Sony unveils its first hybrid ultrabook and mobile tabletop PC with Windows 8 for the US market.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Sony unveils its first hybrid ultrabook and mobile tabletop PC with Windows 8 for the US market.

Sony today introduced its first mobile Tabletop PC for the U.S. market, the VAIO® Tap 20 PC, and its slider hybrid, the VAIO® Duo 11 Ultrabook™, combining innovative hardware designs with rich touch experiences powered by Windows 8. Alongside the new state-of-the-art PCs, there’s an elegant T Series Ultrabook and portfolio of VAIO PCs that put touch right at the heart of the personal computing experience.

Built with Sony’s innovative digital imaging, sound and TV technology, the latest VAIO Touchworld collection features bright, responsive 10-point multi-touch screens with engaging interactive applications, family computing options and new experiences in mobile productivity.

“VAIO Tap 20 is creating a new category of PC’s by combining desktop PC functionality, battery-powered mobility, and multi-angle viewing,” said Steven Nickel, VP, Sony VAIO. “This along with the innovative VAIO Duo 11 and the intuitive touch solutions incorporated across our existing PC portfolio, offers consumers flexibility to optimize their Windows 8 experience. Through the combination of compelling applications, Sony’s network services, and cross device connectivity, VAIO is leading the way in developing a new Touchworld experience.  We expect when consumers think of touch PCs, they’ll think of VAIO.”

Cut the Cord with Battery Powered All-in-One PC

VAIO Tap 20 is a family tabletop PC designed to take advantage of the intuitive ease of Windows 8. Featuring a 20-inch screen, this mobile desktop PC can lay flat on a coffee table for the whole family to play games on the large screen. With a removable battery, users can easily move it from room to room in the house – from bedrooms and kids’ play areas to the kitchen or garage. Powered by Mobile BRAVIA^® Engine 2 by Sony for amazing picture quality, VAIO Tap 20 ensurescrisp, clear images while the built-in stand and wide angle panel enables viewing at many angles. Users can also stand VAIO Tap 20 upright and use it as a fully-functioning desktop PC to work on documents, surf the web and check emails with the supplied wireless keyboard and mouse.

VAIO Tap 20 comes with a choice of apps that are optimized for responsive 10-point multi-touch operation, including Fingertapps™ Organizer, a calendar app for family members to communicate digitally via posted to-do lists and recorded messages and videos.

In order to further enhance the VAIO Touchworld experience, Sony partnered with ArtRage to offer the premiere digital arts software, ArtRage Studio, on all five of the new touch VAIO models. ArtRage Studio offers natural painting tools such as oil paints and watercolors, along with utilities to make painting easier for anyone who wants to paint or draw on their computer regardless of skill level.

Sony also partnered with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to develop My Daily Clip application, a fun movie trivia game that lets up to four players gather around the VAIO Tap 20 and watch a wide range of favorite scenes from Sony Pictures movies and answer trivia questions.

Boost Productivity and Creativity with VAIO Duo 11

The versatile VAIO Duo 11 PC transforms almost instantly between a power-packed Ultrabook and a multi-media tablet with scratch-resistant glass. With Sony’s high build quality, VAIO Duo 11 features a durable Surf Slider® mechanism to switch smoothly between keyboard and tablet for a dual functioning computing experience.

Slim and light, VAIO Duo 11 weighs approximately 2.84 lbs. and features an 11.6-inch screen. VAIO Duo 11 also offers a pressure-sensitive digitizer stylus for the satisfyingly expressive feel of natural handwriting directly on the touchscreen. A choice of swappable pen tips allows for a firmer or softer writing feel. It’s excellent for writing, sketching and interacting with media and applications on the bright, detail-packed Full HD touchscreen.

Featuring an LCD display and backlit keyboard, the VAIO Duo 11 is available on latest-generation Intel® Core™ processors for maximum productivity. In addition to performance, looks and mobility, VAIO Duo 11 includes full functional I/O port connectivity and Sony’s unique Sheet Battery technology (sold separately).

VAIO Duo 11 makes it easy to crop photos and graphics with Active Clip™ developed by Sony. Just draw roughly around the edge of the chosen picture with the digitizer stylus and Active Clip automatically detects edges and cuts out the background, allowing users to drop the cleanly-bordered image straight into documents or presentations. In addition, the Note Anytime application available for download on VAIO Duo 11 is for digitally jotting down handwritten notes on the touchscreen.

Rich Entertainment Experience for VAIO Tap 20 and VAIO Duo 11

Both the VAIO Tap 20 and Duo 11 PCs make it easier than ever to connect with other home devices and share content. Through Sony’s one-touch function, users can easily and  instantaneously enjoy media content across an array of NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled devices. Simply touch one device against another and instantly establish a wireless connection.

VAIO Tap 20 and VAIO Duo 11 also feature incorporated stereo speakers utilizing Sony’s audio fidelity expertise, including Dolby^® Home Theatre^® v4 Audio Technology to experience full-impact surround sound.

Sony Entertainment Network’s Music Unlimited service is also available with full access to millions of songs at any time.

T Series

The top-selling stylish T Series Ultrabook made with an ultra-smooth brushed aluminum shell now comes with a touch display on the new T13 Ultrabook to allow consumers to experience Windows 8-based touch in a clamshell form factor.

Sony is also introducing the T14 Ultrabook incorporating the same port connectivity as the T13 model and includes an optical disc drive to support Blu-ray and DVD media.

E Series

The VAIO E Series family is an excellent portable companion for students and everyday users. Featuring Sony’s signature wrap around design, the E Series now includes a touchscreen enabled aluminum E Series 14P model with signature VAIO diamond cut logo as well as a new E17, 17-inch model with a Full HD Display (1920 x 1080) and a Quad Core processor. Also available in 11-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch models, the PCs include backlit keyboards (14-inch and 15-inch), the latest Intel® Core™ processors (14-inch and 15-inch), with clear high contrast displays and AMD Radeon® graphics options.

S Series

The S Series continues to offer an enhanced combination of mobility and performance in an elegant design crafted in tough, weight-saving magnesium, aluminum and carbon fiber materials. The 13-inch model is now available in a new Burgundy Red color. The S Series is also available in 13.3-inch Premium and 15.5-inch models.

All Sony VAIO’s will feature either Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro 

Sony’s media applications

Also unique to Sony’s VAIO line are two new apps for an expanded entertainment experience. The Album application makes viewing, sorting or sharing photos and videos fun and intuitive.

The Music application lets listeners enjoy their music collection with superb quality thanks to incorporated stereo speakers utilizing Sony’s audio fidelity. Both applications let VAIO users throw or stream personal photos, video and music to DLNA compatible devices such as BRAVIA TVs and network speakers.

Sony Imagination Studio™ VAIO^® Edition

Many models also feature Sony Imagination Studio™ VAIO^® Edition, which includes four powerful Sony applications: Movie Studio Platinum, ACID™ Music Studio, Sound Forge™ Audio Studio and DVD Architect™ Studio software - so you can create music and movies like never before.

“Socialife”

Lastly, the Socialife application, available for download from the Windows Store, is a social feed aggregator that allows users to view, sort and manage SNS such as Facebook and Twitter, and news feeds through one stylish user interface. Based on what your friends are reading, Socialife is able to point out other popular topics and even suggests content. Find out more about Socialife: http://app.sel.sony.com/socialife/en/index.html.

Pricing and Availability

The new touch enabled VAIO line will be available at the end of October at Sony retail stores (www.store.sony.com) and other authorized dealers nationwide. Below are approximate suggested retail prices for each model.

VAIO Tap 20

VAIO Tap 20 $879.99 and up in Black; White.

VAIO Duo 11

VAIO Duo 11 $1099.99 and up in Black.

E Series

E Series 11 $449.99 and up in Black; White.

E Series 14 $449.99 and up in Black; White; Pink.

E Series 14P $689.99 and up in Gun Metallic and Gold; Silver and Blue, Pink and Pink; Black and Red; White and Blue.

E Series 15 $449.99 and up in Black; White; Aluminum Silver; Pink.

E Series 17 $729.99 and up in Black; White.

T Series Ultrabook

T Series 13 $669.99 and up in Aluminum Silver.

T Series 14 $669.99 and up in Aluminum Silver.

S Series

S Series 13 $799.99 and up in Black; Silver; White; Pink; Burgundy Red.

S Series 13 Premium $1199.99 and up in Black; Gold; Gun Metallic.

S Series 15 $849.99 and up in Black; White; Silver.

L Series All-in-One

L Series $1199.99 and up in Black and White.

SONY VAIO Duo 11 convertible tablet leaked pictures.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

SONY VAIO Duo 11 convertible tablet leaked pictures.

The SONY VAIO Duo 11 convertible tablet  sports a 11 inch display, Windows 8, not Windows RT,the keyboard is backlit,  is not an optional accessory you can just detach, and  has an optical pen.

More details are not available yet, at this time.

Source: PocketNow

Related article: SONY New XPeria tablet pictures leaked.

HP: Our Windows 8 tablet will have exclusive technology. Financing partners for first time.

HP: Our Windows 8 tablet will have exclusive technology. Financing partners for first time.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

The company recently admitted to CRN that the device will feature "unique" intellectual property. John Solomon, senior vice president of Americas sales for HP's printing and personal systems division, said that additional details will be revealed "pretty soon."

"Other OEMs will be doing tablets, but the HP tablet is going to be different: It's going to have a specific area of focus, or multiple areas of focus, which will require a high degree of channel engagement to take full advantage of the opportunity," Solomon told CRN.

The device will be tailor-made for the tablet channel, targeting vertical markets. Like all other tablet makers, HP will be going after Apple's iPad, only this time the company will be backed by Microsoft's new touchy-blocky Windows 8 platform.

Solomon told CRN that HP is giving partners 60-day financing for tablets and other products under a recently launched program. This program also includes the participation of Wells Fargo, GE Capital, IBM and De Lage Landen.

"Essentially, we're helping pay the interest cost for partners and making sure cash flow is not an inhibitor for them growing," Solomon said. "This is something we haven't done in the past, and we think of it as proof of what we're doing to re-ignite the channel."

Solomon also backed Microsoft's need to produce the Surface tablets, saying that the move isn’t a competitive threat. "I believe Microsoft was basically making a leadership statement and showing what's possible in the tablet space," Solomon added. "Our relationship has not changed at all due to Microsoft's announcement. In fact, I applaud it -- I think it's great that they are getting out in front and showing what's possible."

He also said the Surface keyboard will be great for occasional use, but professionals will want something better that's capable of everyday use.

Source: CRN

Related Articles: HP working on a Windows 8 Pro, x86 tablet Slate 8.

HP new commercial showing an unknown new Tablet , Slate 3 with Windows 8 and Intel`s Ivy Bridge?

Singing in to Windows 8 with a Windows Live ID. Video.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Singing in to Windows 8 with a Windows Live ID. Video.

Signing in with an ID allows you to:

• Associate the most commonly used Windows settings with your user account. Saved settings are available when you sign in to your account on any Windows 8 PC. Your PC will be set up just the way you are used to!
• Easily reacquire your Metro style apps on multiple Windows 8 PCs. The app’s settings and last-used state persist across all your Windows 8 PCs.
• Save sign-in credentials for the different apps and websites you use and easily get back into them without having to enter credentials every time.
• Automatically sign in to apps and services that use Windows Live ID for authentication.

When you buy a Windows 8 PC and set up your user account for the first time, you can optionally choose to create an account that is associated to a Windows Live ID. You can either use an existing ID or create a new one. If you choose to create a new one, you can use any email address you want as your new ID, and then create your unique password. For example, you can use example@live.com or you can use someone@example.com. You just need to identify an email address that you want to have associated with the Windows Live ID service, and provide a unique password.  Of course, you can also continue to use local Windows accounts as you always have and obviously, domain-administered accounts work as they always have as well.

So, although many people assume they will need to sign up for a new email account to get a Windows Live ID, it’s actually not necessary. In fact, many online services use a "string" like someone@example.com to represent a user name, even though that string looks like an email address. For example, when you order books at an online bookstore, your user name may look like an email address, even though your online book seller does not manage your email. The someone@example.com address is just a convenient way of identifying you, since most Internet users these days have email addresses. So, your email account and password will still be managed by whatever email provider you choose, and we use the user name and password you give us to help manage your settings and state across your Windows 8 PCs, even if you haven’t signed up for Hotmail or other Microsoft services that use this ID.

Like all of us, you probably spend a significant amount of time personalizing your Windows experience to reflect your style, your life, and how you use your PC. We all know how frustrating it is when all that work is lost when you buy a new PC or use a different one (or just reformat your hard drive). With Windows 8, we are working to change that—you will be able to have your personal Windows experience on any Windows 8 PC you sign in to with your Windows Live ID. Settings such as your lock screen picture, desktop background, user tile, browser favorites and history, spell check dictionaries, Explorer settings, mouse settings, and accessibility settings, among many others are now associated with your Windows 8 account and stored in the cloud. They are kept in sync and come down to each machine you use as they are changed or updated.

Having a truly personal experience in Windows 8 also includes your Metro style apps—how you use them, the settings you use, and where you left off. It will be easy to see which Metro style apps you’ve purchased and choose which ones you want to have on each of your Windows 8 PCs. By using your ID to sign in to Windows, the settings and state for your Metro style apps stay in sync between each PC you use. For example, let’s say you are reading the news in a reader app on your tablet. If you add specific feeds you want to continue to follow, those feeds could automatically be available in the same reader app on any of your other Windows 8 PCs. We will also enable developers to build Metro style apps that tell Windows their state, so you can pick up where you left off as you move between PCs. You can pick up on the same page of a book, the same level of a game, or the same place in the movie you were watching as you switch between your Windows 8 PCs. In the developer preview of Windows 8, you can see this functionality in Internet Explorer 10.

You might be wondering how you can roam non-Metro style apps and settings without a domain. This isn't something that can be done with Windows Live ID, and we would discourage using tools that manually attempt to do this by mechanisms such as going through the registry or copying around executables. However, using the new Restore/Refresh tools, it is possible to easily create an image that has your preferred desktop apps installed, and then use that as a refresh point.  If you do want to roam your settings for desktop apps then you can continue to use the mechanisms available for roaming profiles and client side caching of files available with Active Directory and Windows Server.

Another benefit of signing in with a Windows Live ID is how we’ve simplified the need to sign in to multiple services and applications. We accomplish this in two ways. First, once you’ve signed in to Windows with your ID, you do not need to enter it again to sign in to any app or website that also uses Windows Live ID. For example, once you sign in to Windows with your ID, you can launch the Windows Messaging app and start talking with your friends without the need to sign in again. Similarly, you can browse to your Hotmail inbox page without needing to enter your email address and password again. You can always sign out of a webpage and sign in as a different user, but by default you will be automatically signed in. To be clear, however, those applications and websites do not have special access to your Windows PC or your personal data.

Second, if you choose to, Windows can store separate Metro style app and web site credentials. Those credentials can then sync to each Windows 8 PC that you’ve trusted and verified yourself with. You won’t have to type in your user name or password; just confirm your sign-in as needed. Similar to the Messaging application example, when launching a Metro style application that uses this feature, you will be signed in automatically and the application will resume right where you left off.

User controls

There is a lot of benefit to using a Windows Live ID to sign in to Windows. However, it is important to note that every Windows user is unique in their needs. Your Windows 8 experience is in your control. When you create a Windows account, you choose the type of account you want to use. You can choose to create one that associates with Windows Live ID, or stick with a local account that works just like in Windows 7. You can also change a local account to link it with a Windows Live ID at a later date.

If you choose to associate your local account with an ID, we’ve provided control over what you want to sync to each Windows 8 PC you use. In Control Panel, there is a section called “Sync PC Settings” where you can manually turn settings sync on or off.

You can choose to turn off all syncing or you can turn off syncing per the type of setting. The settings groups include:

• Personalize
• Themes
• Ease of access
• Language preferences
• Apps
• Web browser
• Other stuff
• Some passwords

We’ve recommended a default behavior that assumes you want to roam settings that are used most often to personalize and customize the way you use your PC. In particular, we’ve heard from you that visual personalization for your PC is important. For Windows 8 we’ve included key settings like changing your lock screen image. In addition, you can also roam the desktop themes you use and create, including colors, sounds, and desktop background (note: currently for the background image we roam the original image that was selected if it’s under 2MB. If the image is over 2MB we compress and crop the image to 1920x1200).

It is also important that you maintain control of your data when work and personal start to mix. In Windows 8, when you link your Windows domain account to a Windows Live ID, we ask you up front (before data is synced) what data you want to sync between your domain-joined PC and other PCs you use with that ID. That way, you can decide if things like your web history, favorites, or credentials should sync to your work machine, or if you’d prefer to keep those or anything else that is synced only on your personal machines.

We also empower IT administrators to control what a user can sync to a work PC through group policy. We have provided control to IT administrators to decide if a worker can link their domain account to an ID, and if the admin allows that link, what types of data the worker is allowed to sync.

Finally it’s important to note that credentials that are entered and stored on a domain-joined machine do not get uploaded to the cloud, and never get synced to your other PCs – this ensures that corporate credentials stay on the PCs that are managed by the IT admin.

Privacy and security

We understand that when using services connected to the cloud, privacy and security are on the top of your mind. When you associate your Windows user account with a Windows Live ID, there are three categories of data that are especially interesting from the privacy and security perspective:

1. Your Windows Live ID user name and password
2. Your Windows Live ID user profile
3. The settings and data you choose to sync

We’ve taken measures to safeguard the ID and password you use to sign in to Windows. We do this in a couple ways. First, we will require a strong password (and you can’t leave password blank). Next, we’ll collect a secondary proof of your identity. This will allow us to establish “trust” with specific PCs that you use frequently or own. This in turn will also enable more secure syncing of private data like passwords. Collecting the secondary proof of your identity also helps make account recovery easier and more secure. Examples of secondary proofs are alternative email addresses, mobile phone numbers, and questions with secret answers—something that generally only you will know.

Signing in with a Windows Live ID also gives you much more control over your password, including your ability to recover a lost one. If you use a local account and you forget your password, you’re in a tough spot, and your options are limited. You may be able to recover your password with a hint or a recovery key, but if neither of those works, you’re generally left with having to rebuild your PC from scratch. (Technically there are some password cracking tools available on the Internet that you could download and try, but they’re unlikely to work on a suitably strong password, and many of the cracking tools available online are actually malware downloads!)  However, if you sign in to your PC with your Windows Live ID and you later forget your password, you can reset your password from another PC by navigating to https://login.live.com and clicking on “forgot my password.”  This will allow you to reset your password in a secure fashion without losing any information on your PC. Resetting your password this way is also more secure because it takes advantage of the secondary proof we mentioned earlier to make sure it’s really you resetting your password.

You might also be wondering, “what happens if somehow my Windows Live ID gets stolen?”  Well, we have some help for you there too. Windows Live ID includes a number of different safety features to detect if your account is stolen, and it will change your account to a “compromised” state (limiting what it can do) until you can regain control of your account using the two-factor authentication features (secondary proofs) that you set up earlier. Importantly, you will still have full access to your PC, since your PC will allow you to log in with the password you had before your account was stolen – you just won’t be able to use the services and applications that rely on this ID until you go through our “recover my account” workflow online.

With Windows 8, we want to put you in control of how your data is used and what you want to sync between Windows 8 PCs. When you choose to sign in to your Windows 8 PC with a Windows Live ID, only a small amount – your first name, last name, and display name -- are shared with Windows. Windows does not use any of your other profile data. Your profile data stored in the cloud is released to apps or websites that you allow to have that data. While any Metro style app can leverage Windows Live ID for their own sign-in authentication, they must always ask you first if you want to allow access to particular details from your profile.

As mentioned earlier, there are three categories of data that can be synced to your Windows 8 PCs when you sign in with your ID: 1) Windows settings, 2) App settings and data, and 3) credentials. This data is stored in the cloud so that it is available to you when you sign in to your various Windows 8 PCs. The size of the data we roam is minimal and we only enforce some limits on a per setting basis, for example, the file size for the lock screen image. None of this counts against your Windows Live storage quota. This data is also stored separately from your other Windows Live data, for example, what you store on SkyDrive.

You might be concerned with how profile data is protected. In order to secure user data, we’ve taken several measures. First, we do not roam data over WWAN by default. Second, all user data is encrypted on the client before it is sent to the cloud. All data and settings that leave your PC are transmitted using SSL/TLS. The most sensitive information, like your credential information, is encrypted once based on your password and then encrypted again as it is sent across the Internet. The data stored is not available to other Microsoft services or third parties. Lastly, before the sensitive information can be accessed on a second Windows 8 PC for the first time, you must establish “trust” for that PC by providing further proof of your identity. This further proof can be done by providing Windows with a code sent to your mobile phone number or by following the instructions sent to an alternate email address.

Any of the data that is saved to the cloud via the roaming mechanism is only accessed by Windows for roaming. This is very important. So for example, Internet Explorer's history is saved as a roaming state but is not used or accessed in any other context—it is no different than if you had manually created that same record of website history on another PC.

We are very excited about the opportunity to make the Windows 8 experience more personal and easier to set up in a way that protects your privacy and safety.

Building Windows 8 Blog

Hewlett-Packard first Windows 8 tablet coming with Intel`s chips for x-86 machines.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Hewlett-Packard first Windows 8 tablet coming with Intel`s chips for  x-86 machines.

Hewlett-Packard will focus on so-called x86 chips, such as those made by Intel Corp., said Marlene Somsak, a spokeswoman for Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard.

HP has issued us a statement to confirm the report. "Our first Win 8 tablet will be on the x86 platform focused on the business market," said a company spokesperson. 

"The decision to go with x86 was influenced by input from our customers. The robust and established ecosystem of x86 applications provides the best customer experience at this time and in the immediate future."

The first Hewlett-Packard tablet with Windows 8 will focus on the business market, Somsak said.

Hewlett-Packard’s decision to avoid ARM initially was made before Microsoft announced its plan to sell its own tablets in competition with Hewlett-Packard, Somsak said.

Windows 8 machines that sport Intel chips “will deliver the most complete experience with the best performance and compatibility across all computing platforms,” Intel said in an e-mailed statement.

ARM machines running the new version of Windows will only be able to use new applications written for Windows 8 and Windows RT, while the x86 machines can run older Windows apps.

Smart decision by HP.

Bloomberg

Is the Nokia Lumia Coffee Windows 8 tablet to be unveiled in June 18 Microsoft event.?

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Is the Nokia Lumia Coffee Windows 8 tablet to be unveiled in June 18 Microsoft event.?

 Information about what Microsoft will show at the Media Event this June 18^th is unknown and we are clueless, however a few months ago a video was leaked showing up a Nokia Windows 8 tablet.

  Our question: is now the time for the Nokia Lumia Coffee Tablet? Is that the big Microsoft`s surprise? Is a posibility for sure.

Watch the leaked before video:

Related post:
Microsoft Media Event June 18. Total secret.

Nokia Lumia Coffee Tab/Pad a Windows 8 tablet. Leaked Video.

ASUS presented the Transformer Book with Intel i7 Ivy Bridge core and Windows 8.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

ASUS presented the Transformer Book with Intel i7 Ivy Bridge core and Windows 8.

ASUS’ Transformer Book is an ultra-portable mobile PC that incorporates a powerful Intel i7 processor, a high quality FullHD screen and SDD plus HDD storage options.

The Core i7 CPUs are certainly members of Intel ULV family of low power consuming processors.

What’s even more impressive is the fact that the Taiwanese manufacturer is offering discrete graphics processing units instead of the HD4000 iGPUs.

The systems will come with USB 3.0 connectivity and a default 4 GB or RAM and two HD cameras. The one on the back will have a 5 MP resolution while the one on the front usually used for video calls will be just “HD.”

The battery life has not been made public yet, but we certainly hope that ASUS will provide batteries in both, the tablet and the keyboard docking pad.

Versions in 11.6”, 13” or 14” inches will be available. Pricing and availability not announced yet.

 

CEBIT 2012: Windows 8 Consumer Preview Is Ready for Business.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Is Ready for Business.

At CeBIT, Kevin Turner demonstrates how Windows 8 delivers a no-compromise experience.

In his CeBIT keynote speech today, Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft Corp., showed how Windows 8 will bring together the potential of a tablet with the power of a PC. He also invited IT professionals around the world to test the recently released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, now available for download at http://preview.windows.com. 

 The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world's most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year.

"Windows 8 will deliver no compromise experiences on a range of devices from tablets and PCs to desktops. It will give people functionality they love and the enterprise-grade capabilities that IT departments demand," Turner said. "We encourage IT professionals to begin using it to get a firsthand experience of how Windows 8 will give people a beautiful, fast and fluid experience with the mobility and familiarity they need to effortlessly move between what they want to do and what they need to do."

"We believe Windows 8 will bring an evolutionary solution to Windows users that delivers business productivity, while helping IT to manage and secure new devices using their existing infrastructure and tools," said Al Gillen, program vice president, system software, IDC. "Windows 8 will help bridge the demands that end users are placing on IT departments with what IT wants for its business — a smooth transitional path to add tablet devices into an existing Windows client infrastructure."

Windows 8 highlights for enterprise organizations include the following:

• Great user experience. Windows 8 bridges the gap between a personalized experience for users and the security and management features that IT professionals trust. Features include the new Windows 8 Start screen and fully immersive Metro style apps. People can be more productive with both multitouch and traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces. Critical line-of-business apps also can benefit from an immersive full screen, allowing people to easily interact with the app.
• Tablets without compromise. Windows 8-based business tablets are built for touch and are deeply personalized. Powerful, connected Metro style applications are the focal point to create an immersive experience that helps eliminate distractions while having the productivity benefits of a PC. In addition, it works well with a mouse and keyboard. It also enables organizations to use Windows 7 productivity and line-of-business applications, and IT departments can leverage their existing infrastructure to help manage, secure and support it.
• New possibilities for mobile productivity. For people who are increasingly mobile, Windows 8 helps them stay connected and productive in a more secure way. Windows 8 includes Windows To Go — the ability to provide users with a full corporate copy of Windows 8 (along with users' business apps, data and settings) on a USB storage device. Windows 8 also includes improvements to DirectAccess and built-in mobile broadband features that natively support 3G and 4G telecommunication. And Windows 8 can stay always connected with Metro style apps.
• End-to-end security. Features such as Trusted Boot and improved BitLocker drive encryption, AppLocker and claim-based access control help protect corporate data across the client device, the network and back-end infrastructure.
• Advancements in virtualization. With Windows 8, users can get a virtualized experience with high-definition graphics, support for touch and support for USB devices on a local PC. It will be easier for IT departments to implement virtual desktop infrastructures in a more cost-effective way. In addition, Windows 8 includes Microsoft Hyper-V, a high-performing client virtualization technology that enables enterprise developers to develop, debug and test multiple configurations of apps and operating systems on a single PC instead of each configuration requiring its own PC.
• Improved management. Windows 8 easily integrates into most existing client management infrastructures, and management tasks are easier with Windows PowerShell automation.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download to users running Windows 7-based PCs in English, French, German, Japanese and simplified Chinese.

As Tami Reller, chief financial officer and chief marketing officer, Windows and Windows Live Division, shares in this video at http://win8.ms/lfolnd, Windows 8 will give businesses a personalized experience that is both convenient and productive to fit well with today's changing work styles.

 The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available for download and evaluation at http://preview.windows.com. Additional resources and information are available at http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business or http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windows.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Some information relates to a prerelease product, which may be substantially modified before it is commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.