Windows8

Best Buy prepares for Windows 8 release with deals, demos

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Confused by Windows 8? Best Buy hopes it can help.

The consumer-electronics retailer is hoping to capitalize on the launch of Windows 8. It's trying to lure customers with exclusive computers and staffers trained to explain and demonstrate the new operating system from Microsoft Corp.

Retailers and manufacturers typically look to major launches to drive customers into stores. But analysts aren't certain how much the Windows 8 launch will help Best Buy. The company has been struggling with tough competition and a shift in consumer tastes away from big-ticket computers and TVs toward smartphones and tablets, which are less profitable for retailers.

Windows 8 has a new look that's intended to create a seamless experience for users, whether they're on PCs, tablets or smartphones. Featuring a colorful array of tiles that fill the screen instead of the familiar start menu and icons, it's designed especially for touch-sensitive screens. Windows 8 will come pre-installed on almost all new PCs.

Best Buy Co. spent three years coming up with a plan for the launch, according to Jason Bonfig, vice president for computing at Best Buy.

That includes two years of developing 45 exclusive Windows 8 computers and laptops designed with manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and AsusTek Computer Inc. Nearly half of those computers feature touch screens.

They will have combinations of colors and technical specifications available only at Best Buy retail stores and its website. Some examples of exclusives include Lenovo's 13-inch IdeaPad Yoga, which flips into several different configurations, and HP's Envy Touch, a more conventional touch-screen laptop. Each will sell for $1,000. Best Buy will also carry a wide range of non-exclusive Windows products, including tablets and smartphones.

Microsoft's radical remake of Windows arrives at a time when Best Buy is struggling to avoid the fate of Circuit City, which liquidated in 2009. Best Buy has reported a net income decline or loss for the past eight quarters. Earnings fell 90 percent to $12 million in its most recent quarter, hurt by restructuring charges and weak sales.

The Minneapolis company hopes the new Windows will spur sales as it faces tough competition from online retailers and discounters. Consumers are increasingly using Best Buy stores to browse for electronics before they buy the items online at lower prices, a practice known as showrooming.

Exclusive products are one way traditional brick-and-mortar stores are battling showrooming.

Another is customer service. To that end, Best Buy spent 50,000 hours training its staff members to show customers the ins and outs of Windows 8, as it's very different from its predecessors. Windows 8 is the biggest Windows revamp since Windows 95.

In addition, its Geek Squad technical service staff created 12 two-minute tutorials available online, each explaining a different feature of Windows 8.

"The demo experience becomes very, very important because of newness of touch feature," Bonfig said.

Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy's expectations are muted in terms of how much Best Buy will benefit from the launch. He believes Windows 8 "might give a temporary lift to sales, but longer term it doesn't solve any of the real issues facing the company," he said.

Barclays analyst Alan Rifkin crunched numbers on past Windows launches and found they did not provide a significant boost to retailers.

"While our research reveals that personal computer demand has been uniformly weak in the two to three quarters preceding a Windows release, historical Windows releases have not been identified as significant drivers of improved (retailer) performance once the launch has taken place," he wrote in a note last week.

Best Buy sounded more positive. The retailer started taking advance orders for Windows 8 devices and demonstrating the product in all stores on Sunday, and so far the response has been positive, Bonfig said.
"We've been very happy with interest and traffic in stores," he said.


Windows 8 Demo Units Showing Up In Best Buy

October 26th sure is creeping up quickly. And with that comes Windows 8. While Microsoft's new operating system has already hit pre-order status, and a slew of OEM partners are getting ready to showcase their own Win8 machines later this month, it looks like Microsoft's retail partners are getting into gear as well. Best Buy locations across the nation are now displaying Windows 8 demo units, allowing those who stop in to get comfortable with a tile-focused OS. Best Buy hasn't issued an official press release confirming the news, but reports are spreading far and wide that most locales have at least a few machines up and running Win8, and employees seem more than eager to let patrons try things out. If you've been itching to give the new software a spin, but aren't interested in installing pre-release software on your own personal PC, you can head to your local Best Buy. (And considering that Best Buy plans to match online prices this holiday season, you may end up walking out with something as well.)


Windows 8: What You Need to Know
Microsoft showed its first public demo of Windows 8 on Wednesday, and it's not at all like the Windows operating systems you've come to know over the past 25 years. The next version of Microsoft's operating system ("Windows 8" is just a codename) is a radical departure, designed around touch screens.
If this revelation is making you weak in the knees, worry not. Here's a handy FAQ on the early Windows 8 build that Microsoft demonstrated:
What Windows 8 features did Microsoft demonstrate?

Essentially, Microsoft showed how Windows 8 will work on both tablets and traditional PCs. The operating system's home screen is filled with big, touchable panels, like the live tiles in Windows Phone 7, and from there you can tap and swipe your way to other touch-based applications. But underneath that touchy layer is plain old Windows, with a task bar, file manager, app icons--everything.
  
Swipe across to multitask. (Click to Zoom)
                                                      How does the touch interface work?
From the start menu, which shows basic information like time and unread e-mail counts, users swipe upwards to reveal the home screen and its tiles. As with Windows Phone 7, apps can show some information within the tiles--users needn't click on the weather app to see the current temperature, for example. Swiping from the right bezel brings up a menu that can take users from an app back to the home screen.

Users can multitask between open apps by swiping across from the left bezel. And therein lies the coolest-looking feature of Windows 8: When swiping in a new app, users can snap it in place next to the app that's currently running. This allows users to view two apps at the same time--something that no existing tablet OS can do. 
Windows 8 Weather App (Click to Zoom)
 How will Windows 8 apps work?
Microsoft says it's created a new kind of app for Windows 8 using HTML5 and Javascript, and they're a lot like the apps you'd expect to find on a tablet. A weather app shows the five-day forecast. A news reader displays stories and thumbnail images in big, rectangular panes. Microsoft also showed off Internet Explorer 10, which is optimized for touch. Presumably Microsoft will distribute these apps through its own store--there's a "Store" tile in the version of Windows 8 that Microsoft demonstrated--but the company offered no details.
Legacy apps and new apps can run side by side (Click to Zoom)
 What about existing Windows apps, such as Office and Photoshop?They'll still work. Loading one of these apps will bring up a more familiar version of Windows. According to All Things Digital, classic Windows apps will use "fuzzy hit targeting" to aid finger taps, but they won't be optimized for the touch screen like Windows 8's HTML5/Javascript concoctions. Legacy apps can, however, run side by side with the new Windows 8 apps.

But what about Windows PCs running on ARM chips? Will legacy apps run on those devices?

See our full Windows 8 coverage
 It's conceivable that ARM-based Windows devices will be restricted to the touch-centric user interface in Windows 8, but Microsoft hasn't made any announcements on that front. In fact, Microsoft recently denied claims made by an Intel executive about which apps will run on ARM-based Windows machines. Intel's Renee James had said to expect at least four versions of Windows for ARM processors, and that none of these versions would be compatible with apps from Windows XP, Vista or 7. Microsoft said these statements were "factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading," but didn't clarify the matter with any details. In other words, the question is still unanswered.

When's the Windows 8 release date?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Windows 8 will launch in 2012, but the company hasn't been any more specific than that. Expect more details on Windows 8 in September, when Microsoft will hold the BUILD conference for developers. For now, check out Microsoft's first video of Windows 8 in action.

                  Windows 8 Release Preview

It's Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It's an all-new touch interface. And it's easy to try now—whether you're installing it for the first time, or moving from Windows 8

                  Windows 8 is Coming Soon

                       Final (RTM - Rant)

Windows 8 RTM Rant
xskydevilx team give you their rants and first impressions on Windows 8

8 new features in Microsoft Windows 8 Windows 8 is the reimagining of Windows, an OS used by over a billion people across the world. It is also the riskiest. In 2010, Ballmer had said that "the next release of Windows" is the riskiest bet company has made. In terms of user interface, Windows is the biggest change in the history of OS after Windows 95. Consequently, there is lot that is new in Windows 8. We list 8 big changes that are going to impact the way people use their computers.

  Home Screen

  This is the new 'desktop'. Well, there is no proper desktop in Windows 8. Instead, it has been replaced by a Home Screen, from where you can access you programs. Also, there are no icons.

Not for programs. And not for folders. Instead, you have tiles, which can dynamically show information. Clicking on these live tiles opens the program. Depending on the resolution of your computer you can see around 25 to 20 tiles. If you want access tiles that are on visible on screen, you can swipe right on a tablet or use a scroll bar on bottom on desktop and laptop. Home screen also features a powerful universal that can be used to quickly access a program, system settings or files.

No Start button but Charms help you

 The 'desktop' has been changed into an app in Windows 8. This means by clicking the Desktop app on Home screen you switch to the good old Desktop but only until you have work to do there. The biggest change here is that users no longer have access to Start button.

If users have to access some program, they have to go back to Home screen. Now, there are two ways to switch between Desktop app and Home screen. One, you can use Windows key. Or you can use Charms, which are hidden. On tablet, Charms can be revealed by swiping left from the right bezel. On desktop or laptop, navigating the mouse pointer to the left or right corner on the bottom of the screen does the trick. Charms also have options to access search, settings, share, and see connected devices. All of these change depending on the context, or in other words the program open on the screen. For example, if you click search on Home screen, you get universal search. But if you click search in windows store, you get app search. 

 

Modern UI

 The user interface changes like Home screen, removal of Start button and big dynamic tiles instead of icons are part of Modern UI. Modern UI is Microsoft's users interface philosophy for the future. It first debuted in Windows Phone 7 and since then gradually making its way to other products.

The hallmark of the Modern UI are tiles, rectangular windows with clean lines, lots of while space, lots of play for pictures and an abundance of bright colours. It is all very eye-catching and going forward Microsoft wants app developers to use Modern UI design language in their programs.

 

Windows store

 

Currently, programs are installed after a user downloads the installer from the web. In Windows 8, all the programs with Modern UI design language will be distributed through Windows Store, a concept that is similar to app stores on Android devices, iPhone and iPad etc.

Microsoft says that developers can offer their apps for free or sell them. If they decide to sell, Microsoft will take 30% cut. But if an app makes more than $25,000 than Microsoft will reduce its share to 20%. Installing apps through Windows store is just a matter of looking for those apps and clicking install. Uninstall is also easy. Just select an app and click uninstall. Though currently, the number of apps in Windows Store are rather limited. 

New Lock Screen

 The current Lock Screen is boring and useless. So, Windows8 changes it to something that is more useful. Just like Lock Screens on iPad or Android tablet, the Lock Screen on Windows 8 can show information like battery status, connectivity status, number of unread mails, Twitter mentions, Facebook updates etc.

The new Lock Screen features several new ways to unlock the PC. You can use a picture password. This means on a tablet, you can draw a pattern on a picture to unlock the device. You can also use your Microsoft Live ID to log on to the computer.

 

Connected to the cloud

 Windows 8 works best when connected to the web all the time. This is obvious from things like Microsoft ID as login ID or the notifications on lock screen. Even program tiles can pull in data from the web in real time and show it as a kind of notification. For example, news apps can pull in data and show headlines through their tiles. One more way in which Windows 8 makes use of the cloud connectivity is through SkyDrive, Microsoft's web-based storage service.

Through SkyDrive, users can back up files on the web in real time. The connectivity to the cloud allows Microsoft to offer features like apps and settings sync, which can help a user get the familiar apps and settings whether he is logging into the desktop computer at home or on a Windows 8 tablet on the go.

 Settings simplified

 Well, the good old control panel is still there. But it has been buried deep. Instead, what most users are likely to find when they look to change settings is the Settings Panel that uses Modern UI. It is much simpler and has fewer options compared to Control Panel so when push comes to shove, many users may have to go to the older settings.

But if you like few and simple settings options in iPad or an Android tablet, you will like the Settings Panel in Windows 8. And yes, now you can also factory reset your computer.

Multitasking (or lack of it)

 Multitasking (or lack of it)

Multitasking (or lack of it)
There are two ways to multitask in Windows 8. One is the traditional method. This means all your open programs are accessible from the task bar. But this works only in Desktop mode. If you want to multitask in Modern UI mode, you are limited to seeing two windows at a time. Of these two one, occupies 80% screen and other 20%. These windows can't be resized.

Other open programs run in the background. On a tablet, a user can switch between open programs by swiping right on the left bezel. On a desktop or PC the way to bring the list of open apps in Modern UI mode is by navigating to the corner on the top left. Once the thumbnails of open apps show, you can select an app to switch to it or you can snap it in either 80% screen or 20% screen for two-app multitasking.