Windows 8 will be available in four versions
by Fazle Rahman • April 17, 2012 • Operating Systems, Softwares
Windows has finally announced that they will be releasing four versions of their upcoming operating system Windows 8. Microsoft used to make slight changes with their previous operating systems and sell them as different versions cleverly. But with this announcement, they have really given a relief to the Windows lovers. The four versions will be one for home use, one for business, one for devices which run on ARM Chips and one for the large enterprises who buy bulk versions.
The final release of Windows 8 will see most people downloading only two versions, Windows 8 for Home and Windows 8 for business, for their traditional desktops and laptops. The actual “Windows 8″ version is simply designed for home users. “Windows 8 Pro” is designed for business users which will come with encrypting file system, domain management and virtualization features.
Windows 8 running on ARM Chips machines has been named as “Windows RT”. This version is restricted from direct purchase and will come preinstalled on PCs and Tablets that run ARM Chips. Most of the traditional X86/64 desktop software will also not run on this edition. Touch oriented apps based on Windows Runtime (WinRT) will be specifically designed for Windows RT. It will also have special touch oriented version of Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel and OneNote.
The below chart breaks down key features by edition (this list should not be considered an exhaustive list of features):
| Feature name | Windows 8 | Windows 8 Pro | Windows RT |
| Upgrades from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium |
x |
x |
|
| Upgrades from Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate | x | ||
| Start screen, Semantic Zoom, Live Tiles | x | x | x |
| Windows Store | x | x | x |
| Apps (Mail, Calendar, People, Messaging, Photos, SkyDrive, Reader, Music, Video) | x | x | x |
| Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote) | x | ||
| Internet Explorer 10 | x | x | x |
| Device encryption | x | ||
| Connected standby | x | x | x |
| Microsoft account | x | x | x |
| Desktop | x | x | x |
| Installation of x86/64 and desktop software | x | x | |
| Updated Windows Explorer | x | x | x |
| Windows Defender | x | x | x |
| SmartScreen | x | x | x |
| Windows Update | x | x | x |
| Enhanced Task Manager | x | x | x |
| Switch languages on the fly (Language Packs) | x | x | x |
| Better multiple monitor support | x | x | x |
| Storage Spaces | x | x | |
| Windows Media Player | x | x | |
| Exchange ActiveSync | x | x | x |
| File history | x | x | x |
| ISO / VHD mount | x | x | x |
| Mobile broadband features | x | x | x |
| Picture password | x | x | x |
| Play To | x | x | x |
| Remote Desktop (client) | x | x | x |
| Reset and refresh your PC | x | x | x |
| Snap | x | x | x |
| Touch and Thumb keyboard | x | x | x |
| Trusted boot | x | x | x |
| VPN client | x | x | x |
| BitLocker and BitLocker To Go | x | ||
| Boot from VHD | x | ||
| Client Hyper-V | x | ||
| Domain Join | x | ||
| Encrypting File System | x | ||
| Group Policy | x | ||
| Remote Desktop (host) | x |
No Pricing Details
On the blog post by Brandon LeBlanc, there was noting mentioned about the pricing details of Windows 8 nor did he mention when will it be available for purchase. With the beta version getting mixed response from all category of user, we expect Windows 8 final version will do good business. We will soon upload a video review on Windows 8 works on touch screen laptops.
