Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows 8.1 David F. Soll Chief Technology Officer Omicron Development LLC

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Agenda Introduction Genealogy Editions Windows 8 Overview Metro Start Menu Demonstration Conclusions

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Introduction Presenter: David F. Soll President and Chief Technology Officer, Omicron Development Vice Chair, PCJS IEEE Past Chair, Princeton/Central NJ IEEE Computer Society Senior Member of the IEEE Recipient of the IEEE Region 1 Award Past Chair, Princeton Chapter of the ACM Senior Member of the ACM Chair, TCF IT Professional Conference Over 30 years in computing

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Genealogy Windows 1.x, 2.x, /286, /386 Never a commercial “hit” Windows 3.0, 3.1, and bit, ran on top of MS-DOS Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5 First 32 bit Windows not reliant on MS-DOS Runs utilizing protected mode of the processor Windows 95, 98, and ME 16 bit, still reliant on MS-DOS Windows 2000 Next generation of Windows NT Both Server and Workstation Windows XP Built from Windows 2000 Workstation only O/S Windows Server 2003 Server only platform built with Windows XP & 2000 base Windows Vista Built from Windows XP & Server 2003 Major security changes from XP and Server 2003 Many Look and Feel Changes Windows Server 2008 Server only platform built from Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista Windows 7 Built from Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Improvements to UAC and other security mechanisms Windows Server 2008 R2 Based on Windows 7, server only O/S Windows 8 Built from Windows 7 Borrows from Windows Phone O/S Windows Server 2012 Based on Windows 8 Uses the same start screen as Win 8 Windows 8.1 Based on Windows 8 with minor improvements Windows Server 2012 R2 Similar enhancements as Windows 8.1

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows 8.1 Editions Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Pro Windows 8.1 Enterprise Windows RT 8.1 Note: Unlike Windows Vista and Windows 7, there are no Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate editions.

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Differences in Editions FeaturesWindows RT 8.1Windows 8.1Windows 8.1 ProWindows 8.1 Enterprise AvailabilityPre-installed onlyMost channels Volume License ArchitectureARM (32-bit)x86 or x64 Maximum RAM (32-bit)4 GB Maximum RAM (64-bit)n/a128 GB512 GB DesktopPartialYes Supported 3rd Party Windows Store AppsYes Supported 3rd Party Desktop AppsNoYes Remote DesktopClient only Client and host Storage SpacesNoYes Windows Media PlayerNoYes Encryption featuresDevice encryptionUnavailableBitLocker and EFS Sideload Windows Store appsPartialNoPartial Boot from VHDNo Yes Can join a Windows domain?No Yes Group PolicyNo Yes Hyper-V ClientNo On 64-bit versions only with SLAT capable CPU AppLockerNo Yes Windows To GoNo Yes DirectAccessNo Yes BranchCacheNo Yes Can be virtualized by RemoteFX?No Yes Services for Network File SystemNo Yes Microsoft Office apps bundled with OSYesNo Windows Media CenterNo Via an add-inNo

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows Upgrade Path Note: Upgrades from cross architecture are not supported (i.e.: From 32 bit to 64 bit)

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows 8.1 Overview Unified Operating System for: PCs Tablets Smart Phones New User Interface Design “Touch First” Two Versions: Windows 8.1 Supports Intel/AMD (x86 and x64) Windows RT 8.1 Supports ARM (Advanced RISC Machine - 32 bit processor)

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ New Windows API (Win RT) Windows NT through 7 uses Win32 API Old style programming model Win RT uses a new Object Oriented Programming model New style programming model Windows RT 8.1 only supports Win RT Windows 8.1 supports both Win RT and Win 32

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows Store App Style New style of applications called Store App style applications using Modern UI Code named “Metro” style No longer called Metro due to legal issues App Store Style Applications do NOT window They have 2 modes: Full screen Snapped Mode (side by side) Snapped mode requires 1366 x 768 or higher resolution Store Apps use Win RT

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Store App vs. Traditional Traditional apps are windowed Store Apps take over the whole desktop Traditional applications live within the legacy desktop Store Apps have their own display space (they take up the whole desktop) All apps participate in the application rotation (i.e.: Alt-tab and Windows-tab) including the desktop itself Store App icons (well, they’re not really icons, they call them “tiles”) can be “live” Store Apps use Win RT, Traditional Apps use Win 32 Traditional apps have “chrome”, Store apps don’t

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ New UI New Desktop Experience: Modern UI Originally appeared on Windows Phone 7 Operating System Provides an easy to use interface for touch screens (such as tablets and smart phones) Can switch to classic mode via registry edit New Internet Explorer (actually 2 of them) Dedicated Modern UI version No add-in No tabs Application Style Similar to current IE experience

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Other New Features Multi-touch Gestures Store SkyDrive OneDrive Snap Charms File History When installing, if connected to the internet Windows tries to use your Microsoft Live account

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Updated Desktop Apps Some of the desktop has been improved Windows Explorer now has a ribbon New Math Input Panel Not very useful on a desktop Many new or rewritten re-written in Store App Mail People Messaging Calendar Maps Weather Music Photos Video Camera SkyDrive News Travel Finance Store Internet Explorer

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Who Stole the Start Menu? The Start Menu has been replaced Windows 8 has no start button Windows 8.1 adds it back Now, the start menu is a full screen interface The start screen doesn’t look like a menu Supports a search Segregates the results (apps, settings, files, etc.) Shows Store Apps differently than legacy Supports a “Show all apps” (right click) Also supports a show shrunken menu (click at bottom right)

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ How do you shut down? 3 Ways: Press the power button Use the settings “Charm” Right-click on the Start Menu button

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Demonstration

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Review of Windows 8 IEEE Spectrum Magazine published an article interviewing software guru Jakob Nielsen and his review of Windows 8 ( windows-a- mistake/?utm_source=computerwise&utm_medium= &utm_campaign=121212) windows-a- mistake/?utm_source=computerwise&utm_medium= &utm_campaign= Nielsen Concluded: “Windows 8 is week on tablets, terrible on PCs” ( terrible-pcs) terrible-pcs Neilsen tested Windows 8 by having 12 experienced users try Windows 8 on both PCs and Surface RT tablets

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Nielsen Review (cont’d.) Users have to learn and remember where to go for which features. When running web browsers in both device areas, users will only see (and be reminded of) a subset of their open web pages at any given time. Switching between environments increases the interaction cost of using multiple features. The two environments work differently, making for an inconsistent user experience.“ One of the worst aspects of Windows 8 for power users is that the product's very name has become a misnomer. "Windows" no longer supports multiple windows on the screen.

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Nielsen Review (cont’d.) Icons are supposed to (a) help users interpret the system, and (b) attract clicks. Not the Win8 icons. As a result of the Surface's incredibly low information density, users are relegated to incessant scrolling to get even a modest overview of the available information. The underlying problem is the idea of recycling a single software UI for two very different classes of hardware devices. It would have been much better to have two different designs: one for mobile and tablets, and one for the PC.

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Conclusions The new Store App interface is good for phones and tablets but may not be optimal for a laptop or a desktop Basic underlying functionality is still Windows 7 based (plus the Win RT infrastructure) The fast boot is amazing The lack of Windowing for Store Apps is puzzling

Omicron Development 16 Union Street Medford, NJ Windows 8.1 David F. Soll Chief Technology Officer Omicron Development LLC This presentation is available at: