We won’t delve too far into it again – why beat a dead horse? – but research has proven that most people’s passwords suck, plain and simple. Sophisticated geeks may shrug their shoulders and simply laugh at the newbs, but it’s in Microsoft’s interest to build a secure operating system – hence the whole Secure Boot thing. The company’s taking an interesting approach to passwords in the upcoming Windows 8, one that mixes personal pictures and touch/mouse gestures to create a log in experience that Microsoft claims is both faster and more secure than traditional alphanumeric passwords.
Ruh-roh: could the sky already be falling on Windows 8? Nope, not yet, but that’s what a report by ad network Chitika seems to insinuate. Since ads are obviously based on metrics, Chitika has been keeping tally on the number of impressions it receives from users running the Windows 8 Developer Preview, and the company claims that number has dropped dramatically since the Dev Build launched in late September. OH NOES! But does the drop in Dev Build users really matter?
Even though ultrabooks have managed very little in the two months that they have been around, chipmaker Intel and its PC vendor chums remain hopeful. And to be fair they are right in doing so as there is still a long way to go before we can start judging the category. While most people feel that the category could do with better specs and pricing, there are those who believe ultrabooks with touchscreens are all that is needed for a turnaround.
Get your tinfoil hats on, folks. In the documentation released earlier this week by Microsoft on its upcoming Windows 8 Store, the software giant said that apps purchased from the App Store will come with a “kill switch.” Redmond can use this to disable or remove the app from Windows 8 machines. Even if its intentions are good, users are likely to be suspicious of Microsoft on this one.
Besides releasing the Windows 8 Developer Preview at the BUILD developer conference in September, Microsoft also announced an app store for Metro-style apps called the Windows Store. However, the Windows Store can’t be accessed from within that pre-beta build of Microsoft’s upcoming tablet-friendly OS. This will change in February when the Redmond-based company releases the beta of Windows 8.
It’s December, and you know what that means: egg nog, Christmas trees, and Internet top ten lists from both the year past and the year to come. One early attempt at divination amounts to a lump of coal in Microsoft’s stocking: IDC doesn’t exactly expect the desktop version of Windows 8 to leap off the shelves. In fact, the analysis firm bluntly says that Windows 7 users probably won't even care about the new OS when it launches.
With Windows 8, Microsoft is reimagining the most basic premises of personal computers. CEO Steve Ballmer recognizes the drastic changes coming in Windows 8, even calling the platform one of the biggest risks taken by the industry giant.
Windows 8 will be the first version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system to support ARM-based chips. When you’re asked to imagine ARM-based devices running Windows 8, isn’t it hard to think beyond tablets? But that is not the case with NVIDIA and Qualcomm, who are said to be banking on the Windows on ARM (WoA) platform to make a dent in the notebook market.
Whenever someone in recent months questioned Microsoft’s intention to make Windows 8 its tablet OS, the company would emphatically point to surveys showing that users actually wanted Windows-based tablets. A new Forester Research report however, claims that consumer interest in Windows tablets has declined sharply in the last six months. According to the report, Microsoft may have missed the boat on the tablet market.
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