Tag Archives: Microsoft Windows 8
Dell Windows 8 Tablet Details Leak
Neowin.net has received a leaked photo with the specifications of the upcoming Dell Windows 8 tablet. The Dell Latitude 10 has a 10.1″ HD (1366×768) capacitive multi-touch screen with an optional stylus. The processor is an Intel Clover Trail Atom Dual Core. It has 2GB of DDR2 800 MHz memory and up to 128GB SSD hard drive. The standard security of the tablet is TPM/lock slot with optional integrated fingerprint/smart card reader. Other specs include WLAN+Bluetooth, mobile broadband, speakers, stereo headphones/microphone combo, 2 megapixel front camera, and 8 megapixel rear camera. The battery is removable with a smaller battery being able to get 6-8 hours of life and a larger battery at 10-12 hours.
Categories Dell Inc., Microsoft Windows 8
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Microsoft To Get Rid Of Free Development Tools For Non-Metro Windows 8 Desktop Apps
Microsoft Corporation has decided to make a huge change with Visual Studio 11 Express. Visual Studio 11 Express will prevent developers from building apps that are not Metro. Metro is a user interface that is seen in the Windows Phone operating system and it involves using screen tiles for navigation. After Visual Studio 11 Express is rolled out, either developers will be stuck with Metro or they can spend $500 to buy Visual Studio 11 Professional to get around having to develop Metro apps. Previously developers were able to build desktop applications on Visual C++ 2010 Express and Visual C# 2010 Express. Microsoft will be removing the compiler toolchain from the Windows SDK for Windows 8 to prevent backdoor coding.
Windows 8 Is Too Fast To Select BIOS During Boot-Up
It is a good thing and a bad thing that Windows 8 boots extremely fast. A PC that has an SSD can book up Windows 8 in seven seconds. The problem with the fast boot-up time is that it does not give you enough time to interrupt the boot-up process. Many people interrupt the booting process in order to access the BIOS. People like to change around the BIOS to change around the order of devices to boot such as telling Windows to read your USB drive before reading your CD drive when booting up. In older versions of Windows, hitting the F8 button boots up the familiar BIOS menu. Microsoft User Experience program manager Chris Clark said that users now have only a 200ms window to get to the BIOS menu during the boot-up. Some of the solutions that Microsoft is considering is that all of the various settings that may have been distributed across troubleshooting, developer, and startup menus are being consolidated into one boot options group. The BIOS boot menu option will appear automatically anytime something prevents Windows from booting up. Microsoft is also making it easy to access a repository of options by giving multiple ways of bringing it up even if there is nothing wrong with the PC. I have been using Windows PCs since I was a kid and I have run into all sorts of problems. The BIOS menu has been a life-saver for me in many different circumstances so I will definitely miss how easy it has been to access it.
Categories Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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Microsoft Dropping Aero Glass In Windows 8
Microsoft Corporation has written a blog post about how the desktop portion of Windows 8 will have a completely restyled appearance. One of the most notable changes is that they are getting rid of the Aero Glass effect that was first added in Windows Vista. Aero gave a slightly transparent reflection-glass effect to the title bars of windows in the operating system. The effect was purely cosmetic, but Microsoft is now calling it “dated” and “cheesy.” Windows 8 title bars will have a flatter and more neutral look.
Categories Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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Intel Windows 8 Tablets Coming To Retail Stores This November
The first set of Intel-based Windows 8 tablets are expected to arrive in retail stores this November. “The schedule is tight,” said sources with CNET. “Looking at what Windows is trying to achieve not only with a new OS, but a new OS that needs to run four to five architectures — three ARM, Intel, and AMD.”
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Categories Intel, Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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Windows 8′s Windows Media Player Won’t Have DVD Support Because Of Dolby Royalties
Microsoft announced earlier this week that Windows Media Player inside of all of the Windows 8 versions will not be able to play DVDs anymore like it can with Windows 7. If users want to be able to play DVDs through Windows Media Player, they would have to upgrade to a paid version of Windows Media Player. Microsoft said that they had to pay royalties to Dolby and to the owners of the MPEG-2 decoder to enable DVD playback in Windows Media Player. Microsoft paid $124 million in licensing fees to Dolby in 2011. Below is what Microsoft said in a blog post.
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Microsoft Announces 4 Versions Of Windows 8
Microsoft has announced the names of four versions of Windows 8. The four versions are called Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows RT. The first three options are expected to be released later this year and will be designed for machines made on x86 processors. Windows RT was designed for ARM processors and has been known as Windows on ARM (WOA) until now.
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Intel Announces Plans To Develop Two Different-Sized Windows 8 Tablets
Intel announced at a conference in Beijing that they will have two sizes of Windows 8 tablets with 3G/4G connections and will have Atom processors. One of the tablets will have a 10-inch model and the other will be an 11-inch hybrid with a physical keyboard. Inside of it will be a dual code Atom Z2760 Clover Trail chip with a “burst mode” that allows for short periods of high level performance. They will also come with a nine-hour battery, NFC, and WiFi Direct. WiFi Direct allows devices to connect to each other without a traditional network. The tablets will be under 1.5 pounds and less than 9mm thick.
Categories Intel, Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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Intel and 10 Vendors To Release Windows 8 Tablets By End Of Year
Intel is working with 10 Chinese and global vendors to design Windows 8 tablets. “You’ll probably see many Intel-based tablets by the end of this year,” stated Intel China chairman Sean Maloney at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing.
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Categories Intel, Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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Windows 8 Was Designed To Be Retina-Display Ready
Microsoft has designed the Windows 8 operating system to be supported on pixel-dense (also known as Retina Display) screens. Many display maker companies are looking forward to using post HD resolutions as a selling point for their displays.
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Categories Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8
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