New features of Windows 8
Windows 8 has entered Beta stage and expected to be released next year. Here are some of the features that are new:
1. Windows now supports ARM. Before, it only supports x86 from Intel and AMD
2. A new Start Screen interface has been added that was designed for touch screen input in addition to mouse, keyboard, and pen input. This is based on Microsoft's design language named Metro. The start screen replaces the Start menu, being triggered by the Start button or Windows key, and is also the first screen shown on start up. The user can go to the regular desktop by choosing the "Desktop" tile or a traditional desktop-based application. The Start screen also displays the user's name and picture. This is similar to Windows Phone 7
3. Windows Explorer adopts now adopts Microsoft Office’ ribbon interface.
4. Windows 8 will support multiple monitors with the new ability to natively display different background images on each display and customized taskbar(s) on each of the connected displays.
5. A new Welcome screen
6. A new version of Task Manager with a redesigned user interface.
7. There is a new easy restore
8. Windows Live ID integration: One big change is that user accounts do not have to be local-only anymore but can be linked up to one's Windows Live ID.
9. Ability to create a bootable USB Flash drive (usually called a Live USB) with Windows 8 in it, including the user's programs, and settings
10. Supports a new file system called Protogon. Not much is known about the new filesystem

Good features.

Using it before August,

It is quite good.

Yeah ain't bad at all,

After installing one, I was pretty confused about the os. It has taken me close to a week and I'm still undecided about what to do with it. I have it on dual boot with a perfectly sound Windows 7. It boots into Win8 first, then I choose Windows 7 and pc restarts. I haven't found time to tear it apart or study it online anywhere. Might be good eventually but I feel it will be a better OS for me in the sense that I will get more calls from end users. Looks difficult to use.

There is a very important feature microsoft is yet to add, I expected it in win7 but they didn't and now win8 will be launched soon, and from ur list above I can't see that feature. And that is the ability to PASSWORD a FOLDER without the help of a third party apps like winzip, winrar etc.

Nice features though still expecting more features than those onces put up there.

Jaybaba:

After installing one, I was pretty confused about the os. It has taken me close to a week and I'm still undecided about what to do with it. I have it on dual boot with a perfectly sound Windows 7. It boots into Win8 first, then I choose Windows 7 and pc restarts. I haven't found time to tear it apart or study it online anywhere. Might be good eventually but I feel it will be a better OS for me in the sense that I will get more calls from end users. Looks difficult to use.

Does your PC still operate under the same speed after installing it or did Win8 slow things down? I learned that it will operate fine under 128bit data processor.

I thought Microsoft says Windows 8 is supposed to be a Server Operating System - just like Windows Server 2003/2008/2008R2. Abi?

.NET

the smart phone revolution is really awesome!

i can see where some of the inspiration for win 8 is coming from!

I hope it will fast and will not sucks like vista. i am not sure if this so called win 8 can beat windows 7, Windows 7 Rocks

If you follow Microsoft OS trend you will notice that.

Window 8 is just an experiment, like Windows Vista.

Windows 7 is the standard Version of Vista.

I will not advice anyone to buy Windows 8 OS.

Just wait for windows 9!!!

well, i just hope they improve the network part of windows 7,
XP was much more easier to work with =S

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But bros, Can one migrate from Vista to windows 8 without having to format his hard disk? Please advice

emmatok:

If you follow Microsoft OS trend you will notice that.

Window 8 is just an experiment, like Windows Vista.

Windows 7 is the standard Version of Vista.

I will not advice anyone to buy Windows 8 OS.

Just wait for windows 9!!!

You are wrong. Windows 8 is a major release, i.e. NT7.0 and it is in no way experimental. The last major release was Vista, which was NT6.0 with codename "Longhorn" (if I am not wrong).

W8 is good and "athletic." The metro can get clumsy because it's not completely mouse-friendly. Turning off metro suppresses all W8 improvements. It's also plenty faster than W7. This is still the developers preview and not beta yet it has managed to keep a lot of people happy and a lot frustrated as well. There is still going to be more improvements.

Per your advice, it is plenty better than W7 (which is nothing but reformulated version of Vista). It is very stable and does a lot of "hybrid" things well without lock-up. This is the first time ever in my history of Windows that I am able to do extreme variable multi-tasking and it is not locking up. It is not as refined as Fedora or slippery as the Mac's but it is good. Try it and conclude. A note of caution though, it will "flush" your current bootloader and deprive you access to the current configuration (especially if Linux is present).

base on the features listed out, it means it can't support 64bit? pls i need answer and is it so.

pls why is it that window 8 cannot support 64bit? i need ur answer

It probably wont be called ''Windows 8''.

More and more features being integrated. I like it

Nice windows. . . . Easy multitasking, fast speed, no hangups, sleek and glossy.

Does it now play Blu-Ray disc?

The media player which came with windows 7 does not support Blu-Ray instead you need 3rd party software for that. Has this changed with windows 8?

microsoft is rushing to meet up with windows phone 8 release hence this experimental release of desktop
win 8 for testing. the nokia + ms alliance is really working wonders afterall!

I havent yet tried it, but from what i see, it seems to be cool

ibes4ever:

base on the features listed out, it means it can't support 64bit? pls i need answer and is it so.

It supports the 64 bits.

Reflector:

Does it now play Blu-Ray disc?

The media player which came with windows 7 does not support Blu-Ray instead you need 3rd party software for that. Has this changed with windows 8?

BluRay has been supported since Vista SP2.  This supports everything including the 1155 socket and 2011 socket processors. 

Htman:

I havent yet tried it, but from  what i see, it seems to be cool

It is not amazingly cool but it is a huge step from the type of computing we have become accustomed to with Windows.  If you have ever been on any unix-like OS, a lot of the similarities are found in W8.  The power users or those that understand computing beyond browsing and disgrace-booking (facebooking) will understand in depth the grounds MS has covered.  To the average user, it is just another OS.  I skipped Vista and W7 due to the theme and lack of agility and performance, stuck to XP and adopted OS X.  The unimpressions you get from the Vista/W7 is not in this to-be release.  My old programs work on it and when I click a button, the response is almost immediate (as it is in XP and other OS's - no green-blue spinning circle). Couple this with its hybrid-like multitasking; numerous programs opened, including the intensive ones in the background and there is no hangups or noticeable loss in performance. Why shouldn't credit be given?!  The only sacrifice to make is to get use to the UI which is a bit clumsy and biased for social networking - that itself can be fixed. The start button is basically useless.  It uses far less resource than its predecessor. 

Overall, in my honest opinion, it is carefully thought-out.  Those of us that have the pleasure of working with Fedora, Ubuntu, Mac's and so on may not impressed.  They might find the eye-candies a joke but PC's are for the workplace and the professionally minded have to be satisfied above all.  That is where the chunk of MS's revenue comes from.

Trac:



BluRay has been supported since Vista SP2,

Trac this is false information.

There is no version of windows media player that plays Blu-Ray movies for now, you need 3rd party programs such as WinDVD, PowerDVD etc to watch Blu-Ray movies. I know because I tried it yesterday on my windows 7 home premium machine.

You might want to read this link http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/windows-7-media-player-will-not-play-back-bluray/36f826cd-db66-45e7-bfad-1ad7f37f42af

??

great,

Trac:

You are wrong.  Windows 8 is a major release, i.e. NT7.0 and it is in no way experimental.  The last major release was Vista, which was NT6.0 with codename "Longhorn" (if I am not wrong).

W8 is good and "athletic."  The metro can get clumsy because it's not completely mouse-friendly.  Turning off metro suppresses all W8 improvements.  It's also plenty faster than W7.  This is still the developers preview and not beta yet it has managed to keep a lot of people happy and a lot frustrated as well.  There is still going to be more improvements.

Per your advice, it is plenty better than W7 (which is nothing but reformulated version of Vista).  It is very stable and does a lot of "hybrid" things well without lock-up.  This is the first time ever in my history of Windows that I am able to do extreme variable multi-tasking and it is not locking up.  It is not as refined as Fedora or slippery as the Mac's but it is good.  Try it and conclude.  A note of caution though, it will "flush" your current bootloader and deprive you access to the current configuration (especially if Linux is present). 

Good you mentioned Vista.

Is Windows Vista(NT6.0) as  successful as Windows 7(6.1).NO

Are Windows ME or Windows 2000(NT5.0) as successful as Windows XP (NT5.1)? NO

The-same thing will happen to Window 8(NT7.0) and its improved version will come in Windows 9(NT7.1).

All major OS release comes with issues which are resolved in subsequent Versions,

game on, microsoft! we are anxiously waiting!

Reflector:

Trac this is false information.

There is no version of windows media player that plays Blu-Ray movies for now, you need 3rd party programs such as WinDVD, PowerDVD etc to watch Blu-Ray movies. I know because I tried it yesterday on my windows 7 home premium machine.

You might want to read this link http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/windows-7-media-player-will-not-play-back-bluray/36f826cd-db66-45e7-bfad-1ad7f37f42af

Those front-ends will not decode bluray for playback. According to Microsoft, the architecture was redone to support the use of bluray in SP2 of Vista. Natively, it will burn bluray disc. For playback, it is to the manufacturer of the bluray hardware. The playback of bluray is not native to the OS itself but dependent on the hardware, firmware and a decoder that is totally dependent on the drive itself. In otherwords, the playback is upon the burden of the manufacturer that designs the drive.

emmatok:

Good you mentioned Vista.

Is Windows Vista(NT6.0) as  successful as Windows 7(6.1).NO

Are Windows ME or Windows 2000(NT5.0) as successful as Windows XP (NT5.1)? NO

The-same thing will happen to Window 8(NT7.0) and its improved version will come in Windows 9(NT7.1).

All major OS release comes with issues which are resolved in subsequent Versions,

If you think Windows 2000 was not as successful as Windows XP, then that explains your a lot about you. Windows 7 is Vista. The kernel is the same and the true name is Windows Server 2008 Release 2 (Windows 7 Server). The marketing name is Windows 7. Vista failed for the most percentile and it wasn't a good marketing strategy to still push on with the OS for the remaining of its lifecycle under the term Vista. If you have ever used any Windows Server, the tremendous stability leaves nothing to be desired. Windows 2008 was just streamed down and ported over for consumer-general use. Windows 7 is not faster than Vista. From what I can conclude, the animations are less than Vista. Hardcore gamers and those of like-entertainment will take Vista over Windows 7. Personally, my best operating system is Windows 2000, then Windows 2003.

Why don't you try Windows 8 before you make certain conclusions. I will understand if you do not like it. I detested it initially but took time to understand the metro thing and how to get rid of it. My old engineering tools run very well on W8 and that's all that matters to me. Some ran partly on W7. As far as I am aware of (with my limited usage), it is stable and I have some of the perks I get from Lion and there are no lock-ups or freezing. What I don't like about it is that it is "geared" for cloud computing and social networking. I see it as a big tool for information harvesting (my opinion).

Truly, there isn't much difference between the two (from a fundamental point of view). Layouts are different but behind the "screen" a lot has been done. It is a huge improvement to the Windows that is traditionally known.

@Reflector,

I went through your link and the patents explains why it is off-limits to Microsoft. Years ago, I read somewhere that for every media device made, a fee has to be paid to the recording company and a serial is issued. This also included cable-boxes, CD players and so on. I cannot tell you the totality of what I understood from the article because it is spotty and I cannot vouch for the source as credible because I stumbled upon it.

This might buttress what I stated in the earlier post.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-pictures/does-vista-or-windows-7-play-blu-ray/79f6ba3c-dad6-43a8-b8f3-d058b54a0d07

Above all, the patents explains why the blueray playback is not native to Windows.