Windows 8 Preview

Microsoft Windows 8

Microsoft introduced the first official shots and test new versions of Windows 8. They make clear that Windows 8 is both radically different from previous versions of the platform, but it also carries its spirit. What are the most interesting innovations in Windows 8?


1. Interface. It is double. The first one looks like Windows 7, with only slight differences. The other, however, is made similarly to the Windows Phone 7 and it's called "Tiles". A tile is each icon that gives you access to various applications or functions and it's updated in real time. For instance, the plate for Outlook will display the sender and the title of the newly arrived messages.


2. Touch Optimization. Each element of Windows 8 is optimized for touch screen. Icons and menus are larger, more simple. Even the "Welcome" screen is very simple.


3. Windows Explorer. It is still present but with a completely different interface. Files again are displayed as tiles, but the functions themselves are the same.


4. Programs for Windows 8 will have two modes - a standard interface and Metro interface. Metro is the name of the new interface tiles, which are considered better for tablets. In addition, you will be able to "Snap" in two applications on one screen. For example, you can watch a movie, but leave a small bar off with updates from Twitter and Facebook.


5. The control panel also has undergone changes as well as Windows Task Manager. They are primarily visual.


6. Microsoft ensures that Windows 8 works much more efficiently than Windows 7, without compromising the vision. The company even proved it by presenting Windows 8 at a 3-year-old first-generation netbook. Windows 7 will feel very difficult to operate such a device, but not Windows 8.


7. Windows 8 runs significantly faster than other versions of Windows. The average PC or tablet will be able to boot in less than 10 seconds.


8. At the same time Windows 8 has full compatibility for all other Windows programs and devices.


Here are some of the great interface features:

- 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.


View the official Windows 8 preview video:

Microsoft Buys Skype For $8,5 Billion

Microsoft has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history.

The deal gives Microsoft access to the market for real-time video and voice communications. The software maker said it plans to use Skype to support such products as the Xbox gaming system and Windows Phone.

Buying Skype would give Microsoft a potentially valuable communications tool as it tries to make a bigger splash on the Internet and become a bigger force in the increasingly important smartphone market.
The sellers include eBay and private equity firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said: "Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world."

Skype will become a new business unit within Microsoft, to be run by current Skype CEO Tony Bates, who will report directly to Ballmer.

Skype filed for a $100 million IPO last year. But the actual offering was delayed, and rumors surfaced last week that the company was in talks with Microsoft and Facebook.

Skype was founded in 2003.

Skype boasts about 663 million users worldwide. According to regulatory documents, Skype users made 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls last year.

Calls to other Skype users are free, while the company charges for those made to both traditional landline phones and mobiles.
Most people use Skype's free calling services, which has made it difficult for the service to make money.