Exploring the Weather app in Windows 8

Windows 8 apps put content before chrome. They are elegant. They are immersive. And they
provide a consistent, compelling user experience. Complete the following steps to open and
use the Windows 8 Weather app:
1.   On the Start screen, click (or tap) the Weather app. Notice how the Weather app uses
      the full screen.

2.   Move your mouse to the bottom of the screen and scroll the app left and right (or drag
      your finger right and left) to reveal more of the Weather app.

3.   Click the minus sign (-) in the bottom-right corner of the screen (or pinch the Weather
      app with two fingers), and click or tap Hourly Forecast.

4.   To see the app commands available for the Weather app, right-click anywhere in the
      app (or swipe in from the top edge of the screen).

5.   Click (or tap) Places, to view weather in different areas.

6.   Right-click (or swipe from the top edge of the screen), and then click (or tap) World
      Weather to see the weather for different locations around the world

Experiencing Windows 8

• Like Windows 7—Only better  12
• Improvements to tools  20
• Summary  22

Consumers often say that they have to choose between the full productivity
 experience of a PC and the convenience of a tablet. Tablets historically presented
productivity challenges, because most business desktop apps don’t run on non-Windows
tablets. Tablets also challenged IT because it can be difficult to manage and secure
 non  -Windows  tablets.

          However, with an x86 Windows 8 tablet, users can have a no-compromise tablet
 experience, so choosing between productivity and convenience is no longer   necessary.
Microsoft Windows 8 gives users productivity, convenience, and mobility. They can
use the familiar Windows user interface, their desktop line-of-business (LOB) and
 productivity apps, and peripherals that they use today on Windows 7.

         Windows 8 delivers a touch-first experience, along with full support for mouse and
keyboard, enabling users to move between work and personal activities easily and
effortlessly. The Windows 8 user interface provides quick access to critical data, and
 Windows 8 apps are always on and always connected to help keep them up to date.

        IT pros don’t need to compromise either. Windows 8 provides the manageability and
security that you need. Also, you can take advantage of your existing management and
security infrastructure for managing Windows 8 tablets.

        In both cases, features that were great in Windows 7 are even better in Windows 8.
With Windows 8, users have the best of both worlds: a powerful new way of working
with their PCs and the flexibility and power of the Windows desktop. And Windows 8
extends the deployment, management, and virtualization capabilities of Windows 7 with
new capabilities.

Like Windows 7—Only better

Windows 8 uses the same management tools that you already use to support Windows 7
in your organization. Tools like System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, Microsoft
 Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012, and the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT)
have been updated for Windows 8—not just updated, but really enhanced.
Additionally, Windows 8 contains all of the security and reliability features that you’ve
come to expect from Windows. As you’ll learn in this book, the changes in Windows 8 are
 incremental from Windows 7. For an IT pro, these changes enhance supportability and
 security. For example, there are new refresh and recovery options available with Windows 8.
This means that you’ll spend less time supporting Windows 8.
The Windows 7 desktop features you love, like Jump Lists, the Taskbar, and Snapping,
are still there in Windows 8. You can pin items to the taskbar in Windows 8 and you can use
thumbnails in Windows 8 too. The desktop experience is just like Windows 7.
To provide a no-comprise tablet experience, the Windows 8 user interface is optimized for
touch. But the keyboard and mouse are still first-class input methods in Windows 8. Figure 2-1  
illustrates how you can perform the same tasks with both the touch interface and by using
the mouse. The important thing to remember about the Windows 8 user interface is:

•    Touch is about the edges.
•    Mouse is about the corners.

To be more specific, you can swipe in from the top, bottom, left, or right edges of the
screen to perform tasks. But you can also click the corners of the screen with the mouse to
accomplish the same tasks. For example, to search for a file, you can swipe in from the right
edge and tap the Search icon or you can click the top-right corner of the screen and click the
Search icon. Whereas you swipe in from the top edge of the screen to display app commands,
you simply right-click with the mouse ( just like you do in Windows 7).

 

 Using Windows 8 is intuitive and easy. However, Windows 8 provides excellent Help
that you can use to learn about the gestures, mouse, and keyboard shortcuts available. The
 following sections provide a brief hands-on tour of the Windows 8 user interface, which can
help you get up to speed quickly if you follow along on your own PC running Windows 8.

Getting started with Windows 8

Microsoft makes getting started with your Windows 8 evaluation easy. MSDN and TechNet
subscribers can download Windows 8 from the subscriber downloads area. You can also
download a Windows 8 Enterprise evaluation fro m the Downloads page on TechNet at 
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/downloads

You can evaluate Windows 8 in a VM. By doing so, you will experience the vast majority
of features that this book describes. If you want to experience touch, however, then you must
install Windows 8 on a PC with a touch-enabled display or a tablet PC.

Summary
As this chapter described, Windows 8 offers strong value to IT pros. Microsoft is  delivering
on its commitment to deliver experiences and devices that users want, along with
 enterprise-grade solutions that provide end-to-end security, management, and security. The
remainder of this book provides more information about the features you learned about in
this chapter

Windows 8 editions

Chapter 4, “Preparing for deployment,” contains a table that describes the specific features
you will find in each edition of Windows 8. For now, the following list summarizes them:

•   Windows 8  Windows 8 is the basic stock-keeping unit (SKU) for home users. It

includes the core feature set that home users require but does not include key business
features, such as support for the ability to join domains, process Group Policy, and so on.

•   Windows 8 Pro  Windows 8 Pro is for small- and medium-sized businesses. It delivers

new levels of productivity, security, and mobility—without sacrificing performance or
choice. It provides enhanced features that help to easily connect to company networks,
access files on the go, encrypt data, and more.

•   Windows 8 Enterprise  Windows 8 Enterprise edition is available through Windows

Software Assurance. It includes all the capabilities of Windows 8 Pro, plus premium
features designed to meet the mobility, productivity, security and manageability, and
virtualization needs of today’s large businesses. Key examples are Windows To Go,
DirectAccess, BranchCache, AppLocker, VDI, and Windows 8 app deployment. You will
learn about these features in this book.

•   Windows RT Devices  Windows RT Devices run low-powered ARM processors, which

helps OEMs build devices with long battery lives and new form factors (thin, light, and
sleek devices). Also, Windows RT Devices are built on a new paradigm   (preconfigured
system on certified hardware), which helps ensure that users have high-quality and
predictable experiences over time. Although Windows RT Devices offer the great
benefits this chapter  just mentioned, they have commonality and shared code with
Windows 8, offering a consistent, great Windows experience. For example, Windows
RT Devices support the new UI (including desktop). Both Windows RT Devices and
Windows 8 can run apps from the Windows Store. Windows RT Devices are compatible
with most peripherals, because they include class drivers for most peripherals, and the
majority of mice, keyboards, printers, and USB storages are supported out of the box

Hardware innovation in Windows 8

Hardware innovation is broad in Windows 8, and there are a few key areas where Microsoft
has worked extensively with its partners. The following sections describe some of the things
you and your users will notice quickly about PCs built for Windows 8—either at work or at a
retail store.

Touch
Touch is clearly front-and-center for Microsoft. For example, the company is requiring 
that touch displays support a minimum of five fingers, and it is working with its partners to
deliver touch-optimized devices. To ensure a great user experience with touch, Microsoft has
done extensive research into:

•   The response times required for touch.
•   The sensitivity and precision required of a digitizer.
•   The user experience of a flush bezel.

These requirements are enforced with the Windows 8 Hardware Certification   Requirements.
You can learn more about these requirements on the “Windows Hardware Certification” page
at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463010.aspx.

Long battery life
One of the key design tenets of Windows 8 is to enable long battery life. With Windows 8, a
new class of ultrathin PCs and tablets can turn on instantly, can run all day on a single charge,
and stay connected to the Internet—so users’ PCs are ready when they’re ready.

Thinner, lighter, faster
As you have seen with today’s ultrabooks, PCs are already thinner and lighter than ever. This
will only continue with Windows 8. There will be thin and light tablets and ultra-portables
that start and run faster than today’s PCs. Even installing Windows 8 on an existing PC will
improve its performance because of the improvements we’ve made in the core operating
system.

Sensors and security
With Windows 8, Microsoft will enable developers to take advantage of hardware innovation
such as:

•    Low-power Bluetooth
•    GPS
•    Gyroscopes
•    Accelerometer

You’ll also be able to take advantage of security hardware technologies like Trusted
 Platform Module (TPM) and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot.

New form factors
Microsoft believes that users should have a choice. To that end, PCs will come in a variety of
form factors, from tablets to convertibles to ultra-portables to all-in-one PCs. One day, you
might even see designs that you would not have thought possible. Together with its OEM
partners, Microsoft will provide great devices for every work style:

•   Devices for executives that are innovative, portable, powerful.
•   Devices optimized for enterprise knowledge workers and everyday business tasks.
•   Devices that are specialized and unique for specific tasks.
•   Industrial devices like ruggedized machines in oil rigs and manufacturing lines.
•   Varieties of companion devices that present new and fun possibilities.

Devices for Windows 8 are about choices, because Microsoft believes the device has to fit
the job. Microsoft and its ecosystem are committed to providing choices to our customers