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Windows 8 review
It's unusual, to say the least, for us to spend a year with a product before publishing our review. In the case of Windows 8, we've written thousands of words already, starting with our first hands-on in September of 2011, followed by deep dives on the Developer Preview, Consumer Preview, Release Preview and RTM build. Even our readers have had ample time to get acquainted with the OS -- it's been available as a public download since February. And yet, we've never tested a final version of the software running on brand new, made-for-Windows-8 hardware. With the OS now on sale (alongside dozens of new PCs), it's finally time for us to double back and revisit everything we've previously written in the form of a final, comprehensive review. And what a challenging assignment this was: it's hard enough to give an OS the full review treatment without burying the reader in minute details. It's even tougher when the software was built for so many different kinds of hardware. Combining a traditional desktop with Windows Phone-inspired Live Tiles, Windows 8 was designed to be equally at home on traditional PCs and more finger-friendly devices, like tablets and hybrids. In addition to walking you through the operating system's various gestures and built-in apps, then, we'll spend some time talking about which form factors are best suited to this redesigned version of Windows. Read on to see what we found out.
Microsoft announces new entertainment and game studio focused on Windows 8 tablet development
Windows 8 slates are riding a wave of 40 Xbox titles into an October launch, and now Microsoft has laid the foundation to deliver more games with a brand new studio focused on tablet development. The currently unnamed, London-based outfit will be headed by former Rare Production Director Lee Schuneman, who has shepherded Kinect Sports titles, the Xbox 360 Avatars, Fable: The Journey and the Xbox's Sky TV app to completion. Slabs running Redmond's latest OS won't see a project from the team for a while, however, as the studio is still looking for new hires and won't open its doors until November.
Xbox 360 pops up in Win 8 code, console game compatibility coming to the PC?
It's no secret that Microsoft is planning on integrating Xbox LIVE into Windows 8, but rumors are now swirling that Xbox 360 games might actually be playable on the next version of Redmond's OS. References to "XBOX_360_SYSTEM_CRASH" have been found in the kernel code -- an odd bit of text to show up in software that's not designed to run on the 360's PowerPC CPU. There are, of course, other, more mundane possibilities -- like the ability to remotely control your console to trigger update and game downloads, or to receive notifications from the machine on your desktop. But, if Microsoft is bringing Xbox titles to the PC, it would only serve to solidify Windows as the platform of choice gamers. Guess we'll just have to wait bated breath to see what Ballmer has to tell us in January.
