the demonstrations Microsoft was also presenting during the week was that IE10 was faster and more fluid than Google Chrome with different HTML5 and CSS3 functions.

So let’s watch the browser war. 

Is this Windows 8?

Microsoft has already hinted that it wants to make Windows more like Xbox by supporting the Kinect sensor technology and adopting elements of the Xbox Live interface for Windows-based games. Now it looks like the Windows team has its eyes on Office, Windows Phone, and Windows Live, as well.

That’s one conclusion to draw from a series of leaks over the past few days about Windows 8, or whatever Microsoft ends up calling the next generation of its PC operating system. Preliminary builds of Windows 8 show Windows Explorer (the interface for locating files on a computer) with a tabbed command strip — similar to the Office “Ribbon” - replacing the traditional menus and tool bar.

Is Windows 7 = Vista SP3?

It appears Microsoft has listened to the complaints about Vista and is addressing them with a more-compatible, leaner and easier-to-use Vista/Windows 7. Windows 7 looks like it could also be named Vista SP3. This is exactly what enterprises are waiting for and if Microsoft delivers it in late 2009 as expected the adoption rate among enterprises should be very high.

Analysis says Vista has been a disaster in the enterprise market. Not even Microsoft can deny that, despite their statistics about how high the Vista license rate is overall. Those numbers are driven by consumers, who don’t have any choice since all new PCs ship with Vista, and by enterprises that buy a Vista license and promptly downgrade to XP. Its likely Vista would have been much less successful in the consumer market had there been a choice provided to consumers. Apple is on record as stating Vista is the best thing that happened to the Mac, and indeed even in enterprises a lot of consideration is being given to Macs today that would not be the case had Vista been successful.

Most enterprises today are still running XP and waiting for Windows 7 to become available. Apple’s Mac has made some inroads into the enterprise market, as has Linux, but both are still in relatively small numbers. If Windows 7 were to repeat the Vista experience, however, it seems probable that widespread defections from Microsoft would start happening. XP is getting old enough that by 2010-2011 most enterprises will have to dump it in favor of something newer.

Apple's Mac is less than ideal for enterprises. It scores high on the cool factor, but a complete lack of compatibility with the installed base of hardware and software, combined with relatively expensive new machines, means significant cost increases to convert. Linux will at least run on all existing hardware, but software compatibility is still a problem. Support for both will be both difficult and expensive, and thus few CIOs will go that way if Windows 7 provides a viable alternative. Both Linux and the Mac can use virtualization to run Windows applications, but then the complexity and cost goes up.

Windows 7 promises a leaner OS with full compatibility for Vista-compatible hardware and software. In other words, if it works with Vista it will work with Windows 7. The ever-annoying UAC has been toned down. Some new management features have been added. Disk encryption works better. All these things speak well for the acceptance of Windows 7. There are also several consumer-oriented improvements focused mostly on ease of use.

Windows 7 seems to essentially be Vista SP3 under a different name, which is what most enterprises want to see. Microsoft is not and should not strive for a major change from Vista to Windows 7. The pre-beta release of Windows 7 seems to be more mature than one would expect for a pre-beta, which suggests a full release late in 2009 (at least for enterprises) is achievable.

If Windows 7 goes into full release for enterprises by the end of 2009, it should be fully tested by the middle of 2010. Since it’s not so different from Vista for compatibility, the testing cycle should be reasonably short. By the middle of 2010 most hardware and software in enterprises should be compatible with Vista, so not many changes should be required for Windows 7. There will be a huge pent-up demand for an upgrade by the middle of 2010, and as long as Windows 7 meets its early promise it seems safe to expect very large adoption of Windows 7 in enterprises between the middle of 2010 and the middle of 2011.

Source: Internet.

Windows Azure - Cloud Computing Service With Windows 7

Windows Azure, a new cloud computing service, will be launched at the same time as Windows 7. Build new applications in the cloud - or use interoperable services that run on Microsoft infrastructure to extend and enhance your existing applications. You choose what’s right for you. Windows Azure will allow data and applications to exist online in the ‘Cloud’, rather than locally on a PC.

Moving Microsoft’s cash cows, Windows and Office, onto the internet is a big move for Microsoft and will allow it to enter an arena already occupied by companies like Google. By tying it to the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft clearly intend to use Windows 7 to try and entice customers to use Microsoft’s other products and services, rather than those of their customers.

One of the touted benefits of Azure is zero downtime for applications, as applications can be patched without shutting down other running applications. I hope this will lead to new functionality being added to Windows applications more frequently, rather than the current 2 year product cycle. It will also do away with the need to constantly run Windows Update and reboot local machines, as more updates will be done automatically.

Azure Services
The Azure Services Platform is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. The Azure Services Platform provides a range of functionality to build applications that span from consumer web to enterprise scenarios and includes a cloud operating system and a set of developer services. Fully interoperable through the support of industry standards and web protocols such as REST and SOAP, you can use the Azure services individually or together, either to build new applications or to extend existing ones.

Key components of the Azure Services Platform include the following:

• Windows Azure for service hosting and management, low-level scalable storage, computation and networking
• Microsoft SQL Services for a wide range of database services and reporting
• Microsoft .NET Services which are service-based implementations of familiar .NET Framework concepts such as workflow and access control
• Live Services for a consistent way for users to store, share and synchronize documents, photos, files and information across their PCs, phones, PC applications and Web sites
• Microsoft SharePoint Services and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Services for business content, collaboration and rapid solution development in the cloud.
  

External Links:
Official Site: http://www.microsoft.com/azure/default.mspx
Windows Azure at PDC: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/oct08/10-27PDCDay1PR.mspx

Windows 7 - Microsoft's Next Desktop OS

Windows 7 is the Microsoft's next desktop OS. One can say Windows 7 is Windows Vista done right. This is also confirming the end for Windows Vista which has struggled to win over users.

The User Interface
Windows 7 features a new version of the user interface introduced in Vista, but more streamlined with a number of visual elements stripped down to a more simple form. For example, the task bar now features only the icon of the open application, rather than a big button containing both the name and the icon of the application. Also, the gadget sidebar has also been dropped in favour of letting you free float gadgets wherever you want on the desktop.

It will add support for multi-touch technology, similar to that found in Microsoft's Surface Tabletop computer. The Windows 7 multi-touch touchscreen interface is being regarded as one of the most interesting new features of the next-generation Windows operating system. It allows multiple fingers to be used together for a unique way to control specific applications like photo-editing and more.

Features
Windows 7 is at the centre of a connected environment. It will also integrate tightly with Microsoft’s online services and hosted software products, such as lightweight versions of Office, Hotmail, Messenger and online storage. The aim is to make consumer and end user cloud computing service access seamless between the client and the online version of the product or service.

Windows 7 will be smaller, lighter, and faster than Windows Vista. Windows 7 is being developed in a completely new way. Windows 7 isn't a huge departure for Microsoft. It's built on the Vista kernel and device driver, so the existing device drivers will work on it.

Windows 7 is all about choice, and about enabling the user to easily extend and customize their experience, with the internet at the heart of what they do, whether they are working online or offline.

This will support for solid state drives and using GPUs for general purpose applications. The "ribbon" interface in Office 2007 will find its way into many Windows applications. Windows 7 also introduces a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based Web services in native code. The hated User Access Control (UAC) systems will be overhauled to make it a lot smarter. It couldn't get much dumber, really. Microsoft estimates it will go from 775,000 unrecognized applications to 168,000 applications, so it will stop asking you for approval every time you make a move.

Some Other Changes

• The task bar will allow people to organize applications in any order they choose, something not possible before Windows 7.
• It can also give a thumbnail view of open windows before expanding them to the full screen. Once open, windows will be easier to place side by side for copying, say, from one document to another.
• Another common task, creating and managing a home network, will be easier. The software automatically creates a network of PCs, printers, wireless photo frames and other devices. Documents, music, photos and other media stored in "libraries" anywhere on the network can be easily searched and accessed from another Windows 7 PC on the network.
• Windows 7 will support PCs that can be controlled with gestures — for example, allowing people to scroll through a document by flicking a finger across the screen.

Microsoft is also removing significant features from Windows 7:

• Built-in e-mail, calendar, photo organization and other lightweight programs will now be distributed as a free, downloadable set called "Windows Live Essentials."

The "Essentials" applications will link up with online services, including Web-based e-mail and photo-sharing tools from Microsoft and its competitors, such as Google.

Microsoft currently plans to ship Windows 7 by early 2010, about three years after Vista.

The War
Microsoft isn't alone in its pursuit of multi-touch controls. Apple's vaunted but slow-selling iPhone utilizes multi-touch controls, and a selection of newer MacBook Pro laptops offers limited multi-touch capabilities in certain Mac OS X applications. For Microsoft, however, Windows 7 multi-touch is a chance to leapfrog the competition, and it builds on work the company pioneered in earlier versions of Windows and in its Surface smart table.

External Links:
The Vienna Site: http://www.windowsvienna.com/
Windows 7 FAQ: http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp
On WiKi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

HP TouchSmart PC Using Windows 7

In its zeal to take over your living room, Microsoft announced the HP TouchSmart PC - a desktop machine with a Touchscreen interface designed to be an easy to use entertainment hub in the home.

It is coming loaded with:

• 19-inch Touchscreen
• AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core TL-52 processor
• 2GB SDRAM
• 320GB Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
• WiFi and Bluetooth
• Integrated 1.3 megapixel Camera
• Integrated FM and ATSC HDTV tuners
• DVD±RW / DVD-RAM burner with LightScribe
• Pocket Media Drive bay
• Wireless Keyboard, Mouse, Stylus, front Media Reader.
• The TouchSmart will be running all new upcoming Windows 7 OS.

Windows 7 will have new touch features. An overview of the touch capabilities was demonstrated at the All Things Digital Conference by Microsoft. I will post one article very soon after the Professional Developer Conference (PDC).

External Links:
HP TouchSmart: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/touchsmart