Posts tagged windows 8
How To: Fix Outgoing Email for IMAP Accounts in Windows 8 / RT Mail
Dec 1st
Windows 8 / RT Metro Mail App
The Metro-style Mail app in Windows 8 / RT works well enough for Exchange accounts and email hosted on Outlook.com, Gmail, and the like. But the app has no support at all for POP3 accounts and a broken implementation of IMAP. POP is arguably an old, outdated tech (despite many ISPs still using it exclusively), but IMAP is still the primary email protocol for non-Exchange servers, so it’s a problem.
Read on after the break for a workaround for one of the app’s bugs.
Microsoft previews Windows Phone 8: NT core, new Start tiles, multi-core CPUs, VoIP, NFC
Jun 20th
Microsoft just concluded the Windows Phone Summit, where it announced Windows Phone 8. The event highlighted only platform-level changes, not final end-user features, but there was still plenty to cover. Most significantly, Windows Phone is moving from the Windows CE kernel to the same Windows NT components underlying Windows 8. Windows Phone 8 features a revised Start screen with resizable live tiles, higher screen resolutions, support for removable memory cards, and more.
Like Windows 8, the new phone OS will feature background multitasking for apps like VoIP services (e.g. Skype) and turn-by-turn GPS navigation, along with native C/C++ code support and NFC.
However, all the changes mean that no current Windows Phone 7.x handsets will support the new OS. Microsoft will release a Windows Phone 7.8 update, though, to add the new Start screen to WP 7.5 phones.
Read on after the break for all the new platform features announced:
Microsoft unveils new Windows 8 logo
Feb 18th
Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system is shaping up to be one of the most significant updates in the company’s history, featuring a new Windows Phone-inspired Metro tile interface, support for ARM processors (so the same OS will run everything from a tablet or netbook to a workstation), and much more. Now the winds of change have reached the Windows logo as well. A new post on the Windows team blog explains that Microsoft turned for advice to design agency Pentagram, which asked a simple but pointed question: ”your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”
The design process resulted in a four-paned window that looks a bit more in line with the Metro design language. That said, both Metro and “Swiss design,” which the post cites as inspiration, are about flat, 2D surfaces, and this logo has a tilt. Windows Phone tiles do rotate when loading, but the 3D effect is only during animation– it’s all flat once loaded. In any case, Microsoft says the new logo will change colors to match the user’s desktop.
Windows logos through history
See the Windows team blog post for the full design story.
Microsoft: Windows 8 will support ARM processors
Jan 5th
Microsoft dropped a bombshell at CES today, announcing that the next version of the Windows OS will run on ARM processors. The company stated that Windows for ARM will run on SoC (System on a Chip) architectures and will support hardware accelerated web browsing, media playback, and peripheral support on par with standard x86 Windows.
The move is aimed at extending the Windows experience to new devices. ”Windows PCs will continue to adapt and evolve,” CEO Steve Ballmer said in his keynote. “It means Windows will be everywhere on every kind of device without compromise.” The company showed off demo units running a future version of Windows (but with the user interface from Windows 7) on ARM chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Texas Instruments.
The ARM-powered machines were running just Internet Explorer 9, Office for ARM, and an Epson printer driver. The Nvidia Tegra 2 demo box, however, was nonetheless impressive, smoothly playing the Iron Man 2 trailer in 1080p and running the IE9 HTML5 demos without any hiccups.
Read on for more details about Microsoft’s ARM announcement, and see our Smartphone Processor Guide for more information about ARM’s SoC processor architectures.
Microsoft employees: Windows 8 “mind-blowing,” “completely different”
Feb 10th
Over the last two weeks, a couple of Microsoft employees have written quite excitedly about Windows 8. On January 31, a post went up on the MSDN blog, entitled “What’s in store for the next Windows?” The post has since been taken down, but we accessed a Google-cached version and have posted the text below. It doesn’t reveal a whole lot about the OS (which the post refers to as “Windows.next”) but talks quite excitedly about Windows team head Steve Sinofsky’s ability to bring together all the Windows groups towards a common goal. More info below.
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