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.
According to Microsoft-watcher Paul Thurrott, Microsoft may be working toward a future where Windows 8 tablets ship without the Windows desktop. Users of these ARM-based devices would be limited to the Metro interface. This would be a significant departure from Redmond’s previous “no compromises” strategy that would have provided users both operating environments on ARM systems. 
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.
Few men can lay claim to being ahead of their time like Peter Kleissner. While most of us were busy playing around with the Windows 8 Developer Preview, this Austrian security researcher was vetting it for possible vulnerabilities. Whatever he was up to seems to have worked. Kleissner has successfully identified a vulnerability in this early version of the upcoming operating system and even posted a video of his proof-of-concept “Stoned Lite” bootkit successfully exploiting this flaw. Hit the jump for the video.
Are you rocking a preview build of Windows 8? If so, you don't need to go without CPU-Z. There's a new update available, the first one in about five months, that brings CPU-Z up to version 1.59. Among the short list of changes is official support for Windows 8. The new build also recognizes Intel's Core i7 2960X, 3930K, and 3820 Sandy Bride-E processors.
The typical Maximum PC reader is unlikely to break a sweat while installing Windows, but that’s not to say that it’s a walk in the park for everyone out there. As acknowledged by the Windows engineering team in its most recent Building Windows 8 blog post, there are still those who find the whole process fairly “complex.” But they will be happy to know that Microsoft has promised a simpler and much more streamlined setup experience with Windows 8. Details after the jump.
Microsoft released a Kinect for Windows SDK several months ago, and now the Kinect team has posted an update on new sensor hardware specifically for a PC. The original Kinect for Xbox had some flaws that made us question its viability on the PC side of things, but the blog post by Craig Eisler cites a number of ways that Redmond is working to tweak Kinect for a Windows environment. 
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