The Windows 8 Touch Keyboard

In this blog I’ll cover what I’ve learnt about the Windows 8 Touch keyboard.
There are several different types of touch keyboards available with Windows 8 providing you have a touch screen.
The Touch Screen is available for the conventional touch screen computer and of course for the Surface tablet. The Touch Keyboard is a useful alternative to using the conventional keyboard on either.

Accessing the Touch Keyboard

To access the Touch Keyboard go to your Desktop view. In the right-hand side of the Taskbar you’ll see the Keyboard icon. Click it and the keyboard appears on your screen.

Now this is where the fun starts because there are four types of keyboards of keyboards available! They are:

1. Standard keyboard (this is the default one)
2. Split-screen keyboard
3. Full keyboard
4. Handwriting Recognition Keyboard

1. Standard Keyboard (default)

2. Split-Screen Keyboard

3. Full Keyboard

4. Handwriting Recognition keyboard

 

Looking Closer at the Features of the Standard Touch Keyboard

On the top right of each keyboard are two controls – Minimize/Maximize and Close. On the lower left is the “change keyboard” button.
Clicking this allows you to toggle through the keyboard of your choice. The other features are much the same except for the addition of the Smiley key, a fun thing!

10 best Windows 8 social apps

The top apps for Facebook and Twitter from the Windows Store 

 

Windows 8 and Windows RT come with the built-in People app which shows you updates from and lets you post to Facebook and Twitter.

It also shows you your entire address book from Facebook, Twitter, Linked in, Skype and your email accounts.
So while it's great for seeing what's going on, you can't Share to the People app from other apps like the browser to tweet or post things to Facebook.
Of course you can always look at the website for your favourite social network, but if you want to get live tiles, notifications and sharing, you want an app.

We know an official Twitter app is under development; not so for Facebook – Facebook says it has no plans and points at Microsoft, Microsoft points back at Facebook.
In the meantime, here are our favourite Windows 8 social apps so far.

1. FlipToast

FlipToast lets you see updates from Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and Instagram in the same app; you can see the most updates, notifications, photos, messages, birthdays and your first twenty or so friends as you scroll across the screen or tap each pane to get a longer list of each of those. If you want to see updates from just one service, pinch to semantic zoom out and you get tiles to pick from. The design is friendly and fun rather than sleek and stylish but this is like the People app on steroids.

2. MetroTwit

Even without an official app, there are several good Twitter clients. Rowi doesn't have a live tile and its black and green interface only fits in one column of tweets and one of photos, leaving lots of space for seeing one tweet in a large font, with its replies. The fixed ad at the top of the timline is badly placed, especially in snapped view. Gleek has handy options like adding a hashtag to all your posts and choosing how to mark replies (RT or via or just quotes) and the tile view is great for photos but it's a little odd to see the same tweets in a column and as tiles. That makes the colourful MetroTwit our favourite app for running full screen; although you can only see two columns on screen at once, it has a big, clear bar for writing your tweets in, plus previews of weblinks open in a nice large pane.

3. Tweetro

Also worth trying out, Tweetro has a comprehensive interface that sprawls across the screen to fit in your timeline, photos and the lists and searches you add (mentions, messages and favourites open in their own panes), with slightly confusing positioning but buttons like Reply and Retweet. If you don't mind scrolling you see more than with other Twitter apps full screen and Tweetro is definitely the best Twitter app to keep snapped into a side window so you can glance at your choice of tweets, mentions, messages, favourites or lists - and the conversation view when you reply fits neatly too.

4. Social Dribble

Want to see the tweets in trending topics at a glance? tMetro picks up the latest trending hashtags and grabs tweets for all of them. EventWall lets you pick hashtags to search for so you can easily follow a popular topic like an Apple launch or an event. But if you want to turn Twitter into a screensaver, Social Dribble displays one tweet at a time for your chosen hashtag in a font large enough for you to see across the room.

5. Digital Dictator

The interface is a bit of a joke, but this is a handy app for using snapped next to the People app to post updates to more than one network at a time; Digital Director posts to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare (with your location) and Yammer.

6. NGReader

This isn't just the best Google Reader app we've found; it also has one of the nicest interfaces we've seen in a Windows 8 app. You can see your list of feeds, the stories in one or all your feeds and the selected story on screen all at once in a view that still manages not to look crowded (and tapping the story loads the original web page into the story pane very elegantly). Or you can flip into a tiled view with no interface, just headlines and pictures for a quick overview; tapping a tile brings up a half-screen pane showing the story in an interface that defines clean and clear. Plus it syncs well with your Google Reader account so you won't find yourself reading the same stories again on other devices.

7. ReddHub

Ribbit and Narwhal are both worth a look, but the best Reddit app for Windows 8 so far is ReddHub; you can even use it without logging into Reddit if you want to see the cat pictures without joining the debates. You can pin subreddits to the Start screen, submit and reply to links (with decent quoting) and use the Share charm to send links to Reddit or share links from Reddit but perhaps the best feature is the way it automatically resizes pictures to fit on screen. We've never thought of Reddit as beautiful but that's what ReddHub is. Also, prepare to lose hours reading…

8. Tumbukun

If you want to explore random Tumblrs or follow one in detail, Single Stream has a nice interface for doing that. But if you want to manage and update your own Tumblr as well as reading the Tumblrs you already follow, Tumbukun is a good – if rather primary coloured – app for that. You can like and reblog posts and write your own posts from scratch in the editor, although if you want to end an existing post you have to open it in the browser (annoying if you spot a typo right after you post).

9. IM+

The Messenger client for Windows 8 is very purple and uses a lot of space for just Messenger (and linked services like Yahoo and Facebook Chat). If you use other IM services, grab a copy of IM+ which covers all the main services including Google, Jabber and ICQ as well as the ubiquitous Messenger, AOL, Facebook, Skype and Yahoo plus international ones like RenRen and Yandex. The interface is fairly stark but there are plenty of handy options from blocking people you don't know to getting email alerts for messages you miss when you're offline.

10. Skype

The Windows 8 Skype app merges Skype and Messenger (and your Skype and Microsoft account); you see recent calls and chats made on multiple Skype devices, your favourite contacts and people you've talked to recently – or you can see your full address book as tiles. Plus you get Skype as another way to contact friends from inside the People app. If you prefer Google Voice for calls, check out Freetalk.

Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac gets Windows 8-minded update

Tablet gestures, USB 3.0 and Retina display support 

 

Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, the desktop virtualization software, welcomed a bunch of new updates Thursday, answering consumer calls for Retina display support plus adding features tailored just for Windows 8
The hallmark of Microsoft's new OS is that it's touch capable, meaning everyone from hardware makers to software manufacturers is scrambling to embrace the new possibilities.
Parallels is among the firms adapting to the W8 landscape, bringing tablet-touch gestures to the desktop mold with Thursday's update.
The company has also integrated a single tile to the Windows 8 interface for swift access to shared Mac apps.

Windows 8 upside

According to Parallels, its Desktop 8 for Mac software already has deep built-in integration between the Mac OS X and Windows 8 operating systems.
Match that with the new updates and users can use Mountain Lion's Dictation feature in Windows applications, plus add Windows apps to Launchpad and Mac Dock.
Retina display settings, as mentioned, nabbed an update that should make for easier screen optimization.
Parallels has thrown in full USB 3.0 support as well as increased virtual machine limits, letting users run larger apps.
Lastly, Desktop 8 for Mac users will find smoother transitions when entering and exiting Coherence mode thanks to the added USB 3.0 support.

Why does Secure Boot need such draconian control?

Pros and cons of Secure Boot explored

 

There's a new unavoidable conundrum for free software, and it has a name that conjures up thoughts of either a totalitarian regime, or a decent way of ensuring that malevolent code doesn't slip in between the cracks in your BIOS and your operating system.
 It's called Secure Boot, and it's part of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface specification (UEFI) developed for the next generation of PCs.
Secure Boot is designed to only allow signed code to boot your machine, and only entities that hold a valid key can sign the code that will allow your machine to boot. If the code can't be verified, it won't be able to run, in which case you'll probably be presented with an updated version of the message you used to get when you accidentally overwrote the master boot record.
It means that the USB version of Ubuntu 10.10 you've been relying on to undelete your Windows files and repair over-written master boot records will no longer work - at least not on a new machine that conforms to the specification. But then you probably won't have MBRs any more, either. Windows 8, and machines that are sold and certified to run it, will need to use Secure Boot. This is a good thing in some ways. For Microsoft and for Windows users, it will mean that one of the most glaring loopholes in PC security can finally be sealed. Trojans won't be able to hide, and Microsoft will be able to control the entire software stack from the boot to the desktop.
This will make it a lot harder for anything to usurp the operating system before it reaches sentience, and it's something Apple has been able to do for a long time.
It's part of the reason why iOS hardware hasn't yet been compromised and why, despite everyone owning one, Apple's devices seem to be retaining their integrity (though now that I've written this, there's probably some terrible malware infecting every iOS device on the planet).

The downside 

But in other ways, this isn't a good thing. Apple controls every line of code that goes through the CPU, whether that's the bootstrap or any one of the thousands of apps vetted and sandboxed to run on its devices.
It does this on an Apple TV, its music players, its tablets and its phones. Its PCs famously only run on authenticated hardware too, and Apple wants to take the sandbox approach used in iOS development to the desktop.
It will do this by making the OS X App store as popular and as integral to OS X as possible, and by forcing developers into the sandboxed environment it is creating.
There are similarities between the level of control in Secure Boot and the direction Apple is headed in when it comes to running software on your hardware, and while this development will be good for consumer confidence, I don't think it's a good thing for freedom or for security.
It stinks of an easy option being made because, surreptitiously, it's an idea that also works to give Microsoft more control. There should be a more imaginative solution to these problems, because it's unclear what this going to mean for Linux - and more importantly, what is it going to mean for choice.
Do you really want an operating system vendor to have this level of control over your hardware? Apple customers can be excused somewhat because they buy a device that's been 'Designed by Apple in California', and they know what they're not getting. But the PC market is completely different, and in a good way.
There's no official platform, hardware or vendor. There's massive variety, and whether you're buying a laptop or putting your PC together from components, you have a great deal of choice.

Removing choice 

Big Linux distributions like Fedora and Ubuntu are making their own arrangements for procuring the credentials to allow booting - the price isn't prohibitive, and it's a system managed by Verisign, not Microsoft. But it's causing a split, not just because people can't agree on the best approach, but because it's already creating friction.
The Free Software Foundation, for instance, criticised Ubuntu's plans use an Ubuntu-specific key for what the FSF calls Restrictive Boot, as well as Canonical's intention to drop the Grub bootloader over concerns that using it will break the terms of the GPL used to distribute.
But what about the smaller distributions, updates, unofficial re-spins and personal redistribution to friends? I don't understand why Secure Boot needs to have such draconian control over the PC. Why can't it be used only when booting Windows, for example, and who's naive enough to think that the keys won't be cracked or stolen, giving hackers an even softer back door into Windows than before?

Secure Boot isn't a solution, it's about control and it's removing choice from a platform that has always flourished because of it. Whether that was Microsoft capitalising on the rise of IBM-PC clones, or Linux undercutting UNIX when it appeared on x86. And to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

Early Windows 8 adoption '5X slower' than Windows 7

Only 0.45 per cent of all Windows machines 

 

Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating systme is only running on 45 out of every 10,000 PCs, according to new figures, putting adoption far below the initial Windows 7 uptake.
Data from the Net Applications company showed that, at the end of October, 0.45 per cent of total PCs were running Microsoft's latest OS.
That's compared to previous figures from the same company that showed 2.33 per cent of users had taken on Windows 7 following its launch at the end of October 2009.
However, the comparison is tempered by slightly differing launch dates. Windows 7 arrived on the Oct. 22 that year, while Windows 8 only went public on last Friday, Oct. 26.

Adoption anomaly

The four-day launch discrepancy aside, a rocket science doctorate isn't really necessary to produce a thesis on the anomaly, which suggests an early adoption rate five times lower than W8's predecessor.
It's been well documented that, when Windows 7 arrived in 2009, PC users were anxious to make the jump from the largely-disastrous Windows Vista or the ancient Window XP software.
However, it turns out people actually quite like Windows 7, are still enjoying it and may not be experiencing the same sense of urgency to upgrade.
There's also the newness of the Windows 8 experience to consider. Microsoft has "re-imagined" its operating system with the new Windows UI and potential upgraders may be experiencing trepidation at the prospect of learning new software.
However, Microsoft knows this is a marathon and not a sprint and will thus be blitzing televisions and web browsers with commercials in the run up to Christmas.

Microsoft sued over Live Tiles in Windows 8

Surface brings out the patent trolls 

 

A US company is suing Microsoft is over its use of Live Tiles in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

A company called SurfCast has filed the suit over its patent #6,724,403 which is all to do with how content is organised and displayed.
"The present invention comprises a graphical user interface which organizes content from a variety of information sources into a grid of tiles, each of which can refresh its content independently of the others.
"The grid functionality manages the refresh rates of the multiple information sources," the patent reads.

Familiar

It sure sounds a lot like Live Tiles – and Surfcast is after recompense for any Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 and Windows RT device using them.
But Microsoft's been showing off bits and pieces on device homescreens using its dynamic tiles since Windows Phone 7 launched in October 2010; why is Surfcast suddenly all up in Microsoft's grill over it now?
It's all to do with the Microsoft Surface and the potential payout that Windows 8 will afford, given that Windows Phone hasn't exactly made anyone a bundle.
Surfcast also says Microsoft is encouraging other companies to infringe its patent by urging devs to build app tiles for the Windows Store and allowing manufacturers to sell Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices.
We don't expect to see this result in multiple years' worth of litigation between the two companies a la Samsung vs Apple – as The Verge suggests, Microsoft will likely settle with Surfcast out of court and we can all move on.

Microsoft showcases PayPal, Dropbox and other apps for Windows 8

Call it the week of Windows 8: Microsoft wasted no time luring developers to the new OS during its Build 2012 conference in Seattle Tuesday.
Among the showcasing going on, the Softies focused on W8 apps for the Windows Store, including ones for PayPal, ESPN and Dropbox.
Microsoft also revealed that 4 million people have made the switch to Windows 8 since the OS was made available Oct. 26, a number that's sure to peak developers' interest.
The company did not, however, make mention of Surface tablet sales.

What the W8 apps are all about

Dropbox's new app "offers cloud based storage and synchronization service for photos, documents and videos on Windows 8," Microsoft wrote in an official blog post.
Look for it in the Windows Store soon.
With the ESPN app, news, scores and videos are all aggregated, plus ESPN The Magazine, podcasts and photo galleries all make the cut.
For sports-specific fans, W8 lets users pin whatever sport they choose and their favorite teams to their Start screens, too.
With PayPal, the Windows 8 API lets devs use the service within any Windows Store app to actually get paid.
Microsoft also announced in its blog post that Twitter is also working on a Windows 8 app, a tidbit the social network later confirmed with a tweet. However, that app won't see the light of day for a few months.

Five reasons why Windows 8 has Apple and Google beaten

Microsoft is onto something. With Windows 8 it's better positioned than both Apple and Google to ride the coming laptop-tablet convergence wave.
It might even eventually give Microsoft a shot at the all-important smartphone market. To understand why, let's count the ways in which Windows 8 is best.

1. Tablet-laptop convergence

Laptops and tablets are converging. And only Microsoft has an OS that's fit for that coming unification of devices.
Apple has no convergence strategy at this time. That's because it fiercely guards product-specific profit streams and just doesn't go in for making things that cannibalise its own sales.
So, Mac Mini is hobbled to protect iMac. iMac is hobbled to protect Mac Pro. And iPad isn't allowed to wander into MacBook's territory.

Likewise, Chrome OS isn't a fully viable notebook OS. And nor is Android. Windows 8 is the only OS that's a genuine goer for both tablets and laptops.

2. Superior user interface

The interface formerly known as Metro and now labelled 'Modern' is quite literally the most modern of touchscreen UIs. It's not perfect. But it's fresh. It's contemporary. And it's polished.
It combines the responsiveness of Apple's iOS with the power and configurability of Google Android. And it looks better than both.

3. ARM and x86 CPU support

You can argue the toss over the advantages of ARM vs x86 processors. Will ARM continue to have a power efficiency edge? Will the raw power of Intel's x86 chip eventually win the day?
It doesn't matter because with Windows 8, Microsoft now supports both.
OK, there's an x86 compatible version on Android out there, too. But for now it's more of an experiment than a serious play in the market. Meanwhile, when it comes to ultramobile operating systems, Apple's iOS is ARM-only..

4. Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is something that Windows has always nailed, from thread management at the kernel level to the way the UI presents presents multiple apps.
Now it's even better than ever thanks to a choice between old-school task bar application management on the desktop and app "snapping" in the Modern UI.

Microsoft has also added some gesture-driven app switching to the Modern UI. Put simply, Windows 8 is miles ahead of iOS and Android for multi-tasking and app switching.

5. Backwards compatibility

OK, this bit only applies to the regular x86 version of Windows 8 and not the ARM-compatible Windows RT, flavour. But only Windows 8 offers you a fully contemporary, touch-enabled ultramobile OS that also supports the huge ecosystem of legacy PC applications and delivers powerful multi-tasking.
It really is one OS to rule them all.

 

It's not all good news

Windows 8 isn't perfect. Limitations abound, including the peculiarly neutered desktop mode in Windows RT. Then there's the pitiful number of touch-enabled apps compared with Android and iOS.
But there's plenty of time to get forensic with Windows 8's shortcomings. For now, let's focus on the fact that it's a huge step forward for MS.
For you, it means the prospect of genuine device consolidation. Tablet and laptop combined in one device that's more than the sum of its parts.
If merit counts for anything, here's hoping Windows 8 will make a tangible dent in both Android and iOS.

Windows 8 versions: which is right for you?

Explained The difference between Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT

With only two versions of Windows 8 to be available to consumers, plus one for ARM devices (pre-installed only), what you get ought to be straightforward.
But, as is usual with a new version of Windows, there's still room for confusion because what you get with each version overlaps slightly.

The three Windows 8 versions
Windows 8 (for x86, Intel/AMD)
Windows 8 Pro (for x86, Intel/AMD)
Windows RT (for ARM)

Windows 8

Windows 8 (yes, just Windows 8) is the home version for x86 Intel and AMD PCs. The features you do and don't get mostly make sense; joining a domain, encrypting your disk with BitLocker and being able to log into your PC remotely are business features.
You can connect to a PC at work from a Windows 8 system, with Remote Desktop or a VPN, you can combine multiple hard drives into one storage 'pool' that has multiple copies of your files and you can mount VHD and ISO images as if they were hard drives – but you can't boot from a VHD file.
And anyone who speaks more than one language or travels between countries will be delighted that you can switch not just the keyboard but the Windows interface from one language to another without paying extra.

Windows 8 Pro

What doesn't immediately make as much sense is that Media Center not included with Windows 8; it's "an economical media pack add-on" that's only available for Windows 8 Pro, which is otherwise for business users (or enthusiast users). Again, Windows 8 Pro is for for x86 Intel and AMD PCs.
Although Media Center has dedicated fans (around 50 of whom wrote to Windows head Steven Sinofsky to ask about the feature), only 6% of Windows 7 users ever launch it and only 25% of those use it for more than ten minutes at a time.
Microsoft has to pay licences for the codecs used in Media Centre, including Dolby technology. When the Developer Preview came out last September, Sinofsky commented that "the feedback about Media Center was predominantly "we will pay extra, just include it" based on the input directly to me," so it looks like Microsoft is taking users at their word.

Windows RT explained

All three versions of Windows 8 run Metro-style (also now known as Microsoft design style) applications written in WinRT, the new Windows RunTime programming framework, which is also what Windows RT is named for. Windows RT will come pre-installed on ARM devices like Microsoft Surface, you won't be able to install it yourself.
This is what was previously called Windows on ARM. It has both the Microsoft design style Start screen and the Windows desktop, with Task Manager and Explorer and support for multiple monitors (remember Windows RT devices won't be just tablets and they'll have connectors like HDMI).

But even though you get the desktop on Windows RT, you can't install desktop applications. It comes with ARM-specific versions of Office apps – but just Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, so if you want Outlook you need a PC with an Intel or AMD processor.

SmartGlass to share Windows 8 release date

Xbox 360 about to go multiscreen

October 26 will be a busy day for tech fans as Microsoft's SmartGlass app hits as the Windows 8 hardware goes on sale.
The free app transforms your tablet or phone into a second screen for the Xbox 360, and will be available on Windows 8 and Windows RT from October 26.
It'll be coming to Windows 8 PCs, Windows RT tablets, Windows Phone 8 handsets and iOS and Android devices eventually, but iOS and Android users may face a wait of several months.

Dashboard

SmartGlass will work with the new Xbox 360 dashboard (which is currently rolling out to all Xbox Live users) and offer web browsing as well as a place to track your gaming facts and figures
As well as the stat attack, SmartGlass actually allows you to use your tablet or phone as part of certain games – titles like Forza Horizon and Ascend have already integrated the external devices.
SmartGlass can also act as a remote for when you're watching films through your console, streaming other content from the internet or using the newly-launched Xbox Music service. 

Streaming media in Windows 8: what you need to know

How to stream music and video on Windows 8

Apple has AirPlay and Apple TV, which is fine if you're tied to the Apple ecosystem. Microsoft has Xbox 360, the best-selling console on the market month after month and Windows 8 ought to be able to build on that to make streaming music and video around your house simple.

Except, with all the choices on a PC, things are rarely simple.
In Windows 7, Windows Media Player has the Play To feature; this lets you stream music or video to a DLNA-certified device like a Sonos music player or a Western Digital TV adapter, or to another PC in your homegroup with Media Player on.
If it works, it works well. If it doesn't it's hard to troubleshoot. Windows 8 makes this both better and worse. Play To isn't limited to Windows Media Player any more - it's in Explorer and desktop Internet Explorer, it works with HTML5 video in web pages (including in the Metro IE browser) and it can be built right into applications.
It's in the Xbox music and Xbox video Windows Store apps, for example. And with the Charm bar, it can always be in the same place - open the Devices charm from an app to see what you can send your media to.
But Play To is also much more picky and what it really wants is a certified Play To receiver rather than just any DLNA device. Certified receivers support H.264 video with AAC, they have low latency so your video doesn't stutter, they can cope with complicated libraries of media rather than just flat folder structures, they have a standby mode to save power but can wake up remotely when you start playing and they use peer-to-peer Wi-Fi Direct to avoid complicated network issues.
And there's only a handful of them on the market so far. As of Windows 8 RTM the list was some 2011 Samsung SMART TVs, a couple of 2011 Sony DLNA TVs, three specific Altec Lansing LIVE speakers, the newer but not the older Western Digital TV Live media players, Windows Media Player on a Windows 7 or 8 PC, Windows Store apps that use the Windows 8 Digital Media Receiver API - and now the latest Xbox 360 update.

Older DLNA devices like the Sonos players show up as 'uncertified' in the Windows 8 Devices list and they might or might not work with Play To. This varied even on the same system in our tests. Some days we could see a Sonos ZonePlayer and send music to it, some days Windows thought we didn't have any Play To devices at all and the buttons in Media Player and Explorer were greyed out, even though the Sonos devices were still listed in Devices.

At the moment, the new dashboard for Xbox 360 is the best and most reliable device to stream media to, and again there are lots of options.
Streaming media works differently depending on where the music or video comes from, as well as what application you start from.
The simplest experience is when you want to use the Xbox Music app on Windows 8 to play a track from the Xbox music service - or the Xbox video app on Windows 8 to play a video from the Xbox video service - on your Xbox.
Pick the Play button for the album or track in Xbox music and the app bar shows both 'Add to now playing' and 'Play' on Xbox 360 - the Xbox video app puts both options in the main menu on screen. Once you're listening to one track or album, anything else you select in Xbox music on your PC just offers you the 'Play on Xbox 360' button - simple.
While you're at it, you can use your PC to control the Xbox: tap on icons for the A, B, X and Y buttons and they do the same as the physical buttons on an Xbox controller (the more familiar you are with controlling the Xbox dashboard with a physical controller, the less confusing this is).
Playing video on Xbox from the Windows 8 Xbox video app takes you into the SmartGlass app where you can browse the Xbox dashboard.

If you want to play music or video you have stored on your own system, not from the Xbox music or video services, you have to start playing the video, album or track as normal - and then open the Charm bar, choose 'Devices' and pick Xbox 360 - or any other devices you can send media to, if you're lucky enough to see them show up here.

That's the same from the Metro IE browser; start playing HTML5 video, whether it's in a window on the web page or full screen, and you can use Devices to send it to your Xbox. Of course you may not know whether the video you're watching is HTML5 or not until you try to send it to another device…

 

If certified Play To devices become common, or DLNA devices start working more reliably with Windows 8, this will all be a fantastic way of streaming content around the house - especially if you buy into the new Xbox music service, which will include free streaming music on Windows 8 when it launches.
Today, it's great if you have an updated Xbox; the screen and speakers that it's connected to are likely to be much better for enjoying music and video on than your laptop or tablet, and your laptop or tablet is a much better way for most people to control an Xbox than a controller designed for gaming.
For older DLNA devices, unless it just works first time, it ends up being a frustrating experience.

Windows 8 Versus Android, OSX, iOS, And Even Itself..

Traditionally, when it comes to Windows competitors there has been only one of major consequence, at that is Mac OS X. To be fair even Mac OS X's market share is hardly a threat to Microsoft's dominance with Windows and Linux doesn't even register on Redmond's concern list I'm sure.
Windows 8, however, has plenty of new competition thanks to the addition of ARM processor support. This means that that Windows 8 competes directly against: Linux/Unix Desktop derivatives, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS.
Not to mention it also has two big competitors in the form of its own Windows Phone and Windows 7 (and earlier).
Self-competition is often a difficult circle to get caught in to, and something Microsoft is rather familiar with. To this day Microsoft still has stiff competition from XP, trying to get users to make the switch away from the aging OS.
This is something they will likely face even more with Windows 8, especially trying to convince those that don't care for Metro to make a switch.
On the Windows Phone front, I suppose this will only become self-competition if Microsoft directly brings Windows 8 to the phone, which right now doesn't seem like the plan.
Anyways, the point is that Windows 8 has to fight for recognition and acceptance on multiple fronts, which isn't going to be an easy battle  by any means. Can Microsoft win this war? I think it is certainly possible.
The biggest part of the war will certainly be the mobile front, this is the place that Microsoft has stacked up all its cards against.
So what does Microsoft have to offer for tablets (and other mobile solutions) that can set it apart as a worthy option?
First off, Apple's strength is in its closed, mostly secure platform. It is a cozy and safe place that offers great apps, ease-of-use, and alluring aesthetics. How does Windows 8 fit into such a picture?
They also offer a unique and alluring interface (although this could be argued), they want to keep things simple as well and offer a closed and controlled environment while still allowing open-source apps and other features that seem more Android-like.
Okay, what about comparing against Android? Android has tons of options from hardware, to software version that allows every type of user to find a phone/tablet within their budget.
They also offer tons of different sources for apps and a very open model. The downside to such an open model is malware problems that now plague the platform.
Microsoft likely has Android beat on this security issue, though for those looking for multiple app stores you will be a bit disappointing with Windows 8. On the shear number of options though, Windows 8 is looking like the best choice.
Don't get me wrong, there are probably more hardware types out there for Android than Microsoft will have to offer, but this doesn't mean that Android has better hardware options.
The problem with Android is that the experience is highly fragmented for two reasons: Multiple very different versions of Android are out in the market and there is no hardware standard.
With Windows 8 it seems likely they will follow WP7's example of setting 'hardware minimums' that keep fragmentation from becoming an issue.
The shear number of choices of Android devices can be confusing to some consumers.
After all, consumers might think "this $80 tablet has Android on it, and so does this $300 one, so why spend so much since its the same OS?" In reality that $80 tablet has a 350MHz MIPS (or maybe ARM) processor, limited app support, and few functions.
Microsoft will have hardware options without the fragmentation, and that's a good thing.
So in short, what does Windows 8 have to offer versus Android and iOS? It will have more options than Apple's iPad, less fragmentation and better security than Android, while still offering many of the same 'good' features of both.
Is that enough to ensure its success? Only time will tell.
What is your opinion of Windows 8 when leveraged against the other major mobile competitors? Share your thoughts below!