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The 30 Best Features of Windows

Posted by timothy on from the double-glazing-is-delicious dept.

Barence writes "PC Pro has picked out its 30 best features of Windows 8. Its countdown includes features such as the revamped Task Manager, the option to run ISOs and VHDs natively, and Windows To Go, which allows you to take a portable installation of Windows 8 with you." They've also listed ten features they'd like to see added to Windows 8, "including the return of the Start button on the desktop, virtual desktops and one-click sharing of optical drives."

9 of 470 comments (clear)

  1. Features already present in previous versions by goonerw · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yet another "click here dozens of times so we can get more advertising revenue" article. This could have been done in 3-4 pages, not 10+.

    They also clearly haven't used Windows 7 as it has the ability to mount VHDs as well. (Windows 8 improves upon that by adding ISO mounting support) The way they wrote that "feature" is as if the VHD mounting is absent in previous versions.

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    LOAD ".SIG"
    PRESS PLAY ON TAPE
    1. Re:Features already present in previous versions by Tr3vin · · Score: 5, Informative

      /posted using a BSD-derivitive, the One True Modern OS! OS X!!

      So, BSD (which predates the mid-90's by a bit) with more pretty colors and a much larger memory footprint? That OS X?

  2. Ten features we'd like to see in PC Pro stories by sootman · · Score: 5, Informative

    10. Quit whoring for pageviews with needlessly split up articles

    Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next

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  3. Poorly written article by bertok · · Score: 4, Informative

    Half of those "new" features are already in Windows 7, like AppLocker. I have USB3 support now. Sure, it's not "native", but it works, so who cares?

    A lot more interesting are the new features under the hood of Windows 8 server. Take a look at this article for example: Optimizing for Latency-Sensitive Applications: scenario overview.

    Sure, it's not visible or shiny, but wow those are some big changes!

  4. Re:8p for W8 by desdinova+216 · · Score: 4, Informative

    if you click the link marked print this you will get everything on one page, yes it pops into another window....

  5. The List by TranquilVoid · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's the list not spread over 9 pages. I'm surprised there are 30 new things worth commenting on.

    #1. Interactive tiles

    #2. Task Manager

    #3. Run ISOs and VHDs natively

    #4. No new hardware requirements

    #5. Airplane mode

    #6. SkyDrive integration

    #7. Windows Store

    #8. Interactive lock screen

    #9. Split-screen apps

    #10. Split touch keyboard

    #11. App contracts

    #12. Fewer surprise restarts

    #13. Cross-device synchronisation

    #14. Improved 3G support

    #15. Built-in antivirus

    #16. Picture passwords

    #17. Instant search

    #18. Windows To Go

    #19. Secure Boot

    #20. Revamped Explorer

    #21. Restore PC

    #22. Thumbnail previews

    #23. Metro groups

    #24. Kinect for Windows

    #25. AppLocker

    #26. Reset PC

    #27. File copy revamp

    #28. Faster boot times

    #29. Native USB 3 support

    #30. Panoramic background images

    1. Re:The List by bmo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Thank you for your enumeration. I will respond to these one by each.

      #1. Interactive tiles
      "The Metro start screen may not be everyone's cup of tea," Well, that's putting it very mildly.
      Metro specific. Start screen specific. Who cares. Just get that start screen out of my way, plox.
      #2. Task Manager
      Improved. Decent. One of the nicest task managers I've used. Now if only someone could port htop to Windows.
      #3. Run ISOs and VHDs natively
      About friggin' time. Linux has been doing this since forever ago. But you won't be able to play DVDs out of the box. Noooo.... You need to buy the Plus Pack for that. It's as if it's really 1998.
      #4. No new hardware requirements
      Well, considering the bloat going from XP to Vista/7 one would hope not. It's still too big for virtualizing.
      #5. Airplane mode
      Woopdedoo. Here is my airplane mode: Put on headphones. Listen to music. Sleep. Ignore person in seat next to me as much as possible.
      #6. SkyDrive integration
      This should be expected. SkyDrive doesn't suck.
      #7. Windows Store
      But forget about buying non-metro apps in it.
      #8. Interactive lock screen
      Tits on a bull useless. A lockscreen should show nothing but a prompt for a password and possibly the screensaver. It's a lockscreen for a reason.
      #9. Split-screen apps
      Don't we call these things windows? *looks* OH REALLY. IFRAMES ON THE DESKTOP. KILL IT WITH FIRE.
      #10. Split touch keyboard - an on-screen keyboard that is divided up into left and right sides
      Saying this to a touch-typist gets you nothing but ridicule.
      #11. App contracts
      KDE has had something like this since forever ago.
      #12. Fewer surprise restarts
      How about none? Please? The only surprise restart should be a STOP error, and at that point, it's a hardware/driver issue. All other restarts should be optional, like in sane operating systems.
      #13. Cross-device synchronisation
      Marketing fluff that means "rsync"
      #14. Improved 3G support
      But how does this help me as a desktop OS?
      #15. Built-in antivirus
      It would be nice to not need this, wouldn't it?
      #16. Picture passwords
      Only useful on touch devices.
      #17. Instant search
      Oh, you mean like what Linux has had since forever ago. Also, see Dolphin, Semantic Desktop etc.
      #18. Windows To Go
      Live distribution. "Innovation" as if Knoppix never existed.
      #19. Secure Boot
      Something that is designed to lock out other OSes from "windows certified" devices, enabled by default and unable to remove. Also: the army is always fighting the last war. Most malware runs in userspace now.
      #20. Revamped Explorer
      It still sucks.
      #21. Restore PC
      Only Windows users think it's normal to re-image the machine every quarter.
      #22. Thumbnail previews of active applications
      Woop, de, doo. old news, even on Windows. "But it's android style!!!!!" Wait, who is doing the innovating here?
      #23. Metro groups
      UI specific. Metro sucks. Therefore MetroGroups sucks.
      #24. Kinect for Windows
      This is actually useful and a Good Thing (TM)
      #25. AppLocker
      Listed, but article does not describe what it is, something to do with policies, therefore it is meaningless to the end user. This is a stretch, especially in an article targeted toward end users.
      #26. Reset PC
      dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sda ; walk away, get lunch.
      #27. File copy revamp
      A user interface deal that does nothing about the suck-ass throughput when copying non-trivial amounts of files, like moving movie archives from one drive to another.
      #28. Faster boot times
      Yeah, well, this will be nuked by the user as soon as he or she installs $BONZIBUDDYCLONEOFTHEDAY from the app store. Purple gorillas for everyone!
      #29. Native USB 3 support
      In modern operating systems, this is pushed out with a kernel module update on existing systems. No idea why you would need an entire OS upgrade just for usb3.
      #30. Panoramic background images
      Oh my fucking god, we need this. We need this so much. TAKE MY MONEY ALL OF IT

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      BMO

  6. Re:True #1 Feature! by Barbara,+not+Barbie · · Score: 4, Informative

    I tried it, and it really is the worst product Microsoft has ever made. Metro is awful, and the Win8 desktop is a step backward. And it's a memory and resource hog.

    Please, don't take my word for it - download it yourself. It makes Unity look almost good.

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    Let's call it what it is, Anti-Social Media.
  7. Re:The real news by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's almost nothing in that list that hasn't been available on other platforms for more than a decade.

    Half of those features are actually available on my Windows 7 installation already. Support for USB3.0 devices, not rebooting / nagging to install updates, builtin antivirus, quick search, device synchronisation, 3G support, split screen multitasking, the ability to turn wifi off with a click of a button rather than a hardware switch, and the ability to auto mount ISOs, all of that works just fine on my Windows 7 install.

    In fact judging by Microsoft's early attempts at WiFi integration, and CD burning I predict that Windows 8 will be shit at all of the above.