Here's a tidbit of news that's been lurking behind the shadows of today's Windows 8 Consumer Preview, Windows Server 8, and Visual Studio 11 announcements: Microsoft has just made Microsoft Flight available for download.
Right on the heels of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview launch, Microsoft has also released the bits of Windows Server 8 on MSDN and TechNet. Available in both 64-bit ISO and VHD flavors, it is only available in all languages - Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, and Japanese - through the former; the VHD is available in English only.
Today is the big day for those of you who have been anticipating some fresh new Windows 8 bits to toy with: Following an official debut right next door to the Mobile World Congress - not specifically at it, it's a little side event at the Hotel Miramar in Barcelona - Microsoft has just officially released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
As I noted in my editorial about what Microsoft should do next with SkyDrive, something that the Windows Live set of services are in dire need of is a redesign. I never was a fan of the current design that they have adopted: With design, it's often the details that make a world of difference - padding, margins, text - and all of these things are off, resulting in a set of products that lack finesse. So, what can Microsoft do to solve this problem?
Unsatisfied with the lack of Metro on the Windows 8 "legacy" desktop, one Verge forum user took it upon himself to create mockups that depict what the OS would look like if Microsoft were to ditch Aero in favor of an entirely Metro user interface design.
Remember those leaked SkyDrive features I touched on in yesterday's editorial? Well, much of them remain in rumor territory. However, Microsoft has confirmed two things: One, a major SkyDrive update is in the pipeline, and two, the rumor that we're getting a SkyDrive desktop client is spot-on. In a Building Windows 8 post written by two SkyDrive program managers, Microsoft detailed the SkyDrive Metro app, the service's tight integration with Windows 8, SkyDrive on the desktop, and fetching files through SkyDrive.com.
Following Apple's announcement of its upcoming Mountain Lion OS yesterday, people naturally began producing comparisons between the two OSes, whether in the form of a jestful "Windows 8 vs. ML" tweet, or a clarifying blog post that reminds you - since you didn't know - that desktop OSes are beginning to draw a great deal of inspiration from their mobile counterparts. But really, that's about the only true similarity between Mountain Lion and Windows 8. Beyond this, Apple and Microsoft's approaches are so vastly different that the colossal void that lies between the opposing directions they have taken is large enough to accommodate all of those comparison posts from yesterday. So, let me commence this actually sensible comparison between the two approaches to the desktop and tablet markets.
A day after Apple presented its forthcoming Mountain Lion OS to the world, Microsoft has given PC users something to mull over by unveiling the Metro-themed Windows 8 Logo.
With the launch of Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8, nearing ever closer, it looks as though the Redmond company is looking to provide a platform which could prove to be a lot friendlier to developers and small software publishers.
The last four of five weeks have brought about quite a bit of news and speculation surrounding Microsoft's Kinect motion detecting hardware. When Microsoft took to the stage during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the beginning of this month, they announced that the original Kinect hardware had amassed more than 18 million sales during its first year.
