Windows 8 Editions Revealed

Published on April 16, 2012 By Island Dog In Personal Computing

One of my biggest gripes with Windows in past years has been the ridiculous amount of versions/SKU’s for Windows. It was confusing to both consumers and business customers, and I was concerned this would happen again to Windows 8. I was wrong and I am glad about that.

Today Microsoft announced the Windows 8 Editions and there are only a few to choose from: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT.

For PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors (both 32 and 64 bit), we will have two editions: Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. For many consumers, Windows 8 will be the right choice. It will include all the features above plus an updated Windows Explorer, Task Manager, better multi-monitor support and the ability to switch languages on the fly (more details on this feature can be found in this blog post),which was previously only available in Enterprise/Ultimate editions of Windows. For China and a small set of select emerging markets, we will offer a local language-only edition of Windows 8.

Windows RT is the ARM version and will only be available on PC’s and Tablets pre-installed. This edition will also include a touch optimized version of Office.

I’m glad they have simplified Windows 8, and I’m looking even more forward to getting the final release.

Check the Windows Blog for a comparison of features between editions.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/04/16/announcing-the-windows-8-editions.aspx

Comments (Page 2)

starkers

on Apr 17, 2012

Thanks for the heads up, Aaron, I'll give it a try once I've had some sleep.... 1.52am here in Oz and I'm tired as.

Savyg

on Apr 17, 2012

Zubaz

reply 15

I've not tried it yet, but here is a link to skip or switch to the desktop on startup. http://www.wiztechie.com/2012/03/windows-8-consumer-preview-bypass-metro-start-screen-and-show-desktop-on-startup/[/quote]

I'm sad that I had to ditch win8. It was way more efficient.

But no drivers for my 3g modem and gaming was less than stellar for many titles.

(Yes, I can still use it with internet, no, I'm not going to dual boot. Too annoying.)

Rhadagast

on Apr 17, 2012

RDP access is the only feature of XP/Vista/7 home that was missing that I always needed. Hopefully they will allow it in 8, but I doubt it.

happyboy7

on Apr 17, 2012

gevansmd

reply 2

LOL, the blog says, "It’s beautiful". Yeah right, it looks like the boxes Fisher Price toys come in.

hahaha, good one!

Excalpius

on Apr 17, 2012

Wizard1956

reply 1

I'm going for the Not On My PC Edition.

Agreed. Not until there is a Metro-less release.

lee3908870

on Apr 17, 2012

Haaaaaaaa! the boo birds are out again. . .

Philly0381

on Apr 17, 2012

lee3908870

reply 21

Haaaaaaaa! the boo birds are out again. . .

It all comes down to being a customer or user and our own individual choices. It's not always that folks are reluctant to change.

gevansmd

on Apr 17, 2012

Windows 8

Fisher Price

starkers

on Apr 18, 2012

The other thing that pisses me off about Metro apps concept is MS' trying to emulate Apple, etc, and cash in on other folks works by taking a 30% slice off the top. While it may seem a paltry amount per app, though probably not to the author, it will net MS millions upon millions, and for mine, that's just not right. It's certainly not a market I will buy into... or from. All the functionality and eye candy I need is in my purchased software and freeware I've downloaded, so apps and tile thingies are not something that'll get on my systems.

Savyg

on Apr 18, 2012

gevansmd

reply 23

Windows 8

Reduced 75%Original 800 x 450

Fisher Price

Reduced 88%Original 500 x 500

sooooo use the dev preview instead of the consumer preview a lot to 'prove' your point do you

Uvah

on Apr 18, 2012

Sadly, given Microstuff's track record, i doubt the RTM will be much different than the consumer preview. Sure...they may tweak it here and there but in the end same ole bleh!

gevansmd

on Apr 18, 2012

quoting: "sooooo use the dev preview instead of the consumer preview a lot to 'prove' your point do you"

I have neither as I currently don't have a PC to spare a test run, I grabbed a screenshot from the web. Many reviewers have commented on the garish colors. I simply attached a description to that, calling it the Fisher Price interface. I used to call XP the Crayola interface because of its use of primary colors but it was no way near as ugly as Metro. I've read reviews and seen video demos and know how it generally looks.

However, beyond its appearance, forcing desktop and notebook users into a touch screen interface is stupid. The x86 and ARM versions are already incompatible enough they could have simply kept Metro for tablets and the old desktop for keyboard based PCs. My first reaction to Metro was a Facebook post I made, "Microsoft porting its ugly and failed Windows 7 phone interface to the desktop."

starkers

on Apr 18, 2012

Uvah

reply 26

Sadly, given Microstuff's track record, i doubt the RTM will be much different than the consumer preview. Sure...they may tweak it here and there but in the end same ole bleh!

One would hope MS tweaks it enough to make the standard desktop the default UI on PC editions, with Metro as an alternate for the handful of people who like it. However, it is doubtful and I won't hold my breath that MS is watching the negative towards Win 8 threads plastered all over the internet.

The other thought one would hope MS has, and that is towards its hardware manufacturing partners/RTM's. If Win 8 is a dead set flop, which it seems likely to be given all the negative feedback to date, then all those PC's with Win 8 pre-installed will largely remain on the shelf, thus risking profits and jobs right across the industry.

There may be some sales from those who have no choice but to update their hardware, but me thinks it will be much like in the days of Vista, when users promptly had XP installed on the machine as soon as they got home. In this case, those users will revert back to Win 7 and wait for an improved Win 9 -10 or 11... without Metro, or they'll switch to a Mac or Linux. In any event, I can bet the other developers [Apple - Linux] are rubbing their hands with glee over this Metro disaster.

GigaByte69

on Apr 18, 2012

RDP access is the only feature of XP/Vista/7 home that was missing that I always needed. Hopefully they will allow it in 8, but I doubt it.

Have you tried the Windows Live Mesh, part of the windows Live Essentials Pack

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-CA/windows-live/essentials-other-programs

GigaByte69

MarvinKosh

on Apr 19, 2012

Windows releases go a bit like Star Trek sequels, except it's the even-numbered ones that suck.

Wake me up when they ship Windows with time-travelling Borg.

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