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JUL 2011 maximumpc.com
MAXIMUMPC
Prerelease versions of Windows 8 have leaked to the web.
Here’s what they tell us about the upcoming OS
Windows 8:
What We Know
What We Know
RECENTLY LEAKED BUILDS show
that Windows 8 will be a very
different OS from its fore-
bears, from the kernel to the
cloud. ARM processor sup-
port, mobile-device optimiza-
tion, and system-wide menu
tweaks abound. Here are some
of the most interesting changes
we’ve spotted so far.
ARM-ament
It’s no secret that Microsoft
wants Windows on tablets.
To get there, Windows 8 will
include support for ARM
processors, as Steve Ballmer
demonstrated at CES in
January. That means it could
compete with Android and iOS
on slim, low-power devices—if
Microsoft keeps bloat under
control.
Touch Optimization
The suckage of Windows touch
screen interfaces has been,
well, a touchstone of tech
reality for more than a decade.
But design elements from the
login screen, task manager,
and browser all point to tight
integration of touch controls
throughout the operating
system. A touch-friendly login
screen buried in the leaked
code lets you unlock the device
using a pattern rather than a
password, in the same way
Android does. Some short-
lived YouTube videos (DMCA’d
by Microsoft’s legal team) also
demonstrated gesture support.
Ribbons Galore
If you were among the throngs
who hoped Offi ce’s ribbon
menus would prove a passing
phase, you’ll be sorry to note
that they’re now pervasive in
Windows Explorer. The good
news is that it looks like you’ll
be able to revert these menus
to a layout more similar to
that of Windows 7.
Revamped Task Manager
Managing running appli-
cations—and being able
to quickly kill resource-
hogging tasks—is even
more critical on mobile
devices than it is on gaming
rigs. The reconfigured tool,
renamed Modern Windows
Task Manager, will give you a
single window from which to
spot and kill the processes
that are slowing down your
system by combining the Re-
source Monitor and the Task
Manager together. It also
includes tap-friendly kill
buttons for tablet users.
Immersive Browser
Some leaked screenshots
from the Windows 8 alpha
show a simple, full-screen
browser that looks identical
to the Metro browser included
in Windows Phone 7, complete
with a mosaic of little blocks
for favorites and such. Once
again, strong evidence that
Microsoft is betting big on
tablets as the future home of
Windows.
Cloud Integration
At long last, it looks like Win-
dows will get integrated cloud
storage synching with Win8.
In addition to Windows Live
SkyDrive, which you’d expect
the next Windows to support by
default, it appears you’ll be able
to add third-party cloud stor-
age services as mapped drives.
Portable Workspaces
The demise of U3 in 2009 left
a void in the portable apps
market that Microsoft helped
to fi ll by cofounding StartKey
in partnership with SanDisk.
It now appears that Microsoft
is integrating this technology
directly into Windows 8 with a
feature called Portable Work-
space. Leaked screenshots
show that USB drives of 16GB
or larger will be formatted
with a portable image of the
user’s Windows 8 system.
Of course, predicting fi nal
release features based on
Windows alphas is always
dicey. We need only recall all
the cool features Longhorn
was supposed to bring us, and
then look at the reality of Vista,
for a cautionary tale in the haz-
ards of banking on Microsoft’s
leaked alpha builds. But if Mi-
crosoft has the sack to release
all the features we’re seeing
in these early builds, Windows
8 could prove as signifi cant a
platform change as Win95.
–Robert Strohmeyer
Windows 8 Explorer menus will apparently feature the same ribbon inter-
face as Microsoft Offi ce 2007 and 2010, though we may have the option of
reverting to old-school menu bars.
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