2Posted by Brian Cui on September 21, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Windows 8 is coming out fairly soon, just a few years after the release of Windows 7 – and it packs a lot of new changes like you would expect from any major update for Windows. A big issue that’s been bugging Windows users since the beginning is Windows’ long boot times – even on a fast machine, it takes at least 30 seconds to get to the desktop. No more with Windows 8 – by replacing your BIOS (the white text on black during a bootup) with its own, allowing your system to start loading Windows 8 as soon as you press the power button.
Browsers have always been simplifying their layouts over the decade, starting with big, blocky buttons to small, compact interfaces meant for saving screen space and hence increasing room for browsing. While extra space to view webpages is nice, smaller buttons get harder and harder to aim for. Have you noticed Chrome’s close tab button? It’s pretty small, and if you want to close an individual tab quickly, you better have some serious cursor-aiming skills. Mouse gestures bring a new form of navigation to the table, and frankly, I feel that it’s quite important to learn them.
Just three months after Mozilla released Firefox 4, the next version is already here: Firefox 5. It’s a little surprising that a new version of Firefox has enough changes to be called an entire new version number, considering the time it took for Firefox 3 to get to Firefox 4 – but Mozilla boasts over 1000 changes, better support for web standards, a new privacy feature, and more. Continue after the break for more details and the download link to this excellent, well-rounded browser.
We already know that Windows 8 is going to get a major overhaul in terms of the user interface, and one of them is the inclusion of the Ribbon interface everywhere. New screenshots of Windows 8 reveal the use of the Ribbon interface right in Windows Explorer. The use of the Ribbon interface brings a few features right into Windows Explorer that you wouldn’t have found as easily in Windows 7. What does this mean for netbooks, though?
The folks over at WinRumors have gotten a few screenshots of the new Task Manager that’s built into the next version of Windows, known simply as “Windows 8″ for now (no official name has yet to be given). It sports a new, overhauled interface including several optimizations for tablet users. Another photo after the break.
Our favorite browser, Opera, has been updated to 11.10! The new release includes the usual speed updates and some interface changes as well. Opera’s signature Speed Dial has been revamped to now support unlimited links and thumbnails, and Opera Turbo has gotten some improvements as well. Hop over the break for a quick run down and a download link.
The upcoming Windows 8, scheduled to release around 2012, is known to support not just the Aero interface, but a more streamlined Metro-like interface found on Windows Phone 7 devices. This new interface will be aimed at devices with smaller screens (netbooks, maybe?) and is called Immersive. With Windows 8 “Milestone 3″ being released already, a few screenshots have been leaked – including a demo of the Immersive version of Internet Explorer. Could this mean a completely new Windows experience for those stuck on tiny 1024×600 screens?
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