Tag Archives: metro

Dec 18

Predection Of Web Design Trend For 2013

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The current year has seen several new trends and changes in websites designs. Some designs are here to stay, and some didn’t stand the test of time. With Apple and Microsoft flooding the market with new and creative interface designs, these trends seem to have reflected on websites as well.

The present scenario focusses on interactive websites which offer a more engaging and interesting experience for users. Developers are now working on CSS3 and HTML5 to make the website more attractive as well as SEO friendly. Though one cannot be definitive about future trends, these are the ones that I presume would last through the of 2013.

1 – Responsive Designs.

It has become imperative to make your website accessible to all internet users, be it those on the desktop /laptop or those on the Smartphones/tablets The thing with all these devices are that they each have different screen sizes. Responsiveness refers to fluid designs for websites, which resize and adjusts itself to fit the different screen sizes of various devices. CSS has made it easier to add fluidity to designs.

2 Retro Style

The Old is back again. It’s hard to miss the entire design world sporting a more retro look. Even Apple seems to have adopted the same and quite creatively too!Check out the Skeuomorphic designs that they have come up with in some of their Apps.(Calendar,contacts, newsstands, etc.) A lot of web designs have drawn inspiration from these ideas and have come up with some beautiful retro themes.

3 – Metro Inspiration

Though the retro look seems to be the present rage, the metro look isn’t far behind. The Windows 8 interface is a perfect example of a metro design.

4 – Large UI Elements

Touch screens have become very popular, and since Smartphones are the best on-the-go internet access solution, a lot of users use Smartphones to browse through the net. Larger buttons improve user experiences on touch screens. However these large UI elements tend to slow down the site.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Predection_Of_Web_Design_Trend_For_2013

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Jul 22

Who wants to be in the PC business? Not Dell

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Have you noticed that it’s just not so cool to be in the PC business these days?

Granted, it’s been no secret that the PC industry has been taking it on the chin for more than a year. With a down economy and people excited about new, smaller devices like tablets and smartphones, companies and individual consumers simply aren’t spending as much money on desktops and laptops these days.

[ Windows 8 is coming, and InfoWorld can help you get ready with the Windows 8 Deep Dive PDF special report, which explains Microsoft's bold new direction for Windows, the new Metro interface for tablet and desktop apps, the transition from Windows 7, and more. | Stay abreast of key Microsoft technologies in our Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]

And just a little more than a year ago, Hewlett-Packard, which still clings to the moniker of top PC maker worldwide, announced that executives were considering selling its PC manufacturing business. While HP later decided to keep the business, the possibility created a major stir in the industry.

Now this week, Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell, said during a conference sponsored by Fortune that the “new Dell” really isn’t in the PC business anymore. That’s a pretty surprising statement from the man who runs the fourth-largest PC manufacturer in the world.

That’s right, Dell may be slipping in the PC market rankings but it’s still in the top five. And it’s been in the PC business for the past 28 years. As recently as 2011, the company was the number two PC maker, right behind HP. but then it was surpassed by rankings-climber Lenovo and then it also was passed by Acer.

And from what Michael Dell had to say this week, the company may not be looking to scramble its way back up the rankings.

“Well, in the last five years or so, we’ve really made a concerted shift in our business towards end-to-end IT solutions,” said Dell, when asked about a comment he had made earlier that the company is really not a PC company anymore. “And if you think about the businesses that Dell is in today, there are really four of them. certainly, we start with the client business, which is kind of transforming with all the things that are going on in mobility and client virtualization,” he said.

But after quickly mentioning his client-based business, Dell went on to talk more at length about the company’s enterprise data center, server, storage, software, services and networking business. Dell went on to add that about half of the company’s gross margin does not come from PCs. he didn’t respond to the question of how much of the company’s margin might come from PCs five years from now.

Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said, “Dell is in the process of remaking themselves. Sure, they’ll still sell PCs, but they’ll sell a lot of other things too.”

Who wants to be in the PC business? Not Dell

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Jul 07

Windows 8's downfall still doesn't give ...

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Having spent a considerable amount of time with a variety of Windows 8 builds on a broad array of hardware platforms, and I’m now almost certain that a Windows 8 flop is inevitable. Whether it flops as hard as Windows Vista did remains to be seen, but I can’t see Microsoft’s forthcoming operating system being as well-received — or as well-loved — as the aging Windows XP or the incumbent Windows 7.

What does this mean for Linux? nothing.

I’ve already looked in some depth at what’s wrong with Windows 8 in an earlier post. I summed up my experiences with Microsoft’s freshest operating system with a single word: awful. the new operating system contains too many unnecessary and seemingly arbitrary changes that do nothing to improve the user experience.

The most glaring and irritating of these superfluous changes is the Metro user interface, a bolt-on aimed at tablet users that has gone on to infect the entire operating system. the Metro user interface in Windows 8 wasn’t born out of a need or demand; it was born out of a desire on Microsoft’s part to exert its will on the PC industry and decide to shape it in a direction — touch and tablets — that allows it to compete against, and remain relevant in the face of, Apple’s iPad.

The Windows 8 Metro user interface feels to me like something out of the mind of a child asked to draw a futuristic car. They’d give you the general car shape and then bolt on something like wings or rockets, and so rather than ending up with something new and practical, you end up sticking on the refrigerator door a Frankenstein’s monster of cobbled together parts that are clumsy and impractical.

Microsoft might repeatedly use the phrase “fast and fluid” to describe Windows 8, but to me it’s “clumsy and impractical”.

After a decade of attempting to carve out a market for Windows-powered tablets, there’s still no proven market for these devices, and yet Microsoft is willing to bet the success of Windows 8 on being able to make tablets work when the majority of users will be interacting with the new operating system on traditional desktop and notebook systems.

I’m not alone in thinking this way either. Off-the-record discussions I’ve had with my contacts inside some of the world’s largest hardware OEMs suggest that there’s an incredible amount of apprehension over how Windows 8 will be received, and what effect this will have on their bottom line.

Traditionally, a Windows launch has been harvest time for the hardware OEMs, a time when they can sell PCs in greater volume and with more ease than usual. however, the way that Windows Vista flopped demonstrated to the OEMs that the harvest could fail, and fail big. the OEMs feel that Microsoft is gambling with Windows 8, and that the gamble won’t pay off. not only that, but analysts are already cutting the target prices on Dell and HP, and Windows 8 is still a few months away.

ZDNet’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols believes that the gamble that Microsoft is taking with Windows 8, along with the way the company has upset hardware partners by wading into the hardware business, will encourage hardware vendors to take a look at Linux as it looks to boost razor thin margins.

“Heck,” writes Vaughan-Nichols, “thanks to [Microsoft CEO] Ballmer’s desktop and partner mis-steps maybe we finally will see a year of the Linux desktop after all!”

As much as I’d like to see Linux rise from the depths of obscurity to give Microsoft and Windows a serious run for its money, it’s just not going to happen — at least not any time soon.

There are just too many factors working against Linux for it to gain any serious traction on desktop or notebook platforms. For that matter, given the poor reception that Android has received on tablet devices, that platform may not be suited to Linux either.

The reason comes down to a single issue — compatibility.

When people buy a Windows license, they’re not just buying the right to use operating system on a specific piece of hardware, they’re also buying a warm and fuzzy feeling of security that most of the hardware and software they ran on the old operating system will continue to work on the new operating system.

People — consumers and enterprise users alike — love the idea of compatibility because it’s a handy insurance policy against nasty surprises down the line. we live in a world where the bulk of the software and hardware around us is designed for Windows, and that gives it an enormous advantage when it comes to being able to offer the comfort of compatibility.

When people think about compatibility, they’re actually thinking about it from two perspectives. First, there’s backward-compatibility with existing hardware and software. Traditionally, when people talk about compatibility, this is what they mean.

Put simply, they want the new stuff to work with the old stuff because it reduces on costs and keeps the learning curve shallow. However, there’s another form of compatibility that I call future-compatibility.

This is a comfort that people draw from the notion that their new system will be compatible with whatever they want to do in the future, be that install fresh software onto it, or plug in some new hardware.

Windows fulfills both of these criteria. not only there’s a good chance that a new version of Windows will be compatible with any existing hardware and software investment, but that it will work with whatever will be bought in the future, as long as there’s a Windows logo on the box.

And let’s face it; most things have that Windows logo on the box somewhere.

This is where Linux fall flat on its face. while it’s quite easy to get a Linux distro such as Ubuntu or Mint working on a desktop or notebook, it doesn’t offer the same compatibility guarantees that a Windows installation does.

When it comes to backward-compatibility, unless you’re lucky enough that your old Windows software will under an application like Wine on Linux, then you’re completely out of luck and will need to seek out replacements. as far as hardware goes, it’s very much luck of the draw as to whether you’ll find Linux drivers or not.

One thing’s for sure: you’ll have to do a lot of legwork to find out.

Future-compatibility is also far from guaranteed. Linux might have been around for a couple of decades, but as far as the majority of hardware vendors are concerned, it doesn’t exist. You’re going to have to research any future purchases. and if you think that the hardware market for Linux is a deserted wasteland, the software market is like being on the moon.

You can forget about most commercial software such as image editing, video editing and games ever running on the operating system, and you’re mostly confined to whatever exists in the free and open source arena.

I like Linux, in fact I like it a lot, but I also recognize that it’s not for everyone. It’s great for those who understand that it’s not Windows, and who know better than to expect it to work like Windows, but these people are in the minority. It’s also great for people like Vaughan-Nichols’ 80-year old mother-in-law who isn’t going to want to run the latest Adobe Photoshop application or Call of Duty game on the system. These people are also in a minority.

While some people have managed to jump ship and migrate to Apple’s OS X, as far as most are concerned, Windows is the secret sauce that makes a PC a PC.

If Windows 8 is going to flop, and Linux isn’t going to take its place, what’s going to happen? Simple. exactly what happened when Windows Vista flopped — the older operating system will take up the slack.

Enterprise will continue to demand Windows 7, because to roll out Windows 8 ‘properly’ the costs will rocket due to mass purchase of touch-enabled hardware and additional user interface training while the OEMs will sell Windows 7 PCs alongside Windows 8 systems because they will find it almost impossible to present the benefits of Windows 8 on desktop systems. Microsoft will once again find itself in a position where it has to offer longer-term support for the older operating system.

If Windows 8 flops, I think that we can safely say that Windows 9 will look significantly different to Windows 8, and Microsoft will more than likely switch back to the ‘traditional’ Windows interface in an attempt to distances itself from the entire fiasco.

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Windows 8's downfall still doesn't give Linux a chance

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Jun 20

Computex 2012: Hands-on with Windows RT, Asus ...

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The Computex tradeshow in Taiwan is just getting rolling, but Windows RT devices have already been spotted in the wild. I had a brief chance to try out a Qualcomm reference tablet running Windows RT, and should get a closer look at devices from Asus and others later this week.

The next version of Microsoft Windows, which is due later this year, is designed to run on two different types of hardware. Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro will run on systems with Intel or AMD processors based on the x86 architecture. Windows RT will run on devices with processors based on the ARM architecture, which is currently used in smartphones and tablets (among other devices).

My first impression of these Windows RT devices is that it is Windows 8. It looks exactly the same, it has the same Metro apps, and it seemed stable and responsive, though it clearly isn’t complete yet. this is a good thing since it means ARM-based devices will be competing with x86 on a reasonably level playing field though there are differences (here’s my post on this from last week). these early devices even have the classic Windows desktop, though you can’t do too much with it since the version of Microsoft Office, which will be bundled with Windows RT, doesn’t appear to be on there yet.

Qualcomm is one of three companies that will be offering ARM-based chipsets for the first Windows RT devices (Nvidia and Texas Instruments are the other two). at a media party, the company was demonstrating several tablets using its Snapdragon chipset and Windows RT. these were reference designs–and it isn’t clear which Snapdragon chips they were using–but Qualcomm should be providing more details later this week.

Asus announced two Transformer-like tablets: the Tablet 600 and the Tablet 810. the Tablet 600 uses an ARM processor and Windows RT; the Tablet 810 has an Intel chip and Windows 8. the 600 has a 10.1-inch display (1366×768), Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 2GB of memory and 32GB of storage. the 800 has an 11.6-inch display (1366×768), Atom processor, 2GB of memory and 64GB of storage. Both have the mobile dock that converts the tablets into clamshell ultraportables, with a keyboard, trackpad, extra USB ports and a second battery.

The convertible tablets were among several new devices Asus announced at its Computex press conference. perhaps the most unusual was Taichi, a Windows 8 ultraportable with displays on each side of the lid. When it is open, Taichi works like a standard ultraportable laptop with a keyboard and trackpad. When it is closed, you can use it as a slate with a multi-touch display with a stylus. Both screens can be used independently at the same time. Despite the two displays, Asus says Taichi weighs about the same as its Zenbook Prime Ultrabook. the company hasn’t released details on the configurations, but it will offer 11.6- and 13.3-inch versions of Taichi with Intel’s 3rd generation Core processors (Ivy Bridge) and solid-state drives.

Asus also announced a new line of conventional convertibles with detachable multi-touch displays. the Transformer Book will be available with an 11.6-, 13- or 14-inch Full HD display. unlike the Tablet 810, the Transformer Book is a full Windows 8 laptop with an Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of memory , discrete graphics, and both hard drives and SSDs. the other Transformer is an all-in-one desktop with an 18.4-inch multi-touch display that runs both Windows 8 and Android using BlueStacks’ virtualization technology. the wrinkle is that the display can be removed from the base and used as wireless remote display. the remaining products included an 802.11ac wireless router and two new displays.

Acer announced several new Windows 8 devices including tablets, laptops and an all-in-one (more on those in a separate post) at its press conference. but Acer chairman JT Wang said the company will wait until early next year to release its first ARM-based Windows RT devices.

Computex 2012: Hands-on with Windows RT, Asus announces new Transformers

Jun 15

I touched Windows 8, and I liked it

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You may have heard that I’m not the biggest fan of Windows 8 — or, as I’ve recently begun calling it, given its 1980s-loving innovation of the one-app-per-screen Metro interface, “Window 8.” But when I first complained about it here, I vowed that I would continue to use it and give it the fair chance Microsoft was not giving my desires to boot into the traditional desktop environment. so far, I’m keeping my word: As soon as the Release Preview version was made available this past week, I downloaded and installed it.

I made one key change this time, however: I installed it first on a touchscreen all-in-one (which I built myself, thank you very much). As much as Microsoft may want to pretend that Window 8 is as good for desktops and laptops as it is for tablets, as far as I’ve been able to tell so far that’s a vicious lie and one I refuse to perpetuate. so it struck me that perhaps I should try it out it in its intended environment first before moving on to the desktops and laptops on which I’m more likely to actually use the OS. who knows, I said to myself, I might enjoy it more.

And you know what? I do.

But before I get to that, I want to share the experience I had installing Window 8 — which this time unfolded without aggravating incident. My touchscreen PC already had Windows 7 loaded on it, so I chose the “update” option. the compatibility manager informed me that I had no crippling hardware conflicts, which was good, but it did tell me something I didn’t know about my touchscreen: that it hadn’t been designed for Window 8. Until that point, it hadn’t occurred to me that a touchscreen would need to be — it supported multitouch, wasn’t that enough?

Curious about what exactly a Window 8-ready touchscreen would be, I fired off an email to one of my Microsoft contacts. She pointed me to an MSDN blog post about touch hardware on the new operating system, which spelled out exactly what made my all-in-one (constructed, sigh, only five months ago) already out of date. Window 8 touch screens, I learned:

  • Support a minimum of five fingers — This puts fewer limits on developer creativity
  • Feature better support around the bezel areas — so that edge swipes (a key component of interaction in the OS) are more responsive and useful
  • Offer a better response rate than Windows 7 screens — due in part to the five-finger-minimum support
  • Are more consistent on swipe-to-select gestures
  • Do not misinterpret a swipe-and-slide motion as a tap

These are not exactly minor changes, but they’re also not insurmountable. If Microsoft had determined that the OS would work with the screen I had, I was determined to be patient and work with it. because if there’s one word that describes the way I approach Window 8, it’s “patient.” (What else can you possibly be with it?)

Things improved almost as soon as the installation process concluded and I was asked to pick a default background color. whereas the Consumer Preview limited you to a paltry handful, the Release Preview gives you 26. Although I still think it’s absurd that you aren’t allowed to choose any color you want from the billion-plus that even the lowest-powered laptops today are capable of displaying; more choice is invariably better.

Once I was actually on the main screen, I decided I should see what all was new. I played around a bit with the new Sports, Travel, and News apps, which draw from Bing; they were all attractive, but not things I’m sure I’d ever care much about using on a daily basis. I explored the new Windows Store a bit, and thought it looked easy enough to navigate, discover, and download or purchase apps. I’m still not the world’s biggest fan of the lock screen (at least when not using a tablet or a phone) or the bracingly two-dimensional visual style, but a few tweaks here and there made it all a bit more palatable than it had previously been for me.

As for interaction, it struck me as considerably better than it had before — even if I was using a Windows 7 touchscreen. I had no particular problems tapping on Metro tiles, the slide gestures worked as they should (even at the edges of the screen), and I found myself generally able to do everything that Microsoft allowed me. I still find the look of Metro incredibly garish (I’m positive I saw a similar design integrated into the set of Romper Room in the 1970s and early 1980s), and I’m not yet convinced that the quality of the Metro apps is at (or, really, even near) what owners of full-blown PCs are used to. But, to my shock, I could imagine myself using Window 8. I’m willing to admit the possibility that I led my desktop-oriented outlook affect my judgment the first time around, so that I didn’t see the benefits it would offer certain users. so I will actually deploy a quasi-mea culpa here and say I can even imagine myself buying a Window 8 device…

If it’s a tablet or a smartphone.

Unfortunately, Metro remains appalling and useless on any other kind of computer. Switch from your finger to a mouse and the intuitive, relatively natural nature of the interface evaporates. It’s impossible not to be aware, when using Metro with an actual pointing device, that it wasn’t designed for them [Ed. note: Well, not entirely...]. Microsoft has made no attempt to hide or even downplay that fact, and because I still prefer to use a mouse on a desktop or laptop when I’m given the choice, that keeps Metro a pain.

Next page: While Microsoft recklessly deploys Windows 8, Apple is pragmatic

I touched Windows 8, and I liked it

Jun 04

New wave of ultrabooks to include 30 touchscreen ...

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A fresh crop of ultrabooks sporting Intel’s latest “Ivy Bridge” Core processors will start to go on sale next month, including 30 models with touchscreens, Intel said Thursday.

Intel will officially announce the Ivy Bridge chips at the Computex trade show in Taiwan next week. Some of the touchscreen ultrabooks will be convertible, meaning the screen can fold back to turn the laptop into a tablet, said Intel spokeswoman Becky Emmett.

Lenovo showed a convertible ultrabook earlier this year, the IdeaPad Yoga. It ran a consumer preview of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 and activated the touch-optimized Metro user interface when folded into a tablet. The Yoga had a 13.3-inch screen, was 1.6 centimeters thick and weighed 1.4 kilograms. Lenovo has yet to give pricing or availability for the ultrabook.

Dell will also launch touchscreen ultrabooks and tablets around the time Windows 8 launches. CEO Michael Dell last week said the touchscreen products would likely be priced a bit higher than similar products without touchscreens.

Ultrabooks have come under fire for what some see as high price tags of US$800 or more. Ultrabooks with the latest Core processors will likely be available starting at $699 by the end of the year, Emmett said, but she could not say whether those models would have touchscreens.

About 110 ultrabook models are under development, with and without touchscreens, Emmett said. That’s a significant improvement from the 21 ultrabooks developed with older Core processors code-named Sandy Bridge, she said.

HP has already announced Ivy Bridge ultrabooks but has not yet talked about touchscreen models. Acer and Lenovo have also announced Ivy Bridge ultrabooks, and Toshiba is expected to follow suit.

Ultrabook users will see a significant performance advantage with Ivy Bridge chips, according to Emmett. The low-power Core chips, which include embedded graphics processors, will deliver twice the performance in media and graphics compared to Sandy Bridge, Intel says. An Acer representative earlier this year said Ivy Bridge chips delivered about a 20 percent CPU performance improvement over Sandy Bridge processors.

Ultrabooks will resume from sleep mode in less than seven seconds and include new security features that can disable them remotely or track them in the event of theft.

Intel has set new feature and size requirements for Ivy Bridge ultrabooks, including a minimum of five hours of battery life and the inclusion of USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt for fast data transfers. Ultrabooks with screens under 14 inches should be no more than 18 mm thick, and larger systems should not exceed 21 mm, Intel says.

The company introduced the concept of ultrabooks around this time last year, to offer thin and light laptops with always-on connectivity, long battery life and quick start times. Ultrabooks were launched to bring some mojo back to the slumping PC market and to help insulate Intel against growing demand for tablets, a market where it’s still a marginal player.

Beyond Ivy Bridge, Intel is planning a third phase of ultrabooks in 2013 with future Core processors code-named Haswell. Intel has said future ultrabooks will be thinner, offer longer battery life still and have features such as voice recognition.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam’s e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

New wave of ultrabooks to include 30 touchscreen models, Intel says

Jun 03

Hands On With Windows 8 Release Preview: ...

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Windows users are one step closer to getting a major system facelift — and if today’s release of Microsoft’s latest OS build tells us anything, it’s that the company is putting the system’s strongest focus on home-grown software.

We’ve already spent a lot of quality time with Microsoft’s Windows 8 “Consumer Preview”, which was released last February, but today the company made its near-final Windows 8 “Release Preview” available to the public.

The Release Preview comes a bit earlier than originally announced, but there’s no shortage of new and improved features, most of which focus on lean-and-mean Metro apps. just don’t expect anything astonishingly different in terms of system architecture, as the majority of changes in this latest Windows 8 iteration center around software additions and performance improvements.

While this is the last public preview before Windows 8′s final release (anticipated to arrive in October), that doesn’t mean the new build is completely bug-free. I’ve spent the last day and a half with the Release Preview — more technically termed build 8400 — on a Samsung Series 9 ultrabook provided by Microsoft. the new build works a lot smoother than the Consumer Preview, and there’s much to look forward to. but the Windows 8 team also has quite a bit of work ahead of it.

In our hands-on of Microsoft’s Consumer Preview, we declared that your familiar Windows desktop is all but dead. in the changes we’ve seen in the Release Preview, this still holds true. Microsoft is focused on improving and deepening the Metro experience, where the desktop is only a portion — or even an afterthought, for some users — of a larger, app-based system.

Right on the start screen, you’ll see the new build’s most noticeable updates: Three new apps — Sports, Travel and News — are pinned directly on the screen, and come built into the OS. Each of the apps implements great Metro design, but caters to a very specific purpose that might not appeal to every user. still, they’re all slick and highlight how much Microsoft wants its PC experience to more closely resemble an app-based mobile experience.

The News app aggregates the latest news stories in a way that’s reminiscent of Flipboard or Zite. but according to Jensen Harris, Director of Program Management for the Windows User Experience, it goes much deeper than that. a “Trends” section will show news stories that are trending across the Internet, a feature that’s powered by Microsoft’s Bing engine.

Because Bing has agreements with Twitter and Facebook — the world’s two biggest news-sharing social networks — the News app can pull what people are sharing across search, Facebook and Twitter, and present more accurate results for trending content. There’s also a “My News” section, where you can choose to pull news on very specific topics, such as ultrabooks or the Bachelorette.

“It’s different than a Zite or a Flipboard, where you’re getting a few articles that are being editorially put there, or put there by a small group of users,” Harris told Wired. “you have to look across the entire social graph to build this.”

The new Sports app is a dedicated hub for the latest news, schedules, and team and player stats. the app comes pre-loaded with information silos for a number of sports leagues, including the MLB, NFL, NBA, and even the NHL and Premier League (the top soccer league in the U.K.). the Travel app provides information on travel destinations, and helps users book hotel rooms and flights, view panoramas from various locales, and read articles on travel topics.

The new apps are very easy, and even fun, to use — at least when they work. Harris made clear that News, Sports and Travel are still in beta. “All of them are in the same state that Mail and Calendar were in the previous version,” he said. This was clearly evident during testing: the News and Travel apps crashed on several occasions until they just conked out, and no longer opened for me.

For Microsoft, however, the apps in their current form are less about functionality, and more about, well, proof-of-concept: “This is just an example of a personalized Metro-style app that’s unlike what you have on any other platform,” Harris said.

Beyond the three new apps, other apps we’ve already seen in the Consumer Preview — such as Mail, Calendar, Photos and Internet Explorer — have received noticeable updates. Mail has a new three-pane view that enables easier navigation when using the OS with two thumbs in tablet mode. Calendar has received improved week and month views. And Photos now works a lot faster, and can tap into information from other apps.

For example, when you’re in the Photos app, you can access images from your local drive as well as other apps you have on your Windows 8 PC. This means SkyDrive, Facebook, Flickr and other connected Windows 8 devices are all direct sources of gallery navigation. And while I wasn’t able to install third-party apps onto our test laptop, I did get to see a demo of how Photos can speak to non-native apps, like Photobucket.

“the cool thing about Windows 8 is the way apps work together to complete scenarios,” Harris said. “I liken this to the way that there was originally the web and then there’s Web 2.0. in the original web, every website was a silo. Then Web 2.0 comes and says, ‘Well, actually, websites can start to talk to one another.’ Windows 8 is the glue that binds any two apps together for a whole bunch of scenarios.”

Harris’ vision is all fine and dandy, but one of the new build’s most significant new features actually arrives via a very familiar app: Internet Explorer for Metro now supports Flash directly. Harris says it’s not a plug-in, but rather a native part of the Internet Explorer engine, and shouldn’t be such a resource hog as a result.

The upshot: You’ll be able to get as much Hulu video as you want on a Windows 8 tablet — even on Windows RT, the ARM-based Windows 8 tablet platform.

“We’ve taken Flash and integrated it into the rendering engine of IE. We’ve done the work to basically make Flash touchable, make it have great battery life, and to take out all of the bad parts of having plug-ins,” Harris said.

The Windows 8 Release Preview smooths out the Metro multitasking experience in Snap View, a split-screen view that lets you have two Metro apps open at once. the screen is split so that one app appears smaller on the right side, and another takes up the majority of the display. This allows for serious multitasking — a feature that’s always been essential to the Windows desktop experience, but never a big part of Windows Metro functionality.

For example, you can have a video playing in the main section of the screen, and a Twitter app on the right side to tweet as you watch your favorite TV show. or you can be reading the news in the main hub, and keeping an eye on your e-mail on the right side. All of the Windows 8 built-in apps actually work in a smaller screen view, and it’s a surprisingly elegant U.I. to view and navigate.

As someone who multitasks a lot — maybe a bit too much — I really appreciated being able to see this feature in full-on action. It’s certainly not the biggest or most dramatic Windows 8 feature, but it’s one that a lot of people will certainly use.

Ever since Microsoft introduced Windows 8, the conversation has focused on the operating system’s role on touch-based devices — tablets, notebooks and all-in-one PC with touchscreens. but most people’s first experiences with Windows 8 won’t be on new devices. They’ll be migrating from an older version of Windows on conventional, non-touch PCs.

With this in mind, Microsoft loaned us a non-touchscreen notebook so that we could test the new system’s multitouch gestures on a conventional touchpad.

So how did it work? Well, to premise, multitouch navigation is totally wonky in its current state. but Microsoft assures us that once we get the hang of the system’s multitouch trackpad gestures, we’ll always want to use them when a touch-sensitive screen isn’t available. “what we’ve tried to do is take the most important part of touch experience and move it into indirect touch,” Harris said.

On a tablet, you swipe from the right to view Metro’s Charms menu. you swipe left to switch through apps. you pinch for semantic zoom, and swipe in whatever direction you want to scroll through a page or screen. All of the same gestures apply to touchpad navigation, albeit on a smaller physical scale.

During real-world use, the first thing I noticed was the strangeness of reverse scrolling — when you move your fingers up on the trackpad, the page you’re viewing onscreen moves down. It’s an issue that was debated furiously by Mac users when OS X Lion was released. you won’t be able to turn off (or flip) reverse-scrolling in the Release Preview build, so get used to it for now.

Technically, you’re supposed to be able to use two-finger scrolling vertically and horizontally. Horizontal scrolling still needs some work, but again, we weren’t using the system’s final build. Thankfully, the other gestures are working pretty well, even in this beta iteration. when you swipe one finger from right to left, the Charms menu quickly appears. Swipe one finger from left to right, and you’ll quickly cycle through open apps. And pinch-to-zoom works just fine.

As someone who’s come to love Mac OS X’s MultiTouch gestures, the Windows 8 multitouch touchpad experience comes as a welcome addition.

“the way that we think about the desktop is as this wonderful additional app that you have on your PC,” Harris said. “It’s not something that we shy away from at all. We love the desktop. We think it works really well with Metro. We think it’s a huge part of a complete Windows PC.”

In a nutshell, that says it all. the desktop, as we know it, is dead. now it functions as an app within Windows 8, just as Mail and News is an app. but, of course, the desktop is Windows’ most powerful app, and in that sense, it has a very meaningful place in Windows 8.

While Windows 7 fans are upset they can’t launch directly into the Windows 8 desktop, Metro supporters are confused about why the desktop remains without full-fledged Metro styling. for what it’s worth, Microsoft did recently announce that it’s ditching translucent window borders on the desktop for more a more flat, Metro look.

But Microsoft isn’t worried about criticism on either side.

“There’s a lot of semantic arguments on the web right now, like can people handle two interfaces?” Harris said. “every app is its own interface, every website is its own interface. There’s not a single person in the world who will come here and click on the desktop app and be like ‘oh my god, I don’t know what this is, what am I supposed to do?’ everyone knows how to use this.”

And in this respect, Microsoft is right. People should be able to handle both a Metro and desktop interface in a single PC system. in my time using the Release Preview on a non-touchscreen laptop, I actually enjoyed the dual experience — bugs notwithstanding — especially with the multitasking split-view feature. And I imagine the experience will only get better as Windows 8 is polished further.

In the end, we can all get what we want in Windows 8. Desktop diehards can still opt to spend all of their time in the desktop app (though I don’t recommend it). And those who want Metro through and through can unpin the desktop from their start Screens to forget the past.

And the rest of us can do both.

Hands On With Windows 8 Release Preview: It’s All About the Apps

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    WINDOWS 8 RELEASE PREVIEW PERFORMANCE BATTERY
May 22

Windows 8 Update: there's good news … ...

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The chief of AT&T Mobility can’t wait for Windows 8 tablets to hit the market because they’ll fuel demand for Windows phones.

“When they come out with Windows 8 in the fourth quarter, I think it will actually add to the value that [Windows Phone] OS brings to the marketplace in that that’ll be the first time that you can truly have a similar experience on your PC, on your tablet, on your smartphone from Microsoft,” says Ralph de la Vega, speaking at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference. “From what I’ve seen from the previews that I’ve been given, I think it’s going to be exceptionally good.”

If current Windows users upgrade to Windows 8 or buy new Windows RT devices, their experience with the Metro interface could influence their choice of phone, he says. With that Metro exposure, “then if you’re a customer and you come into a store you think one of the logical questions will be, ‘Well what do you have at home?’ if you have a Microsoft device the likelihood is you may want to use a Microsoft OS.”

MORE: Why aren’t Apple and Amazon dumping on Windows RT?

Lumia, the Windows smartphone from Nokia, is impressive for its simplicity, ease of use and intuitive user interface, he says, and the added boost of customers seeking an all-Windows experience could snap them up.

Separately, AT&T may be working on another incentive to buy tablets: more attractive data plans that cover both phones and tablets that also make more money for AT&T. Here’s what he says: “What we need to be able to do is allow connecting those tablets to some of the existing data plans that [customers] have, to be able to share them in a way that will drive more revenue for us but also give a good deal to customers.”

Nvidia CEO: Windows RT is a brilliant move

Microsoft won’t be able to deliver what tablet users want with Windows 8 on an x86 mobile device, but it will with its Windows RT hardware/software bundle that favors touch screens and ARM processors, according to the CEO of tablet-maker Nvidia.

That shouldn’t come as much surprise, given that Nvidia is one of three processor makers listed by Microsoft as partners in its Windows RT efforts, the other two being Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

What do tablet users want? A platform on which they “can see documents created, always be connected and designed for mobility,” says Nvidia CEO Huang Jen-Hsun at the company’s GPU technology conference in San Jose, according to zdnetasia.com. and Windows 8 — the version that supports legacy Windows applications as well as new Metro-style applications — won’t cut it, he says, because it’s hard to reposition a Windows PC as a tablet.

If Windows 8 x86 mobile devices don’t perform up to what customers expect out of PCs, they will “go nuts”, he says, according to zdnetasia.com.

One advantage that Windows RT will have is that it doesn’t promise as much, so won’t disappoint when it delivers an experience that is less than they would get out of a traditional Windows laptop, Jen-Hsun says.

Safety first

Windows 8 comes with parental controls that enable separate user accounts for each kid in a family on which parents can impose separate restrictions. so, for example, different children can be allowed more or less time playing “World of Warcraft,” according to the Building Windows 8 blog.

The monitoring and control capabilities — what Microsoft calls family safety features — also generate reports about what each child has been up to online, including time spent online broken down by days, top applications used, websites visited and searches made.

It’s a one-way street; the kids can’t access parents’ emails and can customize their own accounts, within restrictions, without affecting their parents’ settings.

A pending disappointment

Initially Windows 8 won’t do much to improve sluggish PC revenues, says an analyst for BMO Capital Markets, dashing the hopes of some PC makers.

“Windows 8 will prove to be a disappointment, at least out of the gate,” says Keith Bachman an analyst for the firm, in a written analysis note, according to Reuters. Thomson Reuters’ StarMine gives Bachman four stars for the accuracy of the earnings estimates he makes for companies he follows, which include PC giants HP and Dell.

These vendors have other worries as well, including how to make a profit as customers expect low price and the cost of components rises, Bachman says.

Senate looks into Windows RT browser flap

The staff of the US Senate antitrust subcommittee is looking into allegations that Microsoft’s Windows RT may unfairly exclude third-party browsers.

That doesn’t mean the issue will rise to the level of a hearing, but it does mean at least some on the committee are sensitive to the pleas of Mozilla, which called for Microsoft to relent.

Tim Greene covers Microsoft for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter @Tim_Greene.

Read more about software in Network World’s Software section.

Windows 8 Update: there's good news … and then there's bad news

May 11

Splashtop iPad App Could Affect Windows 8 Tablet ...

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Splashtop, known for its remote desktop solutions, has announced a new capability that will allow the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 to run on an iPad. The solution is targeted mainly at developers, but if it provides a full-fledged Windows 8 experience on an iPad, it could put a dent in sales of Windows 8-bundled tablets.

The “Win8 Metro Testbed – powered by Splashtop,” is a remote desktop app that allows software developers and technology enthusiasts to simulate a Windows 8 environment on an iPad. It’s designed for developers who may want to write apps for Windows 8 and who may own iPads but not necessarily want to purchase a dedicated Windows tablet.

With it, developers can test native Metro UI touch gestures on an iPad as they code and compile new apps on their Windows PC.

Tablets running Windows 8 could potentially cost up to $1,000, a Splashtop representative said.

The app also enables native Windows 8 Metro touch gestures, including swiping to view the Charms menu, swiping down to bring up additional menus, pinching to navigate files, folders, apps and data with Semantic Zoom and more.

Impact on Windows 8 Tablet SalesOf course, the question remains what impact would the ability to run Windows 8 on an iPad have on sales of tablets with Windows 8?

The assumption is that Microsoft would be less than enthused about this app. In fact, a spokesman for Splashtop stated that while engineers at Redmond thought the Win8 Metro Testbed was “cool,” Microsoft was not participating in aggressive marketing of Win8 Metro Testbed.

That hesitation on Microsoft’s part has certainly not deterred Splashtop. With the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 downloaded 1 million times in just 24 hours of its release, that potential customer base is too vast for Splashtop to ignore.

“Since Apple’s App Store generates over 80 percent of all tablet app revenue, nearly every software developer that writes apps for tablets has an iPad,” noted Mark Lee, Splashtop’s chief executive and co-founder. “With Windows 8 Metro expected to ship on over 400 million new PCs and tablets annually, these developers have high expectations for an enormous new market. Splashtop lets them turn their iPad into a development testbed to evaluate touch gestures and functionality of their app in a Windows 8 environment.”

If Splashtop’s app  provides not only a testbed for developers with iPads to test drive apps coded for Windows 8, but also offers end-users a full-functioning Windows 8 experience on iPad, Win8 Metro Testbed could be akin to tablets what Boot Camp is to desktops: that is, allowing users to enjoy both operating systems on one hardware platform.

For more, see PCMag’s hands on with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and the slideshow below.

 

For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.

Splashtop iPad App Could Affect Windows 8 Tablet Sales

May 10

Oh My Tech!: What to look for in Windows tablets

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I’m in the market for an iPad-type device but have always used and like Windows programs. I need the device for email, browsing and picture presentations. Any suggestions for a tech dummy? — Dennis VandenAkker.

For the longest time, there really have been only two horses in the race for computer-tablet supremacy — the iPad and Android-based versions. But this year will be the beginning of a big push for Windows-based tablets.

That’s because Windows 8 is coming out this year and will for the first time be compatible with tablets.

The operating system will utilize an interface called Metro borrowed from the Windows 7 OS for mobile phones, which uses colored tiles instead of icons. and it’s a very slick and easy-to-use design that I like a lot (read my earlier review of the Nokia Lumia 900 mobile phone that uses it).

If you plan to buy a Windows-based tablet, you’ll want to consider one that will be compatible with Windows 8. There are a lot of advantages to its design that earlier versions of Windows for tablets don’t have.

I’ve never owned a Windows version, so it’s difficult for me to recommend one based on experience. But after some research, I’ve narrowed it to a couple of models that will be compatible with Windows 8.

For me, the top-of-the-line would be a model such as Samsung’s Series 7 Slate, which has a massive 11-inch screen and runs on a powerful Intel i5 processor, the same kind used in desktop PCs. at a half-inch thick, it’s also one of the thinnest Windows tablets available. It’s also very sleek. But it’s pricey, running from $1,100 to $1,500.

Another model that looks good is the Asus Eee Slate series, which also runs on i5 processors. The one downside to both models is they are big battery drains, probably because of the more powerful processors.

That may be a little too much horsepower for Dennis’ needs because he wants to use more basic functions such as email and Web browsing. But one of the advantages to a tablet that uses an i3, i5 or i7 processor is that it can run actual Windows desktop programs in addition to Windows mobile apps. Some of the Windows tablets that use ARM processors also will supposedly run desktop programs through Windows 8, but that’s not certain now.

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A problem with Windows tablets is the lower number of apps available for that platform. So far, there are 82,000 or so apps for the Windows mobile operating system, compared with the more than 725,000 apps available for the iPad and 450,000 for Android devices. So, there may be some important apps you want for your tablet that are not yet available for Windows.

That’s why when you shop for any Windows tablet, you’ll want to ask if it can operate regular desktop software, as well as apps.

if you have a question for Vince, email him at ohmytech@sltrib.com, and he’ll try to answer it for his column in The Salt Lake Tribune or on its website. For an archive of past columns, go to www.sltrib.com/topics/ohmytech.

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Oh My Tech!: What to look for in Windows tablets

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