By David Purcell, for PCTechBytes.com
5 Things That May Surprise You About Windows 8
As Windows 8’s commercial release launch date approaches, more and more people are becoming eager with anticipation over what Microsoft’s latest operating system will bring to the table. Many are excited over the prospect of incorporating a lot of touchscreen interfacing to go with the traditional keyboard-and-mouse setup, while some are apprehensive over the thought that the new OS would be nothing more than an overhyped transitional program.
Both points of view have their merits, of course; but that isn’t what this article is all about. Instead, I will be detailing five changes to Windows 8 which may be deemed surprising by most people (for better or worse), and which could probably feed more fuel to the debate fire both ways.
#1 SmartScreen Anti-Malware Filter
Anyone who has used Internet Explorer should more or less be already familiar with Windows SmartScreen; but just in case you aren’t, it’s an app that automatically filters the stuff you download.
For instance, if you’re downloading something which IE isn’t familiar with, it’ll warn you accordingly; and if you’re downloading something which IE is sure is malicious data, not only will SmartScreen notify you, but it will automatically block the download as well.
It’s a rather nifty, though simple, app; and Windows 8 will be incorporating it not just with IE but to the OS as a whole. This means that even other browsers like Firefox and Chrome will be benefitting from it as well.
#2 Less Disruptive Windows Update Notifications
Windows Update is a great program that (*eherm*) updates your system in the background while you work.
The problem is, after it downloads and installs your desired patches, it has a nasty habit of reminding you every now and then to restart your computer. It’s a necessary step if you want the updates to function properly; but that doesn’t make the notifications any less annoying.
Windows 8 softens the annoyances by forcing restarts only once a month, coinciding with the security patch releases. It’ll also give you three days to restart your computer, and will do so through the login screen instead of within the virtual workstation itself.
This post is excerpted with the permission of PCTechBytes.com
