Tag Archives: Windows8ConsumerPreview

Microsoft details Windows 8 Calendar app design, wants to ‘show your life clearly’

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As part of its "Building Windows 8" blog series, Redmond has been doling inside info on apps like Mail and People, and now it's Calendar's turn in the spotlight. Steven Sinofsky blogged that one of the primary marks was to serve up a clear view of your life, and the team wanted Calendar to be easy to read and distraction free. To bring that about, it kept the info displayed to a minimum, giving users the option to easily change colors for important events and drop distracting ones from view if necessary. The designers also stressed ease of navigation, a simple interface for adding events, copious notification options and and advanced scheduling tricks -- like a full page of notes for each event. Of course, Microsoft also wanted to ensure the app conforms to Metro design standards and functionality, and it seems to fit that mold in spades. Sinofsky also said that a lot of user feedback was accounted for, so be sure to check the source to see if that "Caturday" idea made the cut.

Microsoft details Windows 8 Calendar app design, wants to 'show your life clearly' originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft explains Windows 8’s Mail app, promises more changes to come

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Microsoft details Windows 8's Mail app, promises more changes to come

It's not often that the folks in Redmond get to debut a new operating system as big as Windows 8, so we can't really blame them for going on at length about every feature of it. The latest to get the in-depth treatment on the Building Windows 8 blog is the Mail app, which has already gone through some fairly big changes since the Consumer Preview and is apparently set to receive even more before the final release. As Microsoft's Jeremy Epling explains in the post, central to the latest version is a three-pane view that's designed to take advantage of the 16:9 ratio Windows 8 is optimized for, and make the best use of all the space afforded by the full-screen "window" -- the latest release is now able to display 14 messages at a time at the standard 1366 x 768 resolution, for instance, as opposed to just 8.5 in the Consumer Preview version. It's also, of course, deeply integrated into Windows 8 itself, even taking advantage of a new networking APIs to detect if you're on a metered network and only download the first first 20KB of each message body if that's the case. Unfortunately, Epling didn't divulge much about those promised future changes, noting only that there are "many more features on the way." In the meantime, you can find out more than you may have wanted to know about Mail in its current state at the link below.

Microsoft explains Windows 8's Mail app, promises more changes to come originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video)

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If you're a multitasking extraordinaire who depends on Windows as your primary computing platform of choice, there's a good chance you utilize more than one monitor to get your work done -- unfortunately, the seventh iteration of Microsoft's OS didn't offer as much support in this arena as most display warriors would prefer. The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 offered a few functionality improvements, and with its upcoming Release Preview, Microsoft is focusing on further enhancing the experience. Mark Yalovsky, a lead program manager on the User Experience team, put together a lengthy piece on what kind of goodies we can expect.

Among the highlighted changes is the ability to access the Start, app switching and charms menus from the corners on any monitor, rather than just having these options locked to only the primary display. The Release Preview also improves shared edges and corners so that the flow of cross-display navigation won't get interrupted by obnoxious corners popping up when you don't intend them to. Finally, the option of dragging and dropping Metro-style apps (as well as snapped apps) between monitors has also been included in the new build. These enhancements may seem small, but will go a long way toward appeasing those of us who can't live without more than one screen. For the full listing of feature changes, view Microsoft's video below and check out Mark's post at the source.

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Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aperion unveils the ARIS wireless speaker, invites Windows devices to the wireless shindig for $499

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Aperion unveils the ARIS wireless speaker, invites Windows devices to the wireless shindig for $499

Jealous of your iOS-wielding mates and their fancy AirPlay docks? If so, Aperion Audio is looking provide some relief. The outfit has revealed the ARIS, a wireless speaker that makes use of the Play To feature that resides within the Windows OS. You can expect WiFi or Ethernet connectivity via your home network at the push of a button, enabling the 100W RMS speaker to blast your tunes from across the room without creating a cable obstacle course. The kit is housed in a brushed aluminum enclosure that rests atop an adjustable / removable steel base and features three sounds modes for your listening pleasure: natural, bass boost and enhanced stereo. There's also an ARIS app that allows you to select music from any device on the network for playback on the speaker -- transforming your smartphone into a remote control of sorts. Should the need arise for wired streaming (via non-Windows devices, we'd surmise), an auxiliary jack resides on the speaker's backside. If you're looking to snag one, it'll set you back $499. Still interested? Take a gander at the gallery below before hitting the source link to pre-order yours to ship next month.

Gallery: Aperion ARIS wireless speaker

Continue reading Aperion unveils the ARIS wireless speaker, invites Windows devices to the wireless shindig for $499

Aperion unveils the ARIS wireless speaker, invites Windows devices to the wireless shindig for $499 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 03:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft details memory reclaiming process within Metro-style apps

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Microsoft has made clear that Metro-style apps will be "suspended" when they aren't the foremost app that's running, enabling the associated CPU to divert its power to more... shall we say, pressing matters. But for those wondering about memory in the aforesaid scenario, there's an entire post now dedicated to explaining precisely that. Microsoft's own Bill Karagounis -- group program manager on the Fundamentals team -- has penned a behind-the-scenes look at how memory will be reclaimed within Windows 8, even when Metro-style apps are suspended. The long and short of it is this: starting with Windows 8 Consumer Preview, "whenever Windows detects memory pressure on the system, it will repurpose nearly all the memory that suspended Metro style apps would otherwise hold onto; [the OS] can reclaim this memory without having to terminate an app." For those seeking an even deeper understanding, the source link has your name written all over it.

Microsoft details memory reclaiming process within Metro-style apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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