Switch to Windows 8 From October 26

All anxiety and excitement will now dry up as Microsoft has finally announced the launch of its new OS, Windows 8. The much awaited operating system would be unveiled on October 26, 2012 almost three years after the launch of Windows 7.

The latest in the Windows series, the new OS would be available from the releasing date onwards for the users of Windows XP, Vista, or 7 as upgradable software. The company would also let the PC makers start selling computers with Windows 8 the same day.

As an upgrade, the OS costs $ 40, much lesser compared to all the previous versions launched by Microsoft. Users who bought Windows 7 PC on or after June 2 can upgrade the OS for $ 15.

The new, touch-friendly Windows 8, as the company claims, would revamp the entire series with its hallmark features. It is designed to run on tablets in addition to the traditional desktops.

Microsoft will also be launching Windows RT, the version exclusively designed to run on tablets alone, along with Windows 8. RT would run on those tablets that are powered by processors similar to that of iPad.

Moreover, Microsoft Corp plans to release its own tablet “Surface”, which would support Windows RT OS. The company has launched the new version of Office and has planned for renewed phone software. It also looks forward for new versions of Windows OS in every three years.

Is HTML5 Really the Future of the Web?

As the internet takes to center-stage, browsers and the user-experience they deliver are becoming increasingly important. This scenario has HTML 5 being hailed as the future of the web, whether for the desktop or on mobile platforms.

But in an interview with SiliconIndia at its India Software Developer Conference, Aditya Bansod, Senior Director of Product Management at Sencha (a web-app and Mobile HTML5 developer framework) noted that the two areas that HTML 5 is seen lacking as of now, are the areas of gaming, and enterprise IT and security.

So although HTML5 framework and mobile app developing companies have created tools that could be used with CSS3 (and other platforms) to alternate Flash for gaming, “Today still, there’s no better platform for gaming than Flash is,” Bansod noted.

“HTML 5 as a gaming platform is not like Flash. It can be used with a number of other technologies like Silverlight, Web GL, CSS3 transition, CSS3 animation, and many others, but it’s still in the process of getting built and it’s not where Flash is,” he said. “Browsers, moreover, currently aren’t very good at letting the core technologies (Web GL and such) be used for gaming.”

But according to a blog post by AppMobi (another HTML5 development ecosystem), HTML 5 represents an ideal unifying technology that could be used to develop games and apps for a number of platforms (mobile included,) and all at the same time.

Bansod agreed with this viewpoint, saying that for the desktop web, Flash is one of the best tools one could use, especially for gaming, but for mobile, it doesn’t seem to be making any progress. “It’s not as good as it is for the desktop.” This scenario brings about the need for alternatives– in the case of a Flash video replacement (for example) H264 video and AAC audio are used along with the HTML video tag for YouTube on your phone. This replaces a lot of the flash elements. “But for gaming, there’s still no good answer,” noted Banod.

“Another area that I see HTML5 having room to grow is that of Enterprise level security, Enterprise management, Encrypted Data and such,” said Bansod. He noted that a lot of ways to implement applications for these areas were given by Java, and some were supplemented by Flash, and Silverlight, but Bansod said that HTML 5 isn’t there yet.

These two areas are where, according to Bansod, standards are moving ahead of the implementation. He said “I think we need the major players like Google and Microsoft to build on the platform layer, and make Web GL become a really powerful tool, and then we’ll start seeing it, especially in mobile. I think the big next step lies in getting all of that to mobile.”