If you’re curious what Windows 8 will be all about, Microsoft has announced on USENET newsgroups that it is now offering a Developer Preview of the operating system at its current stage of development. It’s a pre-beta version and while it is designed for developers, it’s available for anybody to download without registering.
It’s available in three packages. Choose from a 64-bit version with developer tools, a 64-bit version of only the OS, and a 32-bit version of the OS. They come as ISO files, and as each package is a few gigabytes, you’ll want to use a DVD if you’re looking to burn them to a disc.
As for the OS itself, it’s said to re-imagine what Windows is. “Things are a lot different than they were three years ago in computing,” said Steven Sinofsky, who heads Windows and Windows Live. “And they’re a lot, lot different than they were in, say, 1995, the last time Windows went through a pretty significant and bold overhaul.”
Windows 8 was designed as a touch-first system and Sinofsky expects that touch screen PCs will become more popular when the new OS is released and grows more popular. “I promise you,” Sinofsky said, “the minute you use a touch device with Windows 8, the moment you go back to your laptop or desktop, you’ll have fingerprints all over your screen.”
Other key features of the new Windows OS include the use of less memory than Windows 7, but the continued support of Windows 7. It also features full USB 3.0 support. The user interface will use hardware-accelerated graphics, too.
As Windows goes through another overhaul and is ‘re-imagined’ in the latest release, Usenet continues to be a useful tool for those wishing to share information, ideas and announce new innovations and projects among the tech savvy. Providers like Thundernews, who offer fast connections, high rates of retention and a large number of connections, continue to provide excellent, premium service as Usenet stays strong through waves and waves of technological advances. Usenet preceded the internet and has seen operating systems come and go, and remains a useful tool for discussing different topics in the vast array of newsgroups.
