Windows 8, Touch Screen Revolution

Imagine what happens when Apple I-Phone, Android, Windows Smartphone and many more touch screen features are merged. Well, prepare yourself for Swipe, Slide, Zoom and many more interactive gadgets in Windows 8. Microsoft has planned to officially launch Windows 8 in October 2012, but beta version called ‘Consumer Preview’ has been launched in Feb 2012.

Microsoft has rework Windows as a “touch-first” operating system, meaning that its interface is simple and designed to be used in touch tablets similar to the iPad. Future laptops and PCs will likely have touchscreens as well. That’s just the direction things are headed. So Microsoft’s goal is to create one platform that can serve a keyboard and mouse just as well as a touchscreen.

Windows 8 will employ a new user interface based on Microsoft's Metro design language. The Metro environment will feature a new Tile-based Start Screen similar to the Windows Phone OS. Each tile will represent an application, and will be able to display relevant information such as the number of unread messages on the tile for an e-mail app or the current temperature on a weather application. Metro-style applications run in full-screen, and are able to share information.

 

 

Other Fetaures:

·        IE 10

·        Login / Sign in  using a Windows Live ID

·        Hybrid Boot will use "advanced hibernation functionality" on shutdown to allow faster startup times.

·        Windows To Go will allow Windows 8 to boot and run from a bootable USB device (such as a flash drive).

·        Two new recovery functions are included, ‘Refresh’ and ‘Reset’. Refresh restores all Windows files to their original state while keeping settings, files, and Metro-Style apps, while ‘Reset’ takes the computer back to factory default condition.

·        Native USB 3.0 support

·        New Windows Task Manager design

·        Xbox Live (Including Xbox Live Arcade)

Hardware requirements:

To use touch input features, touch enabled hardware will be required.

Minimum hardware requirements for Windows Consumer Preview
Architecture	x86 (32-bit)	x86-64 (64-bit)
Processor	1 GHz
Memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Graphics Card	DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
HDD free space	16 GB	20 GB

A Tribute to Moin Akhter on his 1st Death Anniversary

Moin Akhter was a well known Pakistani TV artist who also performed on radio, film and stage.  He was known as a humorist, comedian, impersonator, and a host. He was also a play writer, singer, film director and a producer. Above all he was great human being, as disclosed by his close associates.

He was adored for providing humor for people of all ages, and with special emphasis on moral and social values. His attempts to avoid vulgarity in his humor and respect for religious ethics, rendered him a favorite amongst family audiences. Moin performed for many writers and performers, but his team with writer Anwer Maqssod was undoubtedly gave both world wide fame and liking.

He won several national and international awards including ‘Pride of Performance Pakistan’, ‘Honorary citizenship of Dallas’, listed in ‘Amazing Pakistani’, etc.

He died on 22 April 2011 in Karachi after suffering from a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and two sons. Junaid Jamshed led his funeral prayer which was attended by thousands of people including Governor of Sindh. The world famous wax museum London’s Madame Tussauds has expressed its wish to include a statue of Moin Akhtar in their London museum and it will be the first of its kind for any Pakistani entertainer.