Friday, December 23rd 2011
Windows 8 build 8172 Screenshots Emerge
Sometime in 2012, Microsoft is expected to announce its next major version of Windows for the client platform. It has the working name "Windows 8", and was previewed to developers at the BUILD Conference, this September. A member of Chinese tech site PCbeta community got to play with a newer build of Windows, build 8172. Screenshots of its most common user interface elements, such as desktop, Windows Explorer, PC Settings (control panel), etc., were posted. Engadget notes that these screenshots don't reveal much else from the Windows Developer Preview shown at the BUILD Conference.
The first screenshot above reveals the Start screen featuring Metro UI design elements (which replaces the Start Menu), the second reveals PC Settings screen, which serves the purpose of the Windows Control Panel, and the next two screenshots reveal the Windows Explorer user interface with its "ribbon" element collapse and expanded.
The next screenshot (above), reveals the new file transfer dialog, which provides a little more information than just a progress bar, an animation, and a few numbers. The progress bar embeds a graph that reports transfer speeds in real time. Next up, is the new Task Manager, which gives greater control over running tasks and processes; and the final screen reveals the new sidebar, which makes the taskbar optional. In all, Microsoft plans some major UI changes, while retaining compatibility with many of the elements found in Windows 7, to ease the transition. The window titlebars themselves look identical in function to the ones Windows 7 gives you, but that there are some aesthetic changes. Basically every rounded-edge is sharpened out. The PCbeta member who leaked these screenshots confirmed that build 8172 is still pre-beta.
Sources:
PCbeta, Engadget
75 Comments on Windows 8 build 8172 Screenshots Emerge
How is it bloated, its a bloody option you turn off and it uses less resources than Windows 7 and Vista. Seriously people need to actually know what they're on about before they start slating something, it's become a trend on these forums lately. :shadedshu
If it did you should send them that suggestion and get everyone you know to as well.
I like the task manager, whether it will be worth the money for me to upgrade is another thing.
Right now, you get an $80 discount if you already have XP or Vista and buy Win7.That is all up in the air right now, AFAIK. In the beta version released to the public it was a simple registry switch to turn it off and on. The hope is that eventually it will be a control panel option, it just wasn't included in the unfinished beta. However, considering the Beta was really meant to show off MetroUI primarily, it makes sense that Microsoft didn't include a way to turn it off in the control panel.
Win8 look just like win 7 lol
The vast majority of Windows users are complete morons when it comes to computers. Now before you come at me with pitchforks and torches, I have to say that most if not all of us here at TPU are power users. We love tweaking things to suit our personal preferences. Power up? When Microsoft takes that away from us, we hate them for it. Who's their target market? Personally for me Windows just works. What I hate about it is not being able to change things. Like that little speaker over there... >.> Why can't I make it yellow? And how about the Action Center flag? Shouldn't it be green when everything is ok and red if there's a problem? Why white? How many web forms have you erased with the backspace key? I could go on and on. Point is, there's so many nagging little things in Windows that drive me up the wall. These little things add up to me hating to use Windows. As new versions come out, it gets worse. They take more and more away from us. I expect Windows 8 to be even more of a mess.
Eventually Windows will have only one icon... "shutdown your computer". That keeps you from wasting 12 hours trying to find out if there's a way to make the speaker yellow. See how efficient Windows will be in the future? :D
I never liked the rounded window corners; after ten years, it's about time that look changed.
To say that XP was 'fantastic' because it sold a lot and is still installed on a lot of systems is absolute empty-headed nonsense. That's not a basis for something being 'good'; it's mainly because of the usage of software (no longer updated) written for XP and used by businesses, and because there are just a lot of old computers out there still being run by users.
Computer operating system sales numbers and installed base numbers have almost nothing to do with the 'quality' of the operating system. No one on this site can refute that with their personal experience, since they are part of a miniscule customer sub-market in comparison to the rest of the world of installed operating system users.
:shadedshu