Microsoft Announces Availability of Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Milestone lets users explore a re-imagined, no-compromises Windows experience.

BARCELONA, Spain — Feb. 29, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview — the next milestone of the Windows operating system. This latest preview will be made available for download starting today at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. The Developer Preview received more than 3 million downloads.

“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft. “The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.”

At a Windows 8 Consumer Preview event in Barcelona that was attended by partners from Europe and around the world, the company shared some key new updates in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview:

• Broad range of product changes and improvements. Since the Developer Preview in September, designed to preview the programming platform, Windows 8 has progressed across every dimension. From completing the user experience for touch, keyboard and mouse to refining the development platform, the Consumer Preview improves performance, quality and reliability across all subsystems. With the added features, it represents a more complete view of the capabilities of Windows 8.

• Windows Store with new apps. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview marks the beta opening of the Windows Store, which is filled with a variety of new Metro style apps from both third-party developers and Microsoft. During the Consumer Preview, these apps are available to try and experience at no cost to users. The Windows Store will offer personalized recommendations, and Windows 8 gives users the ability to take their apps and settings with them across multiple PCs, making it easy to discover and try new apps while offering developers the greatest opportunity of any platform.

• Connecting to the cloud across Windows-based PCs and Windows Phone 7. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers seamless integration with the content people care about across their Web services. An optional additional sign-on with a Microsoft account provides access to a host of features, including the ability to roam all settings, use cloud storage, communicate with email, calendar and contacts, and connect to a broad range of services. Your connection to the cloud works across your Windows-based PCs and your Windows 7 phones.

• Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 5. The best way to experience the Web on Windows is with Internet Explorer 10. The browser has been re-imagined to create a new experience designed specifically for Windows 8 devices. It provides an edge-to-edge user interface that is all about less browser and more Web. Fast and fluid, Internet Explorer is hardware-accelerated to enable Web performance.

• Preview of new hardware capabilities. At the event, Microsoft also showcased Windows 8 running on a wide range of new x86- and ARM-based reference hardware. This hardware will be available to select developers for trial and testing as previously announced.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be available worldwide for download in English, French, German, Japanese and simplified Chinese languages. More information about Windows 8 and how to download the Consumer Preview is available at http://preview.windows.com or http://windowsteamblog.com.

Microsoft 宣布推出 Windows 8 Consumer Preview

这一里程碑将带给用户随心所欲的颠覆性 Windows 使用体验。

西班牙巴塞罗那 — 2012 年 2 月 29 日 — Microsoft 今天宣布推出 Windows 8 Consumer Preview，其颠覆性 Windows 操作系统的全新里程碑。 自今日起，用户可访问 http://preview.windows.com，下载最新预览版。 Windows 8 Consumer Preview 为测试这一全球最热门操作系统提供了更可靠的体验，继去年底推出 Windows 8 Developer Preview 初始版本之后，面向迄今为止最广泛的用户群体发布。 Windows 8 Developer Preview 自发布以来，下载次数已经超过三百万次。

“我们通过 Windows 8 重塑了不同的人机交互方式，以及如何让一切感觉就像是设备的自然延伸，不管是使用 Windows 8 平板电脑、笔记本还是一体机，”Microsoft Windows 及 Windows Live Division 总裁 Steven Sinofsky 说。 “Windows 8 Consumer Preview 让您能够随心所欲地使用 PC。”

来自欧洲及全球各地的合作伙伴出席了在巴塞罗那举行的 Windows 8 Consumer Preview 发布会。会上 Microsoft 与大家分享了 Windows 8 Consumer Preview 的一些关键更新：

• 范围广泛的产品变更和改进。 自 9 月推出设计用于预览编程平台的 Developer Preview 以来，Windows 8 已经在各个方面取得了进展。 从完善触控、键盘和鼠标方面的用户体验，到改进开发平台，再到跨所有子系统提高性能、质量和可靠性以及新功能，Consumer Preview 全方位呈现了 Windows 8 的全部功能。

• 包含全新应用程序的 Windows 应用商店： Windows 8 Consumer Preview 的推出标志着 Windows 应用商店试用版的启动，商店拥有大量由第三方开发人员及 Microsoft 自主开发的全新 Metro 风格应用程序。 在 Consumer Preview 发行期间，用户可免费试用并体验这些应用程序。 Windows 应用商店将为用户提供个性化的推荐建议，而 Windows 8 则帮助用户在多台 PC 上使用和设置其应用程序，从而简化了发现与试用新应用程序的过程，同时为开发人员提供了体验各个平台的绝佳机会。

• 从基于 Windows 的 PC 和 Windows Phone 7 连接到云。 Windows 8 Consumer Preview 无缝集成了用户通过各种 Web 服务所关心的内容。 用户使用 Microsoft 帐户进行可选的附加登录，可访问诸多功能，其中包括漫游所有设置、使用云存储、利用电子邮件、日历和联系人进行通信，以及连接至大量服务。 您可以从基于 Windows 的 PC 和 Windows Phone 7 连接到云。

• Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview 5。在 Windows 中体验 Web 的最佳方式是使用 Internet Explorer 10。我们对此浏览器进行了改头换面，从而为用户提供了专为 Windows 8 设备打造的全新体验。 它提供了一个边到边的用户界面，目的是减少对浏览器的依赖，更多地面向 Web。 Internet Explorer 的运行快速而流畅，通过硬件加速实现了 Web 性能。

• 预览全新硬件功能。 在发布会上，Microsoft 还展示了 Windows 8 如何在安装了各种新款 x86 和 ARM 的参考硬件上运行。 如此前所宣布，Microsoft 将会挑选一些开发人员对硬件进行试用和测试。

Windows 8 Consumer Preview 可在全球范围内下载，并提供英语、法语、德语、日语和简体中文五个版本。 有关 Windows 8 以及如何下载 Consumer Preview 的详细信息，请参阅 http://preview.windows.com 或 http://windowsteamblog.com。