Microsoft Reimagines Windows, Presents Windows 8 Developer Preview
BUILD Conference attendees and developers get first access to new operating system.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at its developer-focused BUILD conference, Microsoft Corp. showcased a detailed preview of the next major release of Windows, code-named "Windows 8." The company also detailed new tools for developers to help write applications for more than 1 billion people around the world who use Windows every day.
"We reimagined Windows," said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft, in his keynote address to the thousands of developers in attendance. "From the chipset to the user experience, Windows 8 brings a new range of capabilities without compromise."
The company also highlighted a variety of new features in Windows 8, including the following:
Touch-First User Interface
-- Metro style. Windows 8 introduces a new Metro style interface built for
touch, which shows information important to you, embodies simplicity and
gives you control. The Metro style UI is equally at home with a mouse
and keyboard as well.
-- Touch-first browsing, not just browsing on a touch device. Providing a
fast and fluid touch-browsing experience, Internet Explorer 10 puts
sites at the center on new Windows 8 devices.
More Ways to Engage With Powerful, Connected Apps
-- Powered by apps. Metro style apps built for Windows 8 are the focal
point of your experience, filling your entire screen so there are no
distractions.
-- Apps can work together. Apps communicate with each other in Windows 8.
For example, you can easily select and email photos from different
places, such as Facebook, Flickr or on your hard drive.
-- Your experience syncs across your devices. Live roams all the content
from the cloud services you use most -- photos, email, calendar and
contacts -- keeping them up-to-date on your devices. With SkyDrive, you
can access your files, photos and documents from virtually anywhere with
any browser or with Metro style apps in Windows 8.
Enhanced Fundamentals
-- The best of Windows 7, only better. Windows 8 is built on the rock-solid
foundation of Windows 7, delivering improvements in performance,
security, privacy and system reliability. Windows 8 reduces the memory
footprint needed -- even on the lowest-end hardware -- leaving more room
for your apps.
-- Preserving power-user favorites and making them better. For those who
push the limits of their PC, Windows 8 features an enhanced Task Manager
and Windows Explorer and new, flexible options for multimonitor setups.
New Developer Opportunities
-- Windows Store. The Windows Store will allow developers to sell their
apps anywhere Windows is sold worldwide, whether they're creating new
games or familiar productivity tools.
-- Build using more languages. Windows 8 lets you leverage your existing
skills and code assets to create great experiences using the programming
language you prefer.
-- Rich hardware integration leads to richer experiences -- particularly
for games. DirectX 11 gaming power underlies Windows 8, allowing the
easy creation of full-screen games with smooth, flicker-free action.
New Generation of Hardware
-- One Windows -- many shapes and sizes. Support for ARM-based chipsets,
x86- (as well as x32 and x64) devices, touch and sensors means Windows
8 works beautifully across a spectrum of devices, from 10-inch tablets
and laptops to all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition screens.
-- Always connected. With Windows 8, new ultrathin PCs and tablets turn on
instantly, run all day on a single charge and stay connected to the
Internet so your PC is ready when you are. Next-generation system on a
chip (SoC) support will also enable greatly extended standby and
low-power states.
-- Tap the full power of your PC. Windows 8 runs on PCs and is compatible
with the devices and programs you use today on Windows 7, without
compromise, to deliver the performance you expect of a PC.
Developers will be able to download the Windows Developer Preview via the new Windows Dev Center later this week. Webcasts of sessions will be posted on the BUILD site as well.
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