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<DIV style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 21px; MARGIN: 0px 0px 15px">Taking
stock of the Windows 8 versions</DIV><IMG class="avatar avatar-100 photo"
style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px" height=100 alt="Woody Leonhard"
src="http://windowssecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Woody-Leonhard-1-100x100.jpg"
width=100 align=left>By Woody Leonhard
<P class=summary
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Microsoft
just released details on the versions of Windows 8 it'll offer when the OS ships
most likely sometime in October.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Although
the company will simplify the current huge array of Windows versions with Win8,
the choices are really not any simpler at all.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Microsoft
used to have a simple, small set of <STRONG><I>SKUs</I></STRONG> (stock-keeping
units what you and I would call versions) for Windows. For example, XP first
shipped with just two: Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional. XP
Professional added the ability to join a domain and to act as a server (a
<STRONG><I>host</I></STRONG> or, as I like to say, a "puppet") in a Remote
Desktop session: it included Encrypting File System (EFS), Group Policy Editor,
and a handful of lesser features.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Then
the proverbial hit the fan. Within two years we had Windows XP Starter Edition,
Media Center Edition, and Tablet PC Edition all of which were available only
as preinstalled software on new systems (in theory). XP Professional was also
released in 64-bit versions (which worked on alternate Tuesdays) for Itanium
(Wikipedia <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium"><FONT
color=#000099>info page</FONT></A>) and Itanium 2 processors. (The original XP
Pro 64 was released simultaneously with XP Pro, but I don't think it worked
until years later.) Then there was the XP Professional x64 Edition.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">That
murky situation wasn't made any clearer with Vista and Windows 7 followed in
Vista's footsteps.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Given
that history, there was hope that Microsoft would finally reduce the version
complexity and give us well, uh just Windows 8. But in an April 16 <A
href="http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/04/16/announcing-the-windows-8-editions.aspx"><FONT
color=#000099>post</FONT></A>, Microsoft's irrepressible Brandon LeBlanc
announced the range of Windows 8 versions/SKUs the company plans to offer.</P>
<DIV style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 16px; MARGIN: 20px 0px 0px">An
introduction to the various new SKUs</DIV>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I
think the easiest way to understand Win8's new SKUs is to compare them with
Windows 7. Here's the breakdown:</P>
<UL
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 30px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"
type=square>
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Starter</STRONG> won't make the transition to Windows 8. No big loss. This
stunted version of Win7 is available only preinstalled on new PCs.
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Home Basic</STRONG> is targeted at "emerging markets" and comes in a wide
variety of languages. It'll be replaced by an
<STRONG><I>as-yet-unnamed</I></STRONG> Win8 version, and it also will be
targeted at emerging markets (Brandon LeBlanc mentions China). The difference?
Windows 8 for Emerging Markets, or whatever it's eventually called, will come
in local languageonly versions.
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Microsoft
hopes this strategy will reduce piracy. I figure it'll slow down the typical
overseas pirate by about, oh, two seconds but that's another discussion for
another time. There's no indication from Brandon how the Win8 Emerging Markets
version will differ from other SKUs, other than language. We also don't know
which countries will get this version.</P>
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Home Premium</STRONG> will become <STRONG>Windows 8.</STRONG> Yes, just
"Windows 8" refreshing, eh?
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Professional</STRONG> becomes <STRONG>Windows 8 Pro</STRONG> (just "Pro,"
not "Professional"). Like all the other Pro versions of Windows starting with
XP, Win8 Pro can join a domain and act as a server in a Remote Desktop
session. And like its predecessors, it includes EFS, Group Policy Editor, and
some additional features. Win8 Pro also includes BitLocker drive encryption
and Hyper-V Server, and it can boot from a virtual hard drive. There's no word
on a bundled XP Mode.
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Enterprise</STRONG> turns into something Brandon calls "Windows 8 for
enterprise customers with Software Assurance agreements." According to
Brandon, it has everything planned for Win8 Pro plus "features for IT
organizations that enable PC management and deployment, advanced security,
virtualization, new mobility scenarios, and much more." Microsoft has more
details about Windows 8 Enterprise on a Windows Team <A
href="http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business/archive/2012/04/18/introducing-windows-8-enterprise-and-enhanced-software-assurance-for-today-s-modern-workforce.aspx"><FONT
color=#000099>blog</FONT></A>.
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
7 Ultimate</STRONG> is going away. That could cause a lot of headaches for
some small businesses and even for a few enthusiasts. Why? To get the
equivalent to Windows 7 Ultimate's feature set, they'll have to sign up for an
expensive Software Assurance license. </LI></UL>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">There
are two new versions of Windows 8:</P>
<UL
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 30px; LINE-HEIGHT: 20px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"
type=square>
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Windows
8 for ARM machines commonly called WOA will be called, inexplicably,
<STRONG>Windows RT.</STRONG> It's an odd choice because <STRONG>WinRT</STRONG>
is the programming technology that drives the Metro interface in Windows 8 for
desktops and WOA. In fact, Microsoft couldn't have chosen a worse name. Why?
Because when customers go to the store, Windows 8 tablets (based on WinRT
technology) will run traditional Windows programs, but the Windows RT tablets
(also based on WinRT) won't. It could be painfully confusing.
<LI
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 2px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><STRONG>Windows
Media Center</STRONG> will be an "economical" add-on for Windows 8 Pro. I've
no idea why Microsoft requires you to buy Windows 8 Pro to get the Media
Center or how much Media Center will cost, but that's the way the marketing
cookie crumbles. </LI></UL>
<DIV style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 16px; MARGIN: 20px 0px 0px">Some
remaining Windows 8 mysteries</DIV>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">I,
for one, can't believe that Microsoft will stick with the "Windows RT" name for
Windows on ARM. As reported in a 2007 Seattle PI <A
href="http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/2007/04/02/microsoft-sued-over-vista-capable-program/"><FONT
color=#000099>story</FONT></A>, Microsoft was sued for its "Windows Vista
Capable" logos, placed on new systems that could not run the full version of
Vista.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">What's
going to happen when consumers buy a Windows RT tablet and discover that it
doesn't in fact run old-fashioned, everyday Windows programs just Metro
apps?</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">That's
not the only question about Windows RT. Brandon states that Windows RT "will
include touch-optimized desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, and OneNote." Nobody's seen any of those touch-optimized desktop
versions at least, nobody who's talking but we do know for a fact that they
won't be running on the Windows 8 Legacy Desktop. It doesn't exist in Windows
RT.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Brandon
also didn't talk about, or even hint at, pricing.</P>
<P
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px">Undoubtedly
many, many more questions about Windows 8 will arise before it ships. Let's hope
we get the right answers from the users' perspective.</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>