The Windows 8 desktop UI… revealed

Microsoft last week announced a metro-redesign for the desktop UI in the final release of Windows 8. Yep, not the Release Preview, the final version, so you’ll have to wait till October to see it.

See it in this post on Building Windows 8:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

I’m not too sure I like it, at first. It’s very different. Then again, I hated the name change from Windows Live Hotmail to Microsoft Hotmail at first, but now I prefer the latter way more. I suppose that once I get to use it, I’ll hate Aero and wonder why I ever use it.

This change actually proves many people wrong. Paul Thurrott from http://winsupersite.com/ said Microsoft will not re-style the desktop because it’s the past, and that people failed an intelligence test when someone posted a metro desktop mockup and people said “Microsoft should hire this guy”. But it turns out Microsoft doesn’t see the desktop as completely dead just yet.

What do you think of the change?

By the way, the Release Preview will have a slightly more metro-y desktop (e.g. flatter Explorer), but the complete metro re-design won’t be complete by the first week of June so it’ll only be available in the final version. I think the new UI is in the current winmain builds, but since the RP build will be in the final versions, we won’t see the whole new UI for a while. To see what is coming in the Release Preview, see my post.

Windows Weekly

This week’s post is basically to recommend a podcast about Microsoft and it’s called (read the title!) Windows Weekly. Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley discuss the latest Microsoft news each week, and it’s really good.

I recommend you check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEB8CC228C5239441&feature=plcp

(the only bad thing is there are loads of ads!)

The new SkyDrive – [someone else's] thoughts (now updated with proper link)

I was going to write about the new Microsoft SkyDrive features and what could be improved this week. But someone has beaten me to it , and they’ve essentially summed up what I would like. So I recommend you have a read of this post:

http://wp.me/p15Dp2-eh

In other news, I have updated the blog’s icon to the new Windows 8 logo. I have done this because the focus has changed from a primarily Doctor Who blog to a Doctor Who and technology blog (in part because there hasn’t been any Doctor Who for ages, and there won’t be any Doctor Who for ages yet, and in part because I find technology interesting, wanted to blog about it occasionally and didn’t want to start a different blog). In relation to the icon changes, I’ve changed the name to the more simple doctorwhofan98′s blog. This may or may not be a temporary name (as it depends on whether I think of something better).

Do let me know if you have any good name ideas. Do you use cloud storage? Why/why not?

Edit/update 05/05/2012: I’ve updated the link above in the post to go to the correct article. The previous link went to a post written in February when the features were announced, but not released. The newer post is after the app was released. Here is a link to the old post, and look above for a link to the new post.

The not-so-many editions of Windows 8

A bit of news today, but first I would like to mention the Windows 7 and Vista editions. They were:

• Windows Starter
• Windows Home Basic
• Windows Home Premium
• Windows Professional (Business in Vista)
• Windows Ultimate

It’s really hard to know what to choose, isn’t it! But Microsoft announced the editions of its next OS, now definitely called Windows 8 (it was previously Windows “8″ as it was a codename). The versions will be:

• Windows 8 (perfect for most users)
• Windows 8 Pro (includes all Win 8 features plus things like Bit locker)
• Windows RT (no, this isn’t Windows Re-tweet, it’s the version of Windows for ARM. It will only come on new devices)
• And there will also be Windows 8 Enterprise, only available for businesses.

This means that the consumer will just have to choose between Win 8 or Win 8 Pro when choosing a new x86/64 PC, or upgrading (well, Win Ultimate/Professional 7 users will have to go Pro). This is a lot simpler and is generally better.

See the official blog post for more info, a table of the version differences and more…

By the way, for people who want pricing, that’s coming later on, says Microsoft.

The Kindle Touch is now available in the UK!

A very brief post today, but one with a great announcement: the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G are now available from amazon.co.uk! Previously available just in the US, they are part of the fourth generation (or late 2011) Kindle line-up, which consists of:

• Kindle (available in all countries that have Kindles)
• Kindle Touch (available in most countries)
• Kindle Touch 3G (available in some countries, offers free 3G connectivity for buying books)
• Kindle Fire (US only… at least for the time being)

The Kindle 3 line-up (from 2010) is still around, and is now called the Kindle Keyboard:

• Kindle Keyboard (now only available refurbished, some countries)
• Kindle Keyboard 3G (still sold in some countries)

So that’s the Kindle line-up. What I’m kind of annoyed about is that the Kindle Touch came out last year in the US, and only now in the UK. If I lived in the US, I would’ve got the Kindle Touch for Christmas. But I don’t, so I had to get the KK3G. Bit annoying.

Anyway, happy reading!

The Kindle, Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire

The Doctor’s next companion… revealed!

A short post this week, but one with very big Doctor Who news (that was in fact revealed on 21 March) – the new companion’s actress has been revealed. Not the name of the companion (at least not yet), but see the article below for more information…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17456505

And this one as well…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_120321_02/Jenna-Louise_Coleman_Announced_as_New_Companion

So, Jenna-Louise Coleman will be the new companion, replacing Amy and Rory Pond. Here’s a timeline:

• Autumn 2012 – Doctor Who Series 7 starts
• Autumn 2012 – Amy and Rory Pond leave the series
• Christmas 2012 – the companion arrives!
• Spring 2013 (Date TBC) - Series 7 part 2, or Series 8 (TBC)

That’s basically the known future of Doctor Who in a few sentences. So, what do you think about the new companion?

A new logo for Windows 8

Windows 8 was revealed last September with a developer preview, and with a Consumer Preview (aka. Beta) coming out later this month, the official Windows 8 logo has been revealed. Below you can see the new Windows 8 logo, and underneath previous Windows logos:

There are going to be a lot of changes in Windows 8, including the following:

• Brand new user interface (as well as the desktop) aimed for tablet users
• No start button in the desktop
• Faster performance

I’m really looking forward to Windows 8, and it’s scheduled to be released this Autumn.

For more Windows 8 news, see this website:

http://www.theverge.com/tag/windows-8

For more info on the new logo, see this post:

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/02/17/redesigning-the-windows-logo.aspx

Introducing The random yet sometimes Doctor Who blog!

It only seems like yesterday when I changed this blog’s name from Alex’s Blog to All of time and space. But since it’s the New Year (well, we’re about 1/12 way through the year now), I thought I’d give it a new name. Introducing…

The random yet sometimes Doctor Who blog

It’s got the same URL, and I think I’ll carry on posting about the same stuff etc., but it’s nice to have a new name.

Doctor Who – Series 7: what we know so far

A lot of things are changing in the next series of Doctor Who, and this post simply aims to put all the known information (as of 17/12/11) in one place. So, what’s changing?

• The series will be split across 2012 and 2013
• There will be 14 episodes (I think that includes the 2011 Christmas special)
• It will start in Autumn 2012
• It is not clear whether 2012 will have a reduced episode count
• There are no two-parters planned for Series 7
• Matt Smith will stay until at least 2013
• Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Pond) will leave in a “heart-breaking episode” at some point in Series 7 – whether it’s in 2012 or 2013 is unknown
• The Eleventh Doctor will get a new companion, who is yet to be cast
• Steven Moffat will stay as the lead writer
• 2 executive producers are leaving
• The series main plot will be something to do with “the fields of Trenzalore” and “the fall of the eleventh”
• The Silence will most likely return
• The filming will start next year – unlike with previous series, where the filming has started in the previous year
• This means a trailer for Series 7 won’t be shown at the end of the Christmas special
• The format is estimated to be: 7/8 eps. in Autumn 2012, a 2012 Christmas special, then 17/8 eps. in Spring 2013 (this is not confirmed)
• It is unknown whether River Song will return
• It has got several names: Series 33 if you count all the series ever, Series 7 is you count the series since 2005, and Series 3 if you count it from a) the start of the Eleventh Doctor or b) since the 2010 partial reboot (so many things changed that year, so some people started counting the numbers again).

And I think that’s everything. The thing I found hardest to believe is that Amy and Rory are leaving. I, like a lot of other people, thought they’d leave after the 11th Doctor, or at the same time. I really can’t imagine Matt Smith with a different companion.

By the time this post is published it will be… Christmas Eve, I think. Remember to watch The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe tomorrow at 7pm (on BBC One). And have a great Christmas!

A new, short URL

Just a quick note to say that you can now access All of time and space at a new, shorter address (as well as the old, long address):

http://tinyurl.com/alloftime

This makes the blog much easier to share.

Have a great Christmas!