The Beta fish is back in the new Windows "Blue" previews.
This week, Microsoft is unveiling the previews for its Windows "Blue" operating systems—the Windows 8.1 client, Windows Server 2012 R2, and an update to Windows Server Essentials. Last night, Microsoft released the previews through its MSDN and TechNet programs for its server platforms, which include a feature called "Desktop Experience"—an add-on which gives the server versions of the platform the same interface as Windows 8.1.
As a result, Microsoft has tipped its hand about some of the interface changes it will be showing in the preview of the client, which it will release later this week. Here's a quick look at the most significant changes in the interface we've found in our first hands-on with the preview revisions.
There are a few subtle changes to the Start screen in the new Windows interface. One of them is the down-arrow (which we've pointed out with the red arrow) that appears when you hover the mouse over the bottom of the screen.
Click that down-arrow, and Windows will show you the tiles for all the applications installed.
The "Start" button is back, in a manner of speaking, on the toolbar at bottom-left. A click launches the Start screen.
When you search from Windows 8.1's search "charm"—the sidebar-loading menu on the right side of the screen—you can now search across the Web using Bing in addition to searching your PC's files, apps, and settings.
Using Search Everywhere, Search will present local results first, as shown here, and then offer live search results from Bing below.
If there's no local match, it just shows Bing results.
The search results are presented as a full-screen set of results in the "Metro" interface.
You can also narrow the search to Web images or Web videos.
The results of a Web image search are presented in a full-screen tiled gallery in the "Metro" interface.
Speaking of "Metro," Microsoft has reorganized the "Metro" settings interface to make it easier to navigate, including a first page that presents the settings you have most frequently changed.
The first of these new settings sub-menus is PC & devices, which controls features like the lock screen, mouse and touchpad settings, and typing auto-correct. This is also where you manage whether corners and edges turn on the various Windows pop-up interfaces, power settings, and how the computer handles removable media when inserted or plugged in.
Setting corners and edges behavior now has its own screen, so it's not lost in the jumble of other user settings.
This is where you set up your user account picture and set "sign-in options." Right now, that means setting your password; it may include setting whether you sign in to the Start screen or to Desktop.
Search and Windows 8 apps controls have been lumped together here. You can turn off Bing integrated search here based on how you're connected, and you can control the search experience embedded in the Windows 8.1 desktop.
This is also where you can control how your apps bug you, setting when they're allowed to push notifications.
You can also take a look here at what apps you have installed and what sizes they are—and pick which ones you need to purge to free up space.
Privacy also gets its own submenu of setting pages, including controls for setting which apps can access your webcam, microphone, and other attached devices.
This is where you configure your networks and VPNs within the "Metro" PC settings control panel. There are also pages within this submenu for controlling 4G connections...
...and network proxy settings. You can also configure your Windows HomeGroup here.
Another section broken out from the original Windows 8 settings is Ease of Access. You're given control over the voice narration feature here, and there are pages for configuring other accessibility settings.
Most of these settings are also accessible from the Desktop control panel as well, as are administrative features not directly accessible from the "Metro" interface.
Windows Server 2012 R2's Server Manager interface remains much the same as it did in the previous release. However, WS 2012 R2 has picked up a number of new features under the covers, including enhancements to Hyper-V, networking, and storage. There's also a new Work Folders feature that allows users to synchronize files to mobile devices and non-enterprise PCs.
The Windows Server Eseesntials "Experience" has also been added to Windows Server 2012 R2, so smaller networks can leverage the virtualization capabilities of Windows Server and still take advantage of the ease of administratoion of WSE.
The WSE Dashboard gives administrators an easy-to-follow view of what's right and what's wrong with their server and guides them through the full configuration of a domain. It only works for single-domain networks.
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