One of the most frequent question that people ask when buying a new OS is that, “What can I do with this OS that I can’t do with my current OS?” In other words, what killer new features this OS has got that can convince me to buy it? Well, Windows 8 is the most significant OS upgrade we have ever had. There are tons of new features, and we are pretty you will be convinced, if you are one of those. So lets get started.
1. Windows Store and Metro (Modern) Apps
Windows 8 brings support for Modern Apps formerly known as Metro Apps. These are lighter apps mostly created with simple HTML/JavaScript. They launch faster, work in full screen and they have live tiles that update themselves to give you an overview of what’s going on. For example, the Weather app will show you the latest weather info of your location. Simply, these tiles work like widgets but in a more organized and efficient way.
Just like android has Google Play and iPhone has and Appstore and Macs have a Mac Store, Windows 8 has got its own store, the Windows Store. App installation is as easy as a click of mouse, and fraud/virus is not likely. Worldwide payment systems are supported. Considering the fact that Windows is the most famous of any Mobile/PC operating systems out there, we can expect a huge number of Apps on this store. You will not need to go to the web to read news, check out weather, watch your stocks, listen to online music, find photos, see your social updates, watch videos, check scores, shop and many other things. Because there are apps for these.
In addition, your PC comes with a number of Metro (Modern) Apps. These currently include Mail, Internet Explorer, Finance, Sports, News, Weather, Music, Video, Reader, Calendar, Messaging, People, Photos, SkyDrive, Xbox Live Games, Travel, Camera and Bing Apps.
2. Built-in-Antivirus
Windows Defender on Windows 8 is not like the one on Windows 7. On Windows 7, we only get spyware protection, contrast; Windows Defender in Windows 8 is a full Antivirus providing the same level of security as Microsoft Security Essentials.
3. New Task Manager
Windows Task Manager has been totally overhauled. It offers several new features that the previous task manger did not.
It has two views, simple view which just shows a list of apps that are running and detailed view that is shown in the screenshot. In detailed view, running processes and Apps both are shown. On the performance tab, you can see detailed performance of your Processor, RAM, Disk, Ethernet, Wi-Fi (and may be 3G/4G network too, if available). On the App history, you can check the usage stats such as time, network usage, tile update data usage etc.
Previously we would require third-party software to disable unnecessary startup programs. Now the new task manager enables you to view any new start up programs, their impact on start up and enable or disable any of these, which is just awesome.
There is so much to write about this new task manager but lets be concise, the new task manager is a greatly improved.
4. Family Safety:
Family safety enables administrators/parents to control the type of content that other users can see.
5. Refresh and Reset
New to Windows 8 are two new recovery functions, named Refresh and Reset, both of which make a complete restore easier than a re-installation. The former keeps all settings and files of the user intact and only reverses all changes to Windows files to its original state and removes all installed programs and apps. The latter deletes all files and effectively re-installs Windows, but without any additional user input such as agreeing to license agreements or selecting a hard disk required. After a reset completes, the user will be asked for the product key and will then proceed to account creation.
6. Boot security
Windows 8 will support the UEFI secure boot feature. This will enable a new foundation for an architecturally neutral approach to platform and firmware security.
7. Multi-monitor support
Windows 8 also includes improved support for multi-monitor configurations; the taskbar can now be shown on multiple displays, and each display can also show its own dedicated taskbar. Wallpapers can also be spanned across multiple displays, or each display can have its own separate wallpaper.
8. Delete Easily
Now you can delete (send to recycle bin) items without being asked for confirmation, which makes sense. Previously, when you would try deleting (sending to recycle bin) an item, you would be asked if you are sure about this. But hey, sending to the recycle bin is not a risk at all, you can always recover what you sent there. Confirmation for this action is rather a pain. Now, in Windows 8 it just happens with one click (Del button) which is really cool. However, if you try to delete something permanently by pressing Shift+Del or by emptying recycle bin , you will be asked for confirmation, which again makes sense.
9. Performance Improved
Windows 8 performs better, in almost every operation. Boot, sleep, wake, hibernate, resume, copying, 3D performance, everything. Later on, we will give a detailed account of this.
10. USB 3.0 Support
USB 3.0 is support is built-in, which means much faster transfer rates than USB 2.
11. Windows Messaging
Of course there are several messaging softwares available for windows, but built-in messenger has a big advantage that everyone has it. The moment you turn on your pc, you are online and anyone can reach out to you. The same messaging app is on windows phone too. If you have used Apple’s iMessage, you know what we mean. In addition, this messenger has Facebook messaging integrated, which means your Facebook friends can reach you and you can reach them.
15. Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a virtualization software, its not for everyone, but its great for those who need it. Hypervisor technology is software on which multiple virtual machines can run, with the hypervisor layer controlling the hardware and allocating resources to each.
16. Virtual Hard disk format
Windows 8 offers a new virtual hard disk format which supports up to 16 terabytes of storage. According to reports, it has built-in resiliency and protection from corruption due to power failures. This is one of the best new feature in windows 8. It also helps prevent performance degradation on some large-sector physical disks
17. Storage Spaces
Storage Spaces is a technology which allows the organization of physical disks into logical volumes. A storage space will behave like a physical disk to the user, with thin provisioning of available disk space. Great hmm?
18. Support for 3G/4G Networks
Windows 8 supports 3G and 4G networks so that you can connect your computer to these wireless networks while on the move, without connecting your cell phone via Wi-Fi tethering, provided that your PC comes with built-in support for SIM cards.
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