Microsoft released the first preview release of Windows 8, and we spent time testing it out and diving into how it all works. Here’s our review.
So What’s New in Windows 8?
There’s a ton of new stuff in Windows 8, but the biggest change that you’ll notice right away is the addition of the new tile-based Metro interface, which you can see in the screenshot. Keep in mind that this is the developer preview release, which means it’s nowhere near finished, and you should definitely not install this on your primary PC.
We’ll go into loads of detail about everything as you read further, but first here’s a quick list of just some of the new features:
Metro Interface – the new default interface in Windows 8, keep reading for everything about this.
Faster Boot Times – Windows 8 will boot much faster than Windows 7, thanks to a partial hibernation mode and a lot of improvements in the loading process. On my old Dell laptop, it boots in less than 10 seconds – on new machines, it’s really fast.
Less Memory Usage than Windows 7. That’s right. Microsoft is saying that not only will this version use less RAM than Win7, it also uses less running processes.
Windows Explorer overhauled, now has the Ribbon UI, Revamped File Copying, and ISO mounting.
In-Place PC Refresh will reload Windows in just a couple of clicks, keeping your files intact.
ARM processors are now supported, which will lead to an entirely new class of low-power, battery-efficient tablets.
Hyper-V is now part of Windows – so now you can create virtual machines easily without installing anything extra.
Taskbar can now span multiple monitors – this very simple feature has finally made it into Windows.
Wallpaper can now span multiple monitors – yet another feature that should have been around 10 years ago.
Universal Spell Check across Metro applications.
Windows Live Integration for Sync, Mail, Skydrive lets you sync all your settings across your PCs, including your files, mail, and photos. The sync is available in the preview, but the Skydrive and Mail are not yet.
Windows Store will let you purchase Windows apps all in a single place.
New Task Manager is completely revamped with much better tools, including a way to disable startup applications, track application resource usage over time, and even easily restart Windows Explorer.
There’s way more changes all over the place, and we’ll try and cover as much as possible, but there’s no way we can get everything. Not to mention the fact that this is a preview, so there’s probably a whole lot more coming in the beta.
How Can I Get Windows 8?
First, you’ll want to make sure that your PC can run Windows 8, and thankfully the Windows 8 system requirements are basically the same as Windows 7. You can probably get away with installing this on a PC with lousy specs, but obviously you’ll have a better experience on a faster machine. Here’s the specs:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch
The key thing to note is that you don’t need a touch device to install Windows 8. Keyboard and mouse will work just fine.
Windows Developer Preview with developer tools English, 64-bit (x64) - Download Now
Windows Developer Preview English, 64-bit (x64) - Download Now
Windows Developer Preview English, 32-bit (x86) - Download Now
Metro Keyboard Shortcuts
These are a few keyboard shortcuts that I’ve personally been using. There’s others, but I haven’t figured out whether they work for mouse/keyboard mode or only if you’re using a touch screen with a keyboard also connected, so I won’t include them.
- Windows+F – Opens File Search
- Windows+C – Opens Charms Bar
- Windows+I – Opens Settings
- Windows+Q – Opens App Search pane
- Windows+W – Opens Settings Search app
- Windows+Z – Opens App Bar
If you aren’t at the Start screen, all you have to do is hit the Windows key to get back to the screen, and then start typing to launch an application—it’s the same set of keystrokes you would use before, but a different interface.
Posted on:
February 18, 2012