The next version of Microsoft Windows is just a few weeks away from completion and release, folks! After months of speculation, leaks, controversial keynotes and demonstrations, Developer/Consumer Previews, we’re closing in on the feature-complete RTM build. A report published earlier today suggests that the final build will be available in July. Details after the jump!
Despite having only been announced at the beginning of the week, the Microsoft Surface has become the most talked-about gadget on the planet, and by declining to comment on price and availability - a couple of reasonably important factors - the gossip chain has reached overdrive. To add a little extra spice to proceedings, Bloomberg reckons the highly anticipated tablet-ultrabook cross may initially only ship with Wi-Fi capabilities, which could certainly put a dampener on the general excitement within the tech sphere.
Ever since Microsoft announced its plans to release the Surface tablets on Monday, reactions have been fairly mixed. Given the lack of information on availability, pricing, and battery life - important factors that consumers consider when purchasing a tablet - some pundits have been curiously critical. Others have been quick to point out that Microsoft's still in the wrong for wanting to ship an Intel tablet that, not only has a fan and vents from a hardware standpoint, but also is host to a full-fledged version of Windows that has legacy apps along with the more touch-friendly Metro apps.
While Microsoft has been extremely busy over the past twelve months in developing and announcing new features and additions to its software roster, many were anxiously wondering when the Redmond outfit intended to whet the appetites of the gizmo-loving faithful with some new hardware, and yesterday at the rather unorthodox MSFT gathering, the software maker delivered with aplomb by announcing a unique device which not only threatens the future of the struggling ultrabook market, but also lights the proverbial blue touch paper at the tablet market, which currently only really consists of Apple's iPad.
While many consumers are still waiting for their MacBook Pro with Retina display to ship, the folks over at AnandTech have been among the first to get their hands on the coveted device. Having already given the new pixel-dense display, SSD and USB 3.0 some brief comparison tests, the tech blog has now managed to test out just how Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 OS might look on the marvel that is the 2880 x 1800 LCD.
Microsoft has been somewhat coy with regards to Office 15, or Office 2013, but towards the end of its Tech-Ed 2012 keynote, it gave a little more insight into the upcoming version of Office. Set to be called Microsoft Office: Office 2013 RT, it was demonstrated only very briefly, but did appear to serve to confirm the rife rumors that it will indeed be landing next year.
The standout feature of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft has to be the sumptuous Metro user-interface, and with the Release Preview having arrived in the past few days, Google has added to the anticipation of end-user release by giving us a little preview of how its popular Chrome browser will look once it's been Metro-fied.
Well, it's officially here: The last pre-release build drop before Windows 8 is released to manufacturing has arrived. Dubbed the Release Preview, the build sports quite a few noteworthy changes and improvements over the Consumer Preview.
Although Apple's iPad appears to have the untouchable magic formula that Android vendors have thus far failed miserably to replicate, there's certainly a feeling of optimism regarding future Windows 8 tablets. Given that the Metro interface of Microsoft's much-lauded universal OS seems to be the perfect suitor to the post-PC devices, the Redmond-based software outfit is regarded by many as a major threat to Apple's dominance in the market it started only two years back.
While we don't officially know what Microsoft will be introducing to the major Windows Phone 8 Apollo update that the company plans to drop later this year, people are as usual making mockups of what the future OS could look like. Now normally, I dismiss concepts as they are usually either impractical, ridiculous, or both, but this one is actually a pretty simple idea that can help boost the consistency between Microsoft's desktop and mobile OSes.
