Windows Blue to feature IE11, Bing search, public summer preview

[Rick]

Windows Blue, according to anonymous sources in touch with The Verge, is being targeted for an "aggressive" summer launch. The news outlet notes that Windows Blue just passed its "Milestone 1" build and says Win8China reported the first public preview of Windows Blue will arrive within the next "few months". If what Win8China reports is correct, Blue will also come bundled with Internet Explorer 11.

Microsoft's primary-colored "update" is purported to be a collection of tweaks and enhancements which aim to improve various aspects of Windows 8, RT, Server 2012 and Windows Phone 8. Alongside Windows 8-related platforms, complimentary services, like SkyDrive, are also expected to see changes courtesy of Blue.

The latest hearsay also suggests Blue will bring us IE11 and huge improvements to the Charms Bar search feature found on its Windows 8, RT and Server 2012 operating systems.

Purportedly, Bing will play a "big part" in Windows Blue, as the search engine's developers are working closely with the Blue project team. Meanwhile, past rumors stemming from a couple of job postings indicate the Windows Start Screen, customization and windowing features are all in line to see marked improvements.

When Microsoft cuts Blue loose later this year, affected platforms and services are expected to receive Blue's payload closely together, but not necessarily as a simultaneous release. Windows Blue is anticipated to be the progenitor of a paradigm-shift toward rapid-fire maintenance releases and platform homogenization across Microsoft's latest generation of products and services.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/51740-windows-blue-to-feature-ie11-bing-search-public-summer-preview.html

 

[Jad Chaar]

I really think they should revive the desktop... I would be surprised if they havent learned from Windows 8s failure. They need to make the desktop better, perhaps a desktop mode that disables the lock screen and such

 

[Jermy]

I really think they should revive the desktop... I would be surprised if they havent learned from Windows 8s failure. They need to make the desktop better, perhaps a desktop mode that disables the lock screen and such

You have a tile that says desktop on it. This will take you to the desktop.

 

[Greg S]

So is this a windows 8 service pack essentially or is it a new OS that they will charge for?

 

[windmill007]

I agree 100% unknown. I installed start8 since installing windows8 and never looked back. I still get many people asking for help because windows 8 is to confusing and I recommend start8 to them and they are ok after that. Is confusion what Microsoft was shooting for? No way would we release windows 8 as is into our large company. Microsoft better do better on next release. Don't forget the desktop Microsoft. Touch should be a separate option not forced. You can do so much more with a mouse!

 

[Jad Chaar]

You have a tile that says desktop on it. This will take you to the desktop.

Yes I know, I mean a classic start menu desktop

 

[Jad Chaar]

So is this a windows 8 service pack essentially or is it a new OS that they will charge for?

They will probably do what Apple does, a yearly release with minimal changes for like 30 bucks (I upgraded my mac at home from 10.6 to 10.8, big improvements and it was worth waiting 2 years). Yes it changes the Kernel from 6.2 (Win8) to 6.3, but there could be minimal improvements. I wonder if MS will bring DX 12 with Windows Blue.

 

[treeski]

They won't bring back any start menu and I don't think they should. What they should do is make the changes they've made less confusing and more accessible to M&K users.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I dont really care if they bring back the start menu. I just want something that is more accessible on a desktop than a tile menu. They have to remember they are a software giant known for the desktop... heck if they want to go into the tablet market, so be it! But they just need to accommodate both tablets and desktops seperately, and they are failing at that right now.

 

[Night Hacker]

I'll stick with Windows 7. If I have to upgrade to something, it will be to Linux. I won't touch Windows 8 unless there are some major changes. Not just in the OS, but in how they approve software developers, which is my main problem with them.

 

[RH00D]

I don't really see a problem with not having a Start menu. They've made improvements to the actual desktop environment and they implemented the new Start screen paradigm. There are still improvements that need to be made to the Modern UI/Start screen and I look forward to those but I don't think we need to go back to a Start button/menu.

 

[treeski]

I don't really see a problem with not having a Start menu. They've made improvements to the actual desktop environment and they implemented the new Start screen paradigm. There are still improvements that need to be made to the Modern UI/Start screen and I look forward to those but I don't think we need to go back to a Start button/menu.

I wouldn't mind a start button (I hate the hot corners), but otherwise I agree.

 

[9Nails]

You have a tile that says desktop on it. This will take you to the desktop.

So, in that line of thinking, there's a tile that says "Shutdown/Reboot" right?

I've been playing with Windows 8 for a little while. Only in terms of hours, and on a virtual windows box. And I'm not falling in love with it. I often feel trapped in Metro's UI and I'm slapping Escape to get out, or Back Space, or the Start Key. Something, but I'm getting stuck inside menu's and things and it's just too foreign on the desktop and feeling that there's something missing... Like a few command buttons. I'm really shocked that this made it through Microsoft's UI play testing group like this.

 

[danwat1234]

I wonder if Windows Blue will have the same problem that XP, Vista, 7 and 8 have; Explorer.exe does not officially support file path lengths larger than 255 characters. This is highly annoying when dealing with nested folders in My Documents and other situations. I use Total Commander to take care of business.
NTFS supports file path lengths of up to around 30,000 characters so why is explorer.exe use/have APIs that are back in the stone age of computing?

 

[xplayer]

I don't understand people who don't like windows 8?? its the fastest windows ever turn on very fast turn off very fast and all previous apps work on it perfectly and plus that it has a lot of new features that is really great and handy so for me absolutely the windows blue will be even bitter, by the way since I watched the Real Steel Movie I knows that some thing blue is coming!! may be xbox 720 main system color will be blue too like the ATOM's lighting instead of green .

 

[Railman]

I don't really see a problem with not having a Start menu. They've made improvements to the actual desktop environment and they implemented the new Start screen paradigm. There are still improvements that need to be made to the Modern UI/Start screen and I look forward to those but I don't think we need to go back to a Start button/menu.

Personally I don't have an issue with W8 having a new GUI interface, however I feel it was wrong not to give users the choice of classic or new interface. Frankly it seems a pretty daft policy on the part of MS as they have upset a large proportion of their user base (both private and commercial). Previous incarnations of Windows have had the classic option.

 

[Buster Keaton]

They won't bring back any start menu and I don't think they should. What they should do is make the changes they've made less confusing and more accessible to M&K users.

And M&K would be???

 

[RH00D]

They won't bring back any start menu and I don't think they should. What they should do is make the changes they've made less confusing and more accessible to M&K users.

And M&K would be???

Mouse and keyboard.

 

[MrBungle]

MS is not going to stop this idiocy until their really big enterprise customers start abandoning them, then we'll see the backpedal. Big corporations that buy tens of thousands of licenses of windows and office are not interested in app stores, touch first UIs, or integration with Microsoft's consumer level cloud services. They are also not going to be happy about retraining half their staff so that they can relearn what they already know how to do. It will be interesting to see what the solution is in the enterprise as Windows 7 marches toward its retirement in 2020.

 

[Buster Keaton]

Mouse and keyboard.

Ahh, thanks for the clarification.

 

[DDG4005]

This sounds like a major update to Windows 8 and its accompanying ecosystem. I liken it to what Service Pack 2 did for Windows XP: it transformed the OS into something more usable.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Personally I don't have an issue with W8 having a new GUI interface, however I feel it was wrong not to give users the choice of classic or new interface. Frankly it seems a pretty daft policy on the part of MS as they have upset a large proportion of their user base (both private and commercial). Previous incarnations of Windows have had the classic option.

Well, I guess someone had to make the move that most people wont like for the better good of progression and the company. I like some improvements to Win 8, but I feel like it is just horrible on the desktop