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Notable changes in Windows 8 Release Preview

Notable changes in Windows 8 Release Preview

It has been almost a month since Windows 8 Release Preview was released. Obviously, the current release is considered as being more stable than the previous release i.e. Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Today in this article, we're going to discuss the noticeable UI changes in Windows 8 Release Preview.

Microsoft has really worked on fixing the bugs and other issues, based on the feedback it got from the beta testers and end-users too. Apart from an updated Windows Store, fixes for OS hanging issue, support for Flas in the Metro version of IE, multi-monitor support, etc, it also includes many other changes. They have fixed the core, as well as made some visual improvements too. Let us discuss some of them here.

Gadget Section Receives First Update

If you minutely observe the picture below, you'll see that in first part, the gadgets section has not received any update and it is exactly what is available in Windows 7. But in the second part of image, the gadgets section is updated.

A More Stable Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer in Windows 8 Consumer Preview had a lot of bugs. For example, if we “Like”d a status in Facebook, the following DHTML window was shown. When we reported it to Facebook team, they replied that this was a browser issue.

When we performed the same experiment with Internet Explorer 10 available in Release Preview, we found that the issue was resolved. Internet Explorer in Release Preview is no doubt more stable and has improved on security and stability.

The Metro app of Internet Explorer is also improved and fully utilizes the Metro concept with outstanding stability.

Aero Lite Theme With Basic Improvements

Being a customization lover, I found that the basic theme of Windows 8 Release Preview aka Aero lite theme has the greatest improvements ever. What we like the smooth scroller highlighted below.

Enable Aero in Windows 8

Incidentally, there is a simple trick to enable Aero in Windows 8 Release Preview. This is how you do it:

1. Access Desktop, and pick Personalize from the right-click context menu.

2. In the Personalization window, click on Window Color.

3. Select Frost/White color.

4. Drag the slider for Color intensity to left minimum limit.

5. You're almost done now! Finally click on Save changes.

If you do this - saying that Microsoft has dropped Aero in future builds seems meaningless! You can still get it this way.

New Metro Apps

Windows 8 RP has added some new and useful Metro apps.

You can see the Travel, News, Sports, etc Metro tiles on the Metro Start Screen. These apps find their usefulness in everyday life and thus this is good going for Metro lovers.

These were the few changes which we have noticed in both the beta editions of Windows 8. We expect that same change ratio to be followed between Release Preview and Release to Manufacture (RTM) edition.

If you noticed any other major change in this release, feel free to share them.

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