Samsung today unveiled two new, Windows-8 powered tablets, the Ativ Q and Ativ Tab 3.
The Ativ Q is a convertible device that will allow users to tap into Windows 8 or Android 4.2.2.; switch seamlessly between the two and even pin Android apps to the Windows 8 start screen.
"Users will not only get access to Android apps via Google Play but will also be able to transfer files to share folders and files from Windows 8 to Android, truly marrying the mobile and PC experiences," Samsung said.
The tablet includes a 13.3-inch touch screen with a 3,200-by-1,800 display, which Samsung said offers 2.8 times higher pixel density (275ppi) than full HD displays. Samsung also promised easy viewing in sunlight.
The Ativ Q has a hinge design for four modes: Lay it flat over the keyboard for tablet mode; raise the display upright to reveal the keyboard underneath so that it functions like a laptop (above); float and adjust the display to view at an angle; or flip the display to place in the stand mode to watch movies (right).
The gadget comes in at 13.9mm and weighs just under 3 pounds. It runs an Intel Core i5 processor and Intel HD Graphics 4400, has 4GB DDR3L, a 128GB SSD, a 720p HD camera, and up to 9 hours of battery life. It will come in black.
Acer tried something similar recently with its Acer Aspire R7.
The Ativ Tab 3 (below), meanwhile, is the world's thinnest Windows 8 laptop, Samsung said, at 8.2mm.
The 10.1-inch Ativ Tab 3 features a 1,366-by-768 display, and sports the popular Galaxy design. There's an S Pen included, which will be compatible with Microsoft Office. The Windows 8-based Ativ Tab 3 will come pre-loaded with Office Home & Student, and can run Windows apps and programs.
Like the Ativ Q, the Tab 3 also includes an S Pen. Both devices also include SideSync, allowing users to sync activity with their Android-based Samsung smartphones.
"Simply use the PC keyboard to respond to a text on a mobile phone; view maps on a larger screen, display photos and videos on both devices to make editing files even easier; or use an Ativ PC to back up and charge mobile devices," Samsung said.
The Ativ Tab 3 runs an Intel Atom Z2760 processor, has 2GB LPDDR2, 64GB of eMMC, a 720p HD camera, and up to 10 hours of battery life. It weighs about 1.2 pounds and will come in white.
"Busy lives demand convenience, and the convertible nature of these tablets delivers the versatility, mobility and adaptability consumers should expect from personal computing today," DJ Lee, Samsung's marketing chief, said in a statement. "These tablets are the result of people-centric innovation, and they were designed to provide consumers the flexibility to manage their digital lives on their terms whether they are in the office, at home or on the go."
Samsung unveiled its new Ativ lineup at an event in London this afternoon, where it also showed off the new Samsung Galaxy NX camera. For more, see PCMag's hands on.
2013年6月20日星期四
2013年6月14日星期五
Windows 8 game of the week- Doodle Army
The modern PC is a fantastic tool, you can get all your work done with the help of a word processor and spreadsheet, organise all your photos into albums so they are easy to print and share and use your computer to listen to all your music and watch the latest movies. But really what PCs are best at is helping you enjoy your downtime, and for many people that means playing games.
There are hundreds of thousands of games available for Windows 8 PCs and laptops. One of our favourites this month is a truly simple and addictive little game called Doodle Army. Though this tiny game may lack the 3D graphics and interactivity of some modern PC titles it more than makes up for this with fun gameplay that’s easy to immerse yourself in.
In Doodle Army you shoot your way through a variety of simple, though very tricky, levels called battle zones. The graphics are, as the name suggests, based on doodles and in that sense are extremely basic, however, don’t let that fool you as this game is incredibly addictive. You start off with a drill sergeant guiding you though the basics of boot camp and how to play the game. Once you mastered the controls you’ll be blasting your way though the various zones in no time. The game costs just ￡1.39 from the Windows App Store and features 7 zones and 13 levels. You can chose from a range of 40 different weapons and within the game there are mini games and boss levels you can unlock as you move through Doodle Army.
Doodle Army is one of those simple and yet madly playable little games that you can use to fill the time when you’re not slogging your guts out over Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
There are hundreds of thousands of games available for Windows 8 PCs and laptops. One of our favourites this month is a truly simple and addictive little game called Doodle Army. Though this tiny game may lack the 3D graphics and interactivity of some modern PC titles it more than makes up for this with fun gameplay that’s easy to immerse yourself in.
In Doodle Army you shoot your way through a variety of simple, though very tricky, levels called battle zones. The graphics are, as the name suggests, based on doodles and in that sense are extremely basic, however, don’t let that fool you as this game is incredibly addictive. You start off with a drill sergeant guiding you though the basics of boot camp and how to play the game. Once you mastered the controls you’ll be blasting your way though the various zones in no time. The game costs just ￡1.39 from the Windows App Store and features 7 zones and 13 levels. You can chose from a range of 40 different weapons and within the game there are mini games and boss levels you can unlock as you move through Doodle Army.
Doodle Army is one of those simple and yet madly playable little games that you can use to fill the time when you’re not slogging your guts out over Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
2013年5月30日星期四
With Windows 8.1, a New Start That Looks Familiar
Yes, Microsoft is bringing back some comforting hallmarks of its Windows operating system, including the Start menu. No, it is not chucking out the modern, touch-friendly, tile-based look of Windows 8, the new version of the software that has sent much of the PC industry, many pundits and some computer shoppers into a tizzy.
That’s the short version of what’s coming in Windows 8.1, an update to Windows 8 that will be out by the end of the year. In one of the first demonstrations of the operating system to an outsider, Microsoft executives showed off a bevy of changes the company has made to the operating system, a number of which were in direct response to some of the more pointed criticisms the operating system received from users after coming out last fall.
Hints from Microsoft in recent weeks about those changes, along with a slump in PC sales that analysts believe was worsened by Windows 8, have led to heated speculation that Microsoft was preparing to backpedal from the most radical changes it made in Windows 8. Not true, executives said.
“This isn’t a U-turn at all,” said Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of Windows program management. “We really believe in the direction we started on with Windows 8.”
Indeed, Windows 8.1 looks virtually indistinguishable from Windows 8 in many respects. People who dislike its colorful mosaic of tiles will not find much in the new software to change their minds.
That’s because it is unlikely, as a practical matter, that people will be able to entirely escape the tile-based interface in Windows 8.1, even though Microsoft is making it easier to avoid it. As expected, the new operating system will allow people to configure the software so that they start in desktop mode — the “classic” Windows interface with a taskbar at the bottom of the screen, a background image and applications with traditional menus — whenever they boot up their PCs.
Microsoft didn’t allow this with Windows 8. Even if their destination was desktop mode, where Office and millions of legacy Windows applications run, Windows 8 users had to pass through the tile screen, an inconvenience to many. It’s noteworthy that Microsoft will still put users in the tile interface by default when they start up their machines.
Microsoft is also reincarnating the Start button with Windows 8.1, though it won’t behave exactly like the Windows Start buttons of yore, the primary way Windows users found and launched applications for decades.
There will be a Windows flag icon in the bottom left corner of the taskbar in the Windows 8.1 desktop. But clicking — or, if you have a touch device, tapping — the button will simply return you to the tile-based interface, from which you can launch apps. People can get to a more traditional looking menu of applications from the Start button, but they have to configure the system to do that.
What these changes mean is that someone who makes the effort to reconfigure the operating system will be able to spend most of their time in the classic desktop interface. In practice, Microsoft will keep nudging them in the direction of the tile-based interface at every opportunity because it believes that is the future of Windows.
The company thinks most devices are moving inexorably in the direction of touch screens, including laptop computers and desktops. The tile interface of Windows 8 and its successors is how the company is preparing for that future.
If developers want to distribute applications through Microsoft’s app store for Windows, they have to write them so they run through the modern Windows interface. Even if a customer only wants the old-fashioned Windows, they will be bounced into the new interface anytime they launch Netflix and any other modern app.
Over time, Microsoft believes users will become more comfortable in the modern interface. But it doesn’t want to rush them if they’re unready.
“There’s an opportunity here to help people feel more oriented if they don’t feel oriented,” said Jensen Harris, partner director of program management at Microsoft.
There are a variety of other changes in Windows 8.1 that are likely to receive less notice. People using Windows 8.1 in the modern interface will be able to have four different windows open at once, rather than two, which will make it easier for multitaskers to jump among different applications. A new built-in search function will automatically create a slick-looking mash-up of different types of data relevant to a search term, including songs, videos, photos and Wikipedia entries.
The underlying bet Microsoft is making with Windows has not changed, though. Unlike Apple, which has one operating system for the iPad and one for computers, Microsoft believes the software that powers both types of devices should be the same.
“The role of Windows is to unify that experience,” Mr. Leblond said.
That’s the short version of what’s coming in Windows 8.1, an update to Windows 8 that will be out by the end of the year. In one of the first demonstrations of the operating system to an outsider, Microsoft executives showed off a bevy of changes the company has made to the operating system, a number of which were in direct response to some of the more pointed criticisms the operating system received from users after coming out last fall.
Hints from Microsoft in recent weeks about those changes, along with a slump in PC sales that analysts believe was worsened by Windows 8, have led to heated speculation that Microsoft was preparing to backpedal from the most radical changes it made in Windows 8. Not true, executives said.
“This isn’t a U-turn at all,” said Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of Windows program management. “We really believe in the direction we started on with Windows 8.”
Indeed, Windows 8.1 looks virtually indistinguishable from Windows 8 in many respects. People who dislike its colorful mosaic of tiles will not find much in the new software to change their minds.
That’s because it is unlikely, as a practical matter, that people will be able to entirely escape the tile-based interface in Windows 8.1, even though Microsoft is making it easier to avoid it. As expected, the new operating system will allow people to configure the software so that they start in desktop mode — the “classic” Windows interface with a taskbar at the bottom of the screen, a background image and applications with traditional menus — whenever they boot up their PCs.
Microsoft didn’t allow this with Windows 8. Even if their destination was desktop mode, where Office and millions of legacy Windows applications run, Windows 8 users had to pass through the tile screen, an inconvenience to many. It’s noteworthy that Microsoft will still put users in the tile interface by default when they start up their machines.
Microsoft is also reincarnating the Start button with Windows 8.1, though it won’t behave exactly like the Windows Start buttons of yore, the primary way Windows users found and launched applications for decades.
There will be a Windows flag icon in the bottom left corner of the taskbar in the Windows 8.1 desktop. But clicking — or, if you have a touch device, tapping — the button will simply return you to the tile-based interface, from which you can launch apps. People can get to a more traditional looking menu of applications from the Start button, but they have to configure the system to do that.
What these changes mean is that someone who makes the effort to reconfigure the operating system will be able to spend most of their time in the classic desktop interface. In practice, Microsoft will keep nudging them in the direction of the tile-based interface at every opportunity because it believes that is the future of Windows.
The company thinks most devices are moving inexorably in the direction of touch screens, including laptop computers and desktops. The tile interface of Windows 8 and its successors is how the company is preparing for that future.
If developers want to distribute applications through Microsoft’s app store for Windows, they have to write them so they run through the modern Windows interface. Even if a customer only wants the old-fashioned Windows, they will be bounced into the new interface anytime they launch Netflix and any other modern app.
Over time, Microsoft believes users will become more comfortable in the modern interface. But it doesn’t want to rush them if they’re unready.
“There’s an opportunity here to help people feel more oriented if they don’t feel oriented,” said Jensen Harris, partner director of program management at Microsoft.
There are a variety of other changes in Windows 8.1 that are likely to receive less notice. People using Windows 8.1 in the modern interface will be able to have four different windows open at once, rather than two, which will make it easier for multitaskers to jump among different applications. A new built-in search function will automatically create a slick-looking mash-up of different types of data relevant to a search term, including songs, videos, photos and Wikipedia entries.
The underlying bet Microsoft is making with Windows has not changed, though. Unlike Apple, which has one operating system for the iPad and one for computers, Microsoft believes the software that powers both types of devices should be the same.
“The role of Windows is to unify that experience,” Mr. Leblond said.
2013年4月24日星期三
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 users get free Audible audiobook
In March, Microsoft announced a deal for Windows 8 owners to get some free ebooks and free e-magazine issues from Barnes and Noble's Nook app. Today, the company announced a similar free content offer and this one extends to Windows Phone 8 users as well.
The Windows Experience blog has revealed that people who download the Windows 8 or the Windows Phone 8 version of Amazon's Audible app will be able to download and listen to a free audiobook from a list of three books. The offer does not require a credit card or a subscription to Audible's service.
The list of three audiobooks to choose from include a reading of the classic novel The Great Gatsby by actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Of course, a new movie version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel is due in theaters on May 10th so listening to the audiobook might prepare some of you who might be wanting to see the new film. The regular version of the audiobook is priced at $14.95.
The other two audiobooks in the list are The Power Trip, the latest novel from Jackie Collins that's usually priced at $27.99 and American Sniper, an autobiography of US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle that's normally priced at $23.61. The offer is for new Audible US users only and will end on May 13th.
The Windows Experience blog has revealed that people who download the Windows 8 or the Windows Phone 8 version of Amazon's Audible app will be able to download and listen to a free audiobook from a list of three books. The offer does not require a credit card or a subscription to Audible's service.
The list of three audiobooks to choose from include a reading of the classic novel The Great Gatsby by actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Of course, a new movie version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel is due in theaters on May 10th so listening to the audiobook might prepare some of you who might be wanting to see the new film. The regular version of the audiobook is priced at $14.95.
The other two audiobooks in the list are The Power Trip, the latest novel from Jackie Collins that's usually priced at $27.99 and American Sniper, an autobiography of US Navy Seal sniper Chris Kyle that's normally priced at $23.61. The offer is for new Audible US users only and will end on May 13th.
2013年4月11日星期四
PC outlook darkens as sales slump deepens in 1Q
The ailing personal computer market is getting weaker, and it's starting to look as if it will never fully recover as a new generation of mobile devices reshapes the way people use technology.
The latest evidence of the PC's infirmity emerged Wednesday with the release of two somber reports showing unprecedented declines in sales of desktop and laptop machines during the first three months of the year.
As if that news wasn't troubling enough, it appears that a pivotal makeover of Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows operating system seems to have done more harm than good since the software was released last October.
"This is horrific news for PCs," said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. "It's all about mobile computing now. We have definitely reached the tipping point."
First-quarter shipments of PCs fell 14 percent worldwide from the same time last year, according to International Data Corp. That's the deepest quarterly drop since the firm started tracking the industry in 1994. Another research firm, Gartner Inc., pegged the first-quarter decline at 11 percent.
The deviation stemmed in part from the firms' slightly different definitions of PCs.
No matter how things are parsed, the PC market is in the worst shape since IBM Corp. released a desktop machine in 1981. PC sales have now fallen from their year-ago levels in four consecutive quarters, a slide that has been accelerating even amid signs that the overall economy is getting healthier.
PCs are going out of style because they typically cost more than smartphones and tablets, and aren't as convenient to use. Most PCs sell for $500 to $1,500 while the initial out-of-pocket expense for a smartphone runs as low as $99 while an array of tablets sell for $200 to $300.
Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs, whose company propelled the mobile computing revolution with the 2007 release of the iPhone, declared that the world was entering a "post-PC era" shortly after the iPad came out three years ago.
In a June 2010 appearance at a technology conference, Jobs likened challenges facing the PC industry to what happened to trucks in the U.S. decades ago as a shift away from farming caused more people to move into cities where they wanted to drive cars instead. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs predicted at the time. "Less people will need them."
The traditional PC still has a long way to go before it becomes obsolete.
Despite the dismaying start in the first quarter, more than 300 million PCs are still expected to be sold worldwide this year. Tablet computers, a category that was insignificant until the iPad came along, is catching up rapidly: Nearly 200 million of those deices could be sold this year. Meanwhile, worldwide smartphone sales could surpass 1 billion units this year, Gillis predicted.
PC sales could be undermined even more during the next few years with the release of "wearable computing" devices that connect to the Internet through voice-activated equipment attached to glasses and wristwatches.
The growing reliance on mobile devices is creating new opportunities and tensions throughout the technology industry. Internet companies such as Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc. that initially designed their digital services to be primarily consumed on PCs have been scrambling to tweak things so they work better on smartphones and tablets.
But the companies most threatened by the mobile upheaval are those that depend on PCs to make most of their money. This group includes technology heavyweights such as Windows maker Microsoft, PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. and PC chip maker Intel Corp.
"It's time for these companies to make some critical decisions and ask themselves, 'How are we going to turn this ship around?'" said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead.
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer thought he had come up with a tonic last fall when his company released a radical new version of Windows last fall. Windows 8 has a completely new look that's similar to the design of the software running the most popular smartphones and tablet computers. The overhaul requires a relearning process, a leap that many consumers and corporate buyers aren't ready to take.
All signs so far point to Windows 8 being a flop.
"Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn't provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market," IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell said.
The newest version of Windows is designed to work well with touch-sensitive screens, but the displays add to the cost of a PC. Together, the changes and higher prices "have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices," O'Donnell said.
In a statement, Microsoft described the PC market as "evolving and highly dynamic." Referring to a number that it has previously released, the company said it has sold more than 60 million copies of Windows 8 so far. That is "a strong start by any measure," Microsoft said. "Along with our partners we continue to bring even more innovation to market across tablets and PCs."
In its tally, IDC excludes tablets, even if they run PC-style software. It also excludes any device that has a detachable keyboard. With the release of Windows 8, PC makers have been reviving their experiments with tablet-laptop hybrids, some of which have detachable keyboards. Consumers are likely to have shifted some of their buying away from traditional laptops and toward these new devices, which means that the total sales decline of Windows-based devices might not be quite as drastic as IDC's numbers suggest.
Windows 8's poor sales start could amplify periodic calls for Microsoft to replace Ballmer, who replaced company co-founder Bill Gates as CEO nearly 13 years ago. "This puts a lot more pressure on Ballmer because Windows 8 is at the epicenter of all this," Moorhead said.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., will take questions from industry analysts April 18 when it's scheduled to release its latest quarterly results. Ballmer usually doesn't participate in those sessions.
Microsoft shares fell 55 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $29.73 in extended trading, after the release of the sales reports.
Hewlett-Packard., the world's largest PC maker, saw a 24 percent drop in shipments in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. That was HP's steepest quarterly decline since the company bought rival PC maker Compaq a decade ago.
HP shares fell 60 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $21.72 in extended trading.
Meanwhile, the industry's No. 2, China's Lenovo Group, is benefiting from sales to first-time buyers in China and other developing countries. As a result, it held sales steady, alone among the world's top 5 PC makers, according to IDC's figures.
Dell Inc., the third-largest PC maker, suffered an 11 percent decline in the quarter. The bad news could be helpful to the Round Rock, Texas, company's attempts to sell itself for $24.4 billion to a group that includes CEO Michael Dell. Some shareholders believe the proposed sales price of $13.65 per share is too low, but Dell's board has argued it's a generous offer, given the deteriorating conditions in the PC industry — a point that may carry more weight now that the latest sales numbers are out.
Dell's stock dipped a penny in extended trading to $14.20.
The latest evidence of the PC's infirmity emerged Wednesday with the release of two somber reports showing unprecedented declines in sales of desktop and laptop machines during the first three months of the year.
As if that news wasn't troubling enough, it appears that a pivotal makeover of Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows operating system seems to have done more harm than good since the software was released last October.
"This is horrific news for PCs," said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. "It's all about mobile computing now. We have definitely reached the tipping point."
First-quarter shipments of PCs fell 14 percent worldwide from the same time last year, according to International Data Corp. That's the deepest quarterly drop since the firm started tracking the industry in 1994. Another research firm, Gartner Inc., pegged the first-quarter decline at 11 percent.
The deviation stemmed in part from the firms' slightly different definitions of PCs.
No matter how things are parsed, the PC market is in the worst shape since IBM Corp. released a desktop machine in 1981. PC sales have now fallen from their year-ago levels in four consecutive quarters, a slide that has been accelerating even amid signs that the overall economy is getting healthier.
PCs are going out of style because they typically cost more than smartphones and tablets, and aren't as convenient to use. Most PCs sell for $500 to $1,500 while the initial out-of-pocket expense for a smartphone runs as low as $99 while an array of tablets sell for $200 to $300.
Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs, whose company propelled the mobile computing revolution with the 2007 release of the iPhone, declared that the world was entering a "post-PC era" shortly after the iPad came out three years ago.
In a June 2010 appearance at a technology conference, Jobs likened challenges facing the PC industry to what happened to trucks in the U.S. decades ago as a shift away from farming caused more people to move into cities where they wanted to drive cars instead. "I think PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs predicted at the time. "Less people will need them."
The traditional PC still has a long way to go before it becomes obsolete.
Despite the dismaying start in the first quarter, more than 300 million PCs are still expected to be sold worldwide this year. Tablet computers, a category that was insignificant until the iPad came along, is catching up rapidly: Nearly 200 million of those deices could be sold this year. Meanwhile, worldwide smartphone sales could surpass 1 billion units this year, Gillis predicted.
PC sales could be undermined even more during the next few years with the release of "wearable computing" devices that connect to the Internet through voice-activated equipment attached to glasses and wristwatches.
The growing reliance on mobile devices is creating new opportunities and tensions throughout the technology industry. Internet companies such as Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc. that initially designed their digital services to be primarily consumed on PCs have been scrambling to tweak things so they work better on smartphones and tablets.
But the companies most threatened by the mobile upheaval are those that depend on PCs to make most of their money. This group includes technology heavyweights such as Windows maker Microsoft, PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. and PC chip maker Intel Corp.
"It's time for these companies to make some critical decisions and ask themselves, 'How are we going to turn this ship around?'" said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead.
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer thought he had come up with a tonic last fall when his company released a radical new version of Windows last fall. Windows 8 has a completely new look that's similar to the design of the software running the most popular smartphones and tablet computers. The overhaul requires a relearning process, a leap that many consumers and corporate buyers aren't ready to take.
All signs so far point to Windows 8 being a flop.
"Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only didn't provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market," IDC Vice President Bob O'Donnell said.
The newest version of Windows is designed to work well with touch-sensitive screens, but the displays add to the cost of a PC. Together, the changes and higher prices "have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices," O'Donnell said.
In a statement, Microsoft described the PC market as "evolving and highly dynamic." Referring to a number that it has previously released, the company said it has sold more than 60 million copies of Windows 8 so far. That is "a strong start by any measure," Microsoft said. "Along with our partners we continue to bring even more innovation to market across tablets and PCs."
In its tally, IDC excludes tablets, even if they run PC-style software. It also excludes any device that has a detachable keyboard. With the release of Windows 8, PC makers have been reviving their experiments with tablet-laptop hybrids, some of which have detachable keyboards. Consumers are likely to have shifted some of their buying away from traditional laptops and toward these new devices, which means that the total sales decline of Windows-based devices might not be quite as drastic as IDC's numbers suggest.
Windows 8's poor sales start could amplify periodic calls for Microsoft to replace Ballmer, who replaced company co-founder Bill Gates as CEO nearly 13 years ago. "This puts a lot more pressure on Ballmer because Windows 8 is at the epicenter of all this," Moorhead said.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., will take questions from industry analysts April 18 when it's scheduled to release its latest quarterly results. Ballmer usually doesn't participate in those sessions.
Microsoft shares fell 55 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $29.73 in extended trading, after the release of the sales reports.
Hewlett-Packard., the world's largest PC maker, saw a 24 percent drop in shipments in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. That was HP's steepest quarterly decline since the company bought rival PC maker Compaq a decade ago.
HP shares fell 60 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $21.72 in extended trading.
Meanwhile, the industry's No. 2, China's Lenovo Group, is benefiting from sales to first-time buyers in China and other developing countries. As a result, it held sales steady, alone among the world's top 5 PC makers, according to IDC's figures.
Dell Inc., the third-largest PC maker, suffered an 11 percent decline in the quarter. The bad news could be helpful to the Round Rock, Texas, company's attempts to sell itself for $24.4 billion to a group that includes CEO Michael Dell. Some shareholders believe the proposed sales price of $13.65 per share is too low, but Dell's board has argued it's a generous offer, given the deteriorating conditions in the PC industry — a point that may carry more weight now that the latest sales numbers are out.
Dell's stock dipped a penny in extended trading to $14.20.
HP Envy X2 review: A Windows 8 tablet to covet
The HP Envy is aptly named. One glance and you'll be coveting it. Its brushed-aluminum exterior and elegant curves make it one of the sleekest -- and slickest -- convertible Ultrabooks now on the market. Its feature set and preloaded software aim it squarely at consumers, but if performance isn't paramount, there's little reason it can't be used in a small-office fleet as well.
Like the Acer Iconia, the Envy X2 is a dockable convertible, with its keyboard also serving as the dock. When attached, the keyboard provides extra battery life, full-sized USB and HDMI ports, an audio jack, and a full-sized SD card slot. Apart from the keyboard/dock, the tablet offers audio, front and back cameras, an independent charging port (it's the same style charging port as on the keyboard), and a microSD card slot. It's a little hard to pop cards out of the last slot without a tool, but it's a handy way to add storage to the Envy without a factory upgrade.
The whole unit is only 3.1 pounds when docked (1.5 pounds undocked), and the magnetically guided docking latch itself is quite sturdy. When the unit clicks into position, you can literally feel it. Dual speakers on the bottom of the tablet, powered by Beats Audio, provide good sound even when the unit's docked.
One detail you're not likely to complain about with the Envy is battery life. Both the main unit and the keyboard have separate batteries, which together gives 10 or more hours of use by HP's estimates. (HP claims up to 19 hours depending on the workload.) I got a whopping 11 hours, 15 minutes in my Netflix rundown test when using both batteries.
Like the Acer Iconia, the Envy X2 is a dockable convertible, with its keyboard also serving as the dock. When attached, the keyboard provides extra battery life, full-sized USB and HDMI ports, an audio jack, and a full-sized SD card slot. Apart from the keyboard/dock, the tablet offers audio, front and back cameras, an independent charging port (it's the same style charging port as on the keyboard), and a microSD card slot. It's a little hard to pop cards out of the last slot without a tool, but it's a handy way to add storage to the Envy without a factory upgrade.
The whole unit is only 3.1 pounds when docked (1.5 pounds undocked), and the magnetically guided docking latch itself is quite sturdy. When the unit clicks into position, you can literally feel it. Dual speakers on the bottom of the tablet, powered by Beats Audio, provide good sound even when the unit's docked.
One detail you're not likely to complain about with the Envy is battery life. Both the main unit and the keyboard have separate batteries, which together gives 10 or more hours of use by HP's estimates. (HP claims up to 19 hours depending on the workload.) I got a whopping 11 hours, 15 minutes in my Netflix rundown test when using both batteries.
Windows 8: advanced features
Windows 8 is noted for its tile-based interface (formerly known as Metro) and newfound focus on touchscreen input. However, this latest edition of Windows also brings numerous technical enhancements for advanced desktop and server users. For many users it’s these features, rather than tablet support, that may sway the decision whether or not to upgrade.
You’ll notice the first enhancement to Windows 8 as soon as you begin using it: it starts up much more quickly than previous OS versions. This is assisted by a new feature called “fast startup” (internally known as HybridBoot). It works in a similar way to hibernation; when you shut down your PC, Windows logs you off, then writes out a memory dump to disk before switching off the power. When you turn on your computer, the dump file is read back into memory, so in a matter of seconds you’re ready to log on and start using Windows again.
Fast startup is switched on by default, although you can disable it from the Power Options item in Settings (click “Choose what the power buttons do” to access the option). Sometimes, however, a “real” reboot is required – for example, when installing patches downloaded from Windows Update or running a disk check when suspected corruption is detected.
The good news is that in Windows 8, both of these scenarios are less frequent and intrusive than in previous versions. Disk-checking requirements have been reduced thanks to a new “online self-healing” approach, which tries wherever possible to fix NTFS disk errors in the background while Windows is running, rather than waiting for the next reboot. What’s more, on occasions when a reboot is necessary, the disk scan now targets only the parts of the disk where inconsistencies have been detected, rather than scanning every single file as it did previously. To say that this dramatically reduces the amount of checking required hardly conveys the scale of time saved – Microsoft estimates that on a system holding 100 million files, processing time is cut from around two hours to less than two seconds.
Windows Update has been streamlined in a similar way. Frequent forced restarts have long been the bane of desktop users; now Windows Update demands a restart only after installing critical security updates, which usually means once a month. If other updates arrive in the interim, they’ll quietly install at your next restart.
You’ll receive more notice of a pending reboot than before, too: update warnings now appear on the login screen three days before a forced restart. If you’re not sitting at your PC when the three-day period expires, you’ll receive a 15-minute warning after your next login, giving you a chance to save your work. This at least is the default behaviour – if companies want to enforce a stricter patch policy, or disable automatic reboots altogether, it can be customised through group policies.
At first glance, the Task Manager in Windows 8 looks much simpler than the old Windows 7 version, showing nothing but a list of applications and a “Not responding” flag next to any programs that appear to have frozen. It’s accessed in the same way too: you can press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to open the lockscreen and click on Task Manager, or press Ctrl-Shift-Escape to open its window directly.
Click “More details”, though, and the window grows into a more powerful console. The default tab – Processes – lets you monitor all running processes in a hierarchical view, and examine not only each one’s CPU usage, but also memory, disk and network consumption. This provides a useful insight into what’s gobbling up your resources.
In the upgraded Performance tab, you can take a closer graphical look at total resource usage, and the Startup tab shows you a list of processes set to load automatically when you log in – a graphical alternative at last to the antiquated MSConfig tool. It’s a breeze to check and disable unwanted resource-hogging startup items; a particularly nice touch is a “Startup impact” estimate that helps you to identify the most sluggish starters. Other tabs enable you to monitor resource usage by user and keep an eye on running services. This all adds up to a more powerful monitoring tool than its forebears.
The only disappointment is the “App history” tab, which keeps track of total CPU time and network usage for each installed app. The idea of keeping a long-term view of resource usage is a good one, but unfortunately, only tablet-style apps are counted, not desktop applications, making this tab fairly useless to desktop users.
Much has been made of Windows 8's new ribbon-based Explorer. For the most part, this merely puts the features of the classic Explorer into a more organised interface, but look closely and you’ll spot some useful new features and controls hidden in the interface.
For a start, we’re happy to see an up-arrow icon, which takes you unambiguously to the parent folder (in contrast to the Back button, which leads to the most recently viewed directory). Under the Home tab, the new “Copy path” button lets you copy the full path of the selected file or folder to the Clipboard (with multiple selections separated by carriage returns) – this saves time when you’re writing a program or technical document. The History button gives you direct access to Windows 8’s File History feature – a system similar to Apple’s Time Machine that uses external storage to automatically archive previous versions of files for backup and reference.
There’s a new “invert selection” button, too, which can be helpful if you want to copy or move a specific selection of files. Under Share, you’ll find a one-click Zip button, as well as a simplified interface to Windows’ disc-burning wizard.
Other contextual tabs appear based on your location and selection. These won’t revolutionise the way you use Windows, but you may quickly come to rely on them. Tabs for Computer, HomeGroup, Library Tools and Network provide one-click access to common configuration and troubleshooting tools. Picture, Music and Video Tools tabs appear with playback and basic editing options when you select the relevant type of media.
Of particular interest is the tab that appears when you select a disk image in ISO, IMG or VHD format. The Disc Image Tools tab offers a Burn icon, and also a new Mount option for mounting image files as virtual DVDs and hard disks. This makes it easier to install software and browse images for specific files.
Professionals and power users often need to add storage to their systems, and safeguard the integrity of their data. Regular backup is part of that equation (perhaps using Windows 8’s File History feature, as mentioned above); but Windows 8’s new Storage Spaces feature kills two birds with one stone. First, it lets you combine any number of drives – regardless of how they’re connected – into a single convenient pool, which can be dynamically extended simply by adding drives at any time.
Within this pool, you can configure mirroring or parity to provide transparent tolerance for one or more drive failures. Storage Spaces therefore gives you the peace of mind and flexibility of an extensible RAID enclosure with the effective simplicity of using a single external or internal drive. Setup is simple: you’ll find the new Storage Spaces manager under Settings, and creating, extending and repairing pools is a matter of a few clicks. For more information, see our Storage Spaces how-to guide.
BitLocker in the Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows 8 now supports hard disks with hardware FDE (full disk encryption) features, making your data unreadable if the disk is stolen. It’s also now possible to use BitLocker’s soft-encryption capabilities to encrypt a drive before installing Windows 8 on it. Microsoft has listened to complaints about how long it took to encrypt disks in previous BitLocker implementations, so in Windows 8 you’re given the option of encrypting only the area that’s in use rather than the entire disk capacity, slashing setup times.
Windows 8 focuses on stability, too. Device drivers must now be digitally signed by a recognised developer, making it harder for dubious code to access your system. This doesn’t mean that legacy hardware is shut out – using the Advanced Startup option in Settings, you can reboot into a less secure mode in which unsigned drivers can be temporarily installed.
For businesses looking to secure desktop clients, Windows 8 brings support for secure boot on UEFI hardware. This means the hardware will refuse to boot unsigned or unknown OS loaders, closing off an avenue often used by rootkit-type malware to compromise a PC. It’s a feature that’s caused controversy: when Windows 8’s support for secure boot was announced, users of Linux-based operating systems and similar projects feared that “homebrew” systems would be locked out, as their unrecognised boot loaders would be rejected. In reality, secure boot can be disabled manually by the user in the BIOS settings, so Linux users can simply carry on as before. IT departments wishing to enforce secure boot can password-protect the BIOS to prevent it from being disabled.
Finally, the AppLocker system has been beefed up in Windows 8, so administrators can now allow or deny specific packaged applications and installers, rather than having to rely on the more broad-brush policies supported by the Windows 7 version of AppLocker. For more details on what’s new here, see Microsoft's AppLocker Technical Overview.
Windows 8 is the first version of Windows to link your identity across multiple PCs, using Microsoft Accounts by default as connected user accounts. This doesn’t mean every system you use will work identically, but cosmetic settings such as wallpaper can be synchronised automatically across all the systems you use, as can stored passwords and credentials. To determine what syncs, you can use the “Sync your settings” option.
If you want to synchronise documents, you can use the built-in SkyDrive feature (or a third-party service such as Dropbox). There’s no way of synchronising desktop applications – this would clog up small devices, not to mention violate licence agreements. However, full-screen “Modern” apps are more flexible; if you have the same app installed on multiple systems, its settings and most recently used state can be automatically synchronised across them.
The move to online accounts simplifies matters when it comes to managing home networks. In the past, when parents wanted to use Windows Family Safety, they had to go through a slightly awkward process of associating each child’s local user account with an online identity. Now the single sign-on system manages everything. The Family Safety system itself has been updated, too, so you can now restrict not only web pages but also app downloads from the Windows Store to certain age categories. In addition to the existing “permitted hours settings”, parents have the option of limiting the total time their offspring spend online, or just using the computer, on a given day.
Windows 8 is also the first version of the operating system with a built-in awareness that not all networks are created equal. 3G mobile internet adapters can now be configured as metered connections, which won’t be used automatically to download apps and drivers. To activate this feature, open the Charms menu, select Settings, right-click on the appropriate connection and select “Set as metered connection”. Windows can keep track of your estimated data usage over a metered connection, so you can tell if you’re getting near a data cap; you can assign different costs to different adapters, enabling Windows to select the cheapest connection automatically (Windows will use this by default in preference to any mobile broadband connection if a Wi-Fi connection is available). If you need to shut down all your wireless communications, a new “airplane mode” toggle makes it easy.
One novel feature in Windows 8 is the new Windows To Go system, which allows you to install the operating system onto a USB flash drive or external hard disk. The process is fairly automatic – you’re guided through it by a wizard called the Windows To Go Creator. The volume you create can then be used to boot any PC it’s plugged into – a boon for remote workers and hot-deskers.
The way it works has been well thought out: the first time you start up on new hardware, any necessary drivers are automatically downloaded and then integrated into the image, so that subsequent boots take place at full speed. Memory caching is used sensibly, so booting and running over USB 2 is an impressively smooth experience (although USB 3 is recommended for optimum performance). The system is designed to tolerate the accidental removal of the system drive, allowing you to resume by reconnecting the disk within 60 seconds. With full-disk encryption, any security concerns over losing the drive are eliminated.
Windows To Go has limitations: once you start using a To Go system, there’s no way of automatically synchronising new documents and desktop applications back to your primary system. It’s also available in only the Enterprise edition of Windows 8 – not the Professional edition, which is a mean decision, in our view.
Businesses operating over a wide-area network will also be pleased by upgrades to the BranchCache feature, which manages local caching of remote documents and resources so that they can be opened and accessed quickly, even if the master copies are located at the other end of the country. When it was introduced in Windows 7 (and its server-side partner, Windows Server 2008 R2), BranchCache’s capabilities were limited. In Windows 8 and Server 2012, BranchCache can support any number of remote branches, and can be silently enabled on client PCs through a group policy. Deduplication is automatically applied, so only one copy of duplicate data is stored and synchronised, which minimises bandwidth and storage requirements. Extensive new configuration options also let administrators manage how much information is cached where, and for how long.
A final convenience for IT departments is a set of improvements to the way group policies are managed. The Group Policy Management Console in Server 2012 now provides a one-click status check, showing details of all active domain controllers and the state of policy replication on each one, so you can easily spot any propagation errors. It’s also now possible to force an immediate group policy update across any Organisation Unit, so that urgent changes take effect within ten minutes, rather than having to wait an hour or more for the clients to refresh themselves. The ten-minute delay is to avoid a sudden bandwidth crunch on large networks, but can be overridden using the new Invoke-GpUpdate PowerShell cmdlet.
A final notable benefit of Windows 8 is improved provision for system recovery. Microsoft understands that, with the best will in the world, PCs go wrong – hence the introduction of System Restore in Windows XP, to enable you to roll back changes if necessary in order to restore your computer to a previous working state.
Windows 8 takes this idea much further, introducing two new ways to restore your PC to an earlier state. Under Settings you’ll now find options to “Refresh your PC” and “Remove everything and reinstall Windows”. These options are also found in the Troubleshooting interface that appears at startup if Windows can’t boot properly.
These two options are based on the same concept – an automatic, in-place reinstallation of Windows that restores the underlying system to pristine condition. The difference is in the data and settings that are retained. As you’d expect, the “Remove everything” option wipes the system completely, including your data and settings. “Refresh” keeps copies of your personal files and remembers important settings, such as network connections and saved BitLocker keys. It also retains any “modern” tablet-style apps – as these are heavily sandboxed, they’re unlikely to be the cause of the problem.
These features may sound pedestrian, but they mean PC manufacturers no longer need to produce recovery discs and partitions, and they ensure that everybody running Windows 8 can easily revert to a fresh installation state without losing their data.
Most helpfully, Windows 8 even allows you to customise your Refresh image. For example, you might choose to take a snapshot of your system with your Outlook mail configured and Visual Studio installed, to which you can easily roll back in case of system failure. You can do this using the new recimg command-line tool. To use it, open a command prompt as Administrator and enter: recimg -CreateImage C:
This will make an image of your PC, place it in the root of the C drive (you can specify a different directory if you like), and automatically set it as the default Refresh image. Enter recimg /? to see the full list of options for recimg.
You’ll notice the first enhancement to Windows 8 as soon as you begin using it: it starts up much more quickly than previous OS versions. This is assisted by a new feature called “fast startup” (internally known as HybridBoot). It works in a similar way to hibernation; when you shut down your PC, Windows logs you off, then writes out a memory dump to disk before switching off the power. When you turn on your computer, the dump file is read back into memory, so in a matter of seconds you’re ready to log on and start using Windows again.
Fast startup is switched on by default, although you can disable it from the Power Options item in Settings (click “Choose what the power buttons do” to access the option). Sometimes, however, a “real” reboot is required – for example, when installing patches downloaded from Windows Update or running a disk check when suspected corruption is detected.
The good news is that in Windows 8, both of these scenarios are less frequent and intrusive than in previous versions. Disk-checking requirements have been reduced thanks to a new “online self-healing” approach, which tries wherever possible to fix NTFS disk errors in the background while Windows is running, rather than waiting for the next reboot. What’s more, on occasions when a reboot is necessary, the disk scan now targets only the parts of the disk where inconsistencies have been detected, rather than scanning every single file as it did previously. To say that this dramatically reduces the amount of checking required hardly conveys the scale of time saved – Microsoft estimates that on a system holding 100 million files, processing time is cut from around two hours to less than two seconds.
Windows Update has been streamlined in a similar way. Frequent forced restarts have long been the bane of desktop users; now Windows Update demands a restart only after installing critical security updates, which usually means once a month. If other updates arrive in the interim, they’ll quietly install at your next restart.
You’ll receive more notice of a pending reboot than before, too: update warnings now appear on the login screen three days before a forced restart. If you’re not sitting at your PC when the three-day period expires, you’ll receive a 15-minute warning after your next login, giving you a chance to save your work. This at least is the default behaviour – if companies want to enforce a stricter patch policy, or disable automatic reboots altogether, it can be customised through group policies.
At first glance, the Task Manager in Windows 8 looks much simpler than the old Windows 7 version, showing nothing but a list of applications and a “Not responding” flag next to any programs that appear to have frozen. It’s accessed in the same way too: you can press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to open the lockscreen and click on Task Manager, or press Ctrl-Shift-Escape to open its window directly.
Click “More details”, though, and the window grows into a more powerful console. The default tab – Processes – lets you monitor all running processes in a hierarchical view, and examine not only each one’s CPU usage, but also memory, disk and network consumption. This provides a useful insight into what’s gobbling up your resources.
In the upgraded Performance tab, you can take a closer graphical look at total resource usage, and the Startup tab shows you a list of processes set to load automatically when you log in – a graphical alternative at last to the antiquated MSConfig tool. It’s a breeze to check and disable unwanted resource-hogging startup items; a particularly nice touch is a “Startup impact” estimate that helps you to identify the most sluggish starters. Other tabs enable you to monitor resource usage by user and keep an eye on running services. This all adds up to a more powerful monitoring tool than its forebears.
The only disappointment is the “App history” tab, which keeps track of total CPU time and network usage for each installed app. The idea of keeping a long-term view of resource usage is a good one, but unfortunately, only tablet-style apps are counted, not desktop applications, making this tab fairly useless to desktop users.
Much has been made of Windows 8's new ribbon-based Explorer. For the most part, this merely puts the features of the classic Explorer into a more organised interface, but look closely and you’ll spot some useful new features and controls hidden in the interface.
For a start, we’re happy to see an up-arrow icon, which takes you unambiguously to the parent folder (in contrast to the Back button, which leads to the most recently viewed directory). Under the Home tab, the new “Copy path” button lets you copy the full path of the selected file or folder to the Clipboard (with multiple selections separated by carriage returns) – this saves time when you’re writing a program or technical document. The History button gives you direct access to Windows 8’s File History feature – a system similar to Apple’s Time Machine that uses external storage to automatically archive previous versions of files for backup and reference.
There’s a new “invert selection” button, too, which can be helpful if you want to copy or move a specific selection of files. Under Share, you’ll find a one-click Zip button, as well as a simplified interface to Windows’ disc-burning wizard.
Other contextual tabs appear based on your location and selection. These won’t revolutionise the way you use Windows, but you may quickly come to rely on them. Tabs for Computer, HomeGroup, Library Tools and Network provide one-click access to common configuration and troubleshooting tools. Picture, Music and Video Tools tabs appear with playback and basic editing options when you select the relevant type of media.
Of particular interest is the tab that appears when you select a disk image in ISO, IMG or VHD format. The Disc Image Tools tab offers a Burn icon, and also a new Mount option for mounting image files as virtual DVDs and hard disks. This makes it easier to install software and browse images for specific files.
Professionals and power users often need to add storage to their systems, and safeguard the integrity of their data. Regular backup is part of that equation (perhaps using Windows 8’s File History feature, as mentioned above); but Windows 8’s new Storage Spaces feature kills two birds with one stone. First, it lets you combine any number of drives – regardless of how they’re connected – into a single convenient pool, which can be dynamically extended simply by adding drives at any time.
Within this pool, you can configure mirroring or parity to provide transparent tolerance for one or more drive failures. Storage Spaces therefore gives you the peace of mind and flexibility of an extensible RAID enclosure with the effective simplicity of using a single external or internal drive. Setup is simple: you’ll find the new Storage Spaces manager under Settings, and creating, extending and repairing pools is a matter of a few clicks. For more information, see our Storage Spaces how-to guide.
BitLocker in the Professional and Enterprise editions of Windows 8 now supports hard disks with hardware FDE (full disk encryption) features, making your data unreadable if the disk is stolen. It’s also now possible to use BitLocker’s soft-encryption capabilities to encrypt a drive before installing Windows 8 on it. Microsoft has listened to complaints about how long it took to encrypt disks in previous BitLocker implementations, so in Windows 8 you’re given the option of encrypting only the area that’s in use rather than the entire disk capacity, slashing setup times.
Windows 8 focuses on stability, too. Device drivers must now be digitally signed by a recognised developer, making it harder for dubious code to access your system. This doesn’t mean that legacy hardware is shut out – using the Advanced Startup option in Settings, you can reboot into a less secure mode in which unsigned drivers can be temporarily installed.
For businesses looking to secure desktop clients, Windows 8 brings support for secure boot on UEFI hardware. This means the hardware will refuse to boot unsigned or unknown OS loaders, closing off an avenue often used by rootkit-type malware to compromise a PC. It’s a feature that’s caused controversy: when Windows 8’s support for secure boot was announced, users of Linux-based operating systems and similar projects feared that “homebrew” systems would be locked out, as their unrecognised boot loaders would be rejected. In reality, secure boot can be disabled manually by the user in the BIOS settings, so Linux users can simply carry on as before. IT departments wishing to enforce secure boot can password-protect the BIOS to prevent it from being disabled.
Finally, the AppLocker system has been beefed up in Windows 8, so administrators can now allow or deny specific packaged applications and installers, rather than having to rely on the more broad-brush policies supported by the Windows 7 version of AppLocker. For more details on what’s new here, see Microsoft's AppLocker Technical Overview.
Windows 8 is the first version of Windows to link your identity across multiple PCs, using Microsoft Accounts by default as connected user accounts. This doesn’t mean every system you use will work identically, but cosmetic settings such as wallpaper can be synchronised automatically across all the systems you use, as can stored passwords and credentials. To determine what syncs, you can use the “Sync your settings” option.
If you want to synchronise documents, you can use the built-in SkyDrive feature (or a third-party service such as Dropbox). There’s no way of synchronising desktop applications – this would clog up small devices, not to mention violate licence agreements. However, full-screen “Modern” apps are more flexible; if you have the same app installed on multiple systems, its settings and most recently used state can be automatically synchronised across them.
The move to online accounts simplifies matters when it comes to managing home networks. In the past, when parents wanted to use Windows Family Safety, they had to go through a slightly awkward process of associating each child’s local user account with an online identity. Now the single sign-on system manages everything. The Family Safety system itself has been updated, too, so you can now restrict not only web pages but also app downloads from the Windows Store to certain age categories. In addition to the existing “permitted hours settings”, parents have the option of limiting the total time their offspring spend online, or just using the computer, on a given day.
Windows 8 is also the first version of the operating system with a built-in awareness that not all networks are created equal. 3G mobile internet adapters can now be configured as metered connections, which won’t be used automatically to download apps and drivers. To activate this feature, open the Charms menu, select Settings, right-click on the appropriate connection and select “Set as metered connection”. Windows can keep track of your estimated data usage over a metered connection, so you can tell if you’re getting near a data cap; you can assign different costs to different adapters, enabling Windows to select the cheapest connection automatically (Windows will use this by default in preference to any mobile broadband connection if a Wi-Fi connection is available). If you need to shut down all your wireless communications, a new “airplane mode” toggle makes it easy.
One novel feature in Windows 8 is the new Windows To Go system, which allows you to install the operating system onto a USB flash drive or external hard disk. The process is fairly automatic – you’re guided through it by a wizard called the Windows To Go Creator. The volume you create can then be used to boot any PC it’s plugged into – a boon for remote workers and hot-deskers.
The way it works has been well thought out: the first time you start up on new hardware, any necessary drivers are automatically downloaded and then integrated into the image, so that subsequent boots take place at full speed. Memory caching is used sensibly, so booting and running over USB 2 is an impressively smooth experience (although USB 3 is recommended for optimum performance). The system is designed to tolerate the accidental removal of the system drive, allowing you to resume by reconnecting the disk within 60 seconds. With full-disk encryption, any security concerns over losing the drive are eliminated.
Windows To Go has limitations: once you start using a To Go system, there’s no way of automatically synchronising new documents and desktop applications back to your primary system. It’s also available in only the Enterprise edition of Windows 8 – not the Professional edition, which is a mean decision, in our view.
Businesses operating over a wide-area network will also be pleased by upgrades to the BranchCache feature, which manages local caching of remote documents and resources so that they can be opened and accessed quickly, even if the master copies are located at the other end of the country. When it was introduced in Windows 7 (and its server-side partner, Windows Server 2008 R2), BranchCache’s capabilities were limited. In Windows 8 and Server 2012, BranchCache can support any number of remote branches, and can be silently enabled on client PCs through a group policy. Deduplication is automatically applied, so only one copy of duplicate data is stored and synchronised, which minimises bandwidth and storage requirements. Extensive new configuration options also let administrators manage how much information is cached where, and for how long.
A final convenience for IT departments is a set of improvements to the way group policies are managed. The Group Policy Management Console in Server 2012 now provides a one-click status check, showing details of all active domain controllers and the state of policy replication on each one, so you can easily spot any propagation errors. It’s also now possible to force an immediate group policy update across any Organisation Unit, so that urgent changes take effect within ten minutes, rather than having to wait an hour or more for the clients to refresh themselves. The ten-minute delay is to avoid a sudden bandwidth crunch on large networks, but can be overridden using the new Invoke-GpUpdate PowerShell cmdlet.
A final notable benefit of Windows 8 is improved provision for system recovery. Microsoft understands that, with the best will in the world, PCs go wrong – hence the introduction of System Restore in Windows XP, to enable you to roll back changes if necessary in order to restore your computer to a previous working state.
Windows 8 takes this idea much further, introducing two new ways to restore your PC to an earlier state. Under Settings you’ll now find options to “Refresh your PC” and “Remove everything and reinstall Windows”. These options are also found in the Troubleshooting interface that appears at startup if Windows can’t boot properly.
These two options are based on the same concept – an automatic, in-place reinstallation of Windows that restores the underlying system to pristine condition. The difference is in the data and settings that are retained. As you’d expect, the “Remove everything” option wipes the system completely, including your data and settings. “Refresh” keeps copies of your personal files and remembers important settings, such as network connections and saved BitLocker keys. It also retains any “modern” tablet-style apps – as these are heavily sandboxed, they’re unlikely to be the cause of the problem.
These features may sound pedestrian, but they mean PC manufacturers no longer need to produce recovery discs and partitions, and they ensure that everybody running Windows 8 can easily revert to a fresh installation state without losing their data.
Most helpfully, Windows 8 even allows you to customise your Refresh image. For example, you might choose to take a snapshot of your system with your Outlook mail configured and Visual Studio installed, to which you can easily roll back in case of system failure. You can do this using the new recimg command-line tool. To use it, open a command prompt as Administrator and enter: recimg -CreateImage C:
This will make an image of your PC, place it in the root of the C drive (you can specify a different directory if you like), and automatically set it as the default Refresh image. Enter recimg /? to see the full list of options for recimg.
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