10 hidden features in Windows 8 - short and crisp!

1. Windows Store

Microsoft enters the lucrative app market, no surprise here. While "Windows Store" (which is the company's name for the online app shop) obviously doesn't work in this early build, the related DLLs and XML resources are already in place and ready to be examined by a variety of tools, such as PE Explorer or Resource Hacker. 

All the basic features of any app store are also present in Windows Store -- such as the ability to browse through categories, make in-app purchases, rate apps, download trials and so forth. New, however, is the ability to "stream" apps to your PC, which could lead to a couple of scenarios: 1) an app could be launched instantly after the purchase -- no need to wait until it is fully downloaded; 2) apps could be hosted in the cloud so that users stream only the part of the app they need at any given moment. That would be convenient for someone who'd like a larger product, say an Office suite, on a tablet with limited disk space, or who'd like to access the app from another machine.

Windows 8 collects all apps in its own "Application Explorer" and categorizes each app as either an "Immersive" or a traditional "Desktop" application (see below for more on that):

2. Two-class society

Windows 8 will come in two separate interfaces flavors -- one traditional UI that resembles Windows 7's Aero and one touch-friendly UI specifically tailored to tablets dubbed "Immersive UI". The latter isn't fully implemented (or is too well hidden) in the early Milestone build, yet some specific tablet applications have already been unlocked:

Internet Explorer Immersive: A touch-centric version of Microsoft's IE browser that includes just an address bar (which auto-hides), a browser history and a tabbed view.

Modern Reader: Microsoft's own implementation of a (basic) PDF viewer that has only bare navigation and bookmarking support. (Still, Adobe likely won't be too happy about this.)

System Settings: A touch-optimized "Control Panel" that caters to mobile needs, such as connectivity, time zone settings or device management.

 

These few tablet apps are literally the tip of the iceberg -- the entire UI has yet to be revealed. While digging through Windows 8's various files, I found hints suggesting that users will be able to switch between the traditional Windows 8 UI and the tablet UI, through what's codenamed the "UIPicker". Also, we've found traces of a "Dock" that is supposed to hold built-in Windows features (such as a search box) and 3rd party apps.

3. Boot in under 20 seconds?

Windows 8 sports a new Hybrid Boot mode which drastically reduces (cold) boot time and will most likely be the default boot option going forward. In essence, it's a combination of "Log Off" and "Hibernate" -- the moment users click on the shutdown button, Windows closes all running applications, logs off and then goes into hibernation mode. Instead of booting up regularly, which usually involves loading hundreds of files and initializing services, drivers and so forth, Windows 8 simply loads the single hibernation file into memory and presents you with the log on screen. I've bench-marked the results on two machines and came away impressed:

However, Hybrid Boot works only if users actually shut down their machines. If a user restarts his or her machine, it boots up cold.
 

4. Automatic Maintenance

Microsoft puts a heavy emphasis on optimizing and increasing overall stability of Windows 8: A new "Automatic Maintenance" regularly checks for solutions to problems (via Windows Error Report), runs the .NET Optimization Service and defrags all hard disks automatically -- all of this happens while the PC is on idle, of course.

5. Disk Defragmenter
Speaking of defragmentation, the new Disk Defragmenter is finally capable of handling SSD drives and allows users to perform the TRIM command much easier than in Windows 7. 

 

In addition, I've found a new Windows service called "Spot Verifier". According to its descriptions and its related DLL files, it checks for bad sectors in real-time and marks them as "bad" in order to avoid data loss or damage. I've also dug up traces of some underlying file system changes that I couldn't quite make sense of, such as an entirely new file system driver called "NT Protogon FS driver", which looks like a kernel mode driver for some sort of (yet unknown) file system called Protogon. It's unclear, whether this is a major new file system or just some minor subsystem.
 

6. Performance boost

In the performance department, Microsoft has also made some serious improvements: After four weeks of productive use (and even putting it under the load of dozens of applications), Windows 8 somehow manages to perform snappier than an identically configured Windows 7 installation. The log on/off process, launching applications, doing heavy multitasking and performing day-to-day tasks is just a tad quicker -- Microsoft managed to reduce any delay there was and improve responsiveness.
 

7. Usability goal: Click reduction

Neither the traditional nor the classic Windows UI are anywhere near finished. Yet, Microsoft's usability department is busy simplifying the user interface and reducing overall complexity.

For example, once you connect to a public Wi-Fi, Windows 8 offers a new dialog to enter the user name and password to get online access:

 

Windows 7 users would need to connect to the Wi-Fi, open up a browser and then wait for the online provider's landing page to pop up.
 

8. Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is the next tool that received (quite) a UI overhaul and a perfect example of where Microsoft reduces the steps necessary to perform tasks: Like it or not, Windows 8 is likely to come with a ribbonized version of Windows Explorer, as first revealed by Windows experts Paul Thurott and Rafael Rivera. While actually working with this explorer for a couple of weeks we have to admit that, despite its hideous look, it's absolutely wonderful to work with. Day-to-day file tasks are simpler and the ribbon adapts to the file contents (for example, "Music Tools" below). 

 

9. ISO mounting

Additionally, Windows 8 sports its own ISO mounting tool, thus eliminating the need to go and download 3rd party tools, which are often riddled with annoying toolbars and ads.

10: Windows Time Machine

Last but not least, Microsoft finally managed to give its "Restore Previous Versions" (Volume Shadow Copy) feature a usable and intuitive interface: History Vault lets you go back in time and restore earlier versions of a folder – just in case you accidentally made some unwanted changes or deleted some of its contents, which is pretty similar to Apples Time Machine in Mac OS X.

 

This is the kind of stuff they'll make all the usability fanatics go wild: Technology that has been there before, but which is (for the first time ever) actually easy to use and accessible to beginners.
More to come?

Windows 8 won't be available next year, but even this early build looks promising and we believe there is still tons of hidden stuff to be discovered. We'll keep you posted on our findings.

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Digitally Signing Office 2007 Documents

After you have your digital certificate with private keys installed, you can digitally sign your office applications, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Office 2007 allows for two types of digital signatures to be applied to documents, spreadsheets and presentations:

1. Transparent or Invisible Digital Signatures: No visible signature lines are present within the document, but the document is digitally signed to provide assurance as to authenticity, integrity and origin of the document.

2. Digital Signature Lines: One or more visible signature lines are inserted within the document which allows for a visible signature to be tied to a digital signature.

1. To add an Invisible Digital Signature, follow these steps:

a. Click the Office button, Prepare, and then choose Add a Digital Signature.

b. You will see a Microsoft Office dialogue box. If you already have your digital certificate from PGP TrustCenter, just click OK. You may also check the box to “Don’t show this message again”.
c. If the document has not already been saved to the Office 2007 format, a message will ask you to save it first. Click Yes to save the document as a new format.

d. A Sign dialogue box will appear that defaults to use an appropriate signing certificate. If you have multiple certificates installed, and this is not the one that you wish to use, click on the Change button to select the correct certificate. In the Purpose for signing this document text box, you can enter a reason for signing or leave it blank. Click the Sign button when all values are correct.

e. The Signature Confirmation dialogue box appears. Click OK to proceed.

f. If there are no problems with the certificate, the document will now be signed. Note that if the certificate you are using was not issued from a trusted Certificate Authority, such as PGP TrustCenter’s TC TrustCenter, a Signatures task pane will be displayed where you will need to correct any problems identified.
 
g. The digital signature is now apparent in the lower left-hand corner of the document where a red ribbon is displayed. You can click on the ribbon to display information about the signing certificate and purpose for signing the document.

PGP TrustCenter Configuration Guide for Microsoft Office 2007

2. To add one or more Visible Digital Signature Lines, follow these steps:

a. Click the Insert tab and then click the Signature Line button.

b. The Signature Setup dialogue box appears. Enter information about the Suggested signer, Suggested signer’s title, and Suggested signer’s e-mail address. Put a checkmark in the Allow the signer to add comments to the Sign dialogue if you want the signer to add additional information into the signature line, and put a checkmark in the Show sign date in signature line checkbox to add the date the document was signed in the text box. 
Click OK.

c. A digital signature line now appears in the document. Double click the signature line to provide more information.

d. In the Sign dialogue box you can type your name, or if you have a tablet PC, you can write your name into the text box. If you don’t have a tablet PC, but would like an image of your actual signature to be included in the signature line, you can click the Select Image link and insert a graphic file containing your handwritten signature.

e. In the Select Signature Image dialogue box, select the image of your signature and click the Select button.
 
f. The image now appears in the Sign dialogue box. Before signing the document, you can enter a reason for signing the document in the Purpose for signing this document text box. Click Sign to digitally sign the document.

g. If there are no problems with the certificate, the document will now be signed. Note that if the certificate you are using was not issued from a trusted Certificate Authority, such as PGP TrustCenter’s TC TrustCenter, a Signatures task pane will be displayed where you will need to correct any problems identified. 

 

8. The digital signature is apparent in the lower left-hand corner of the document where a red ribbon is displayed. You can now click on the ribbon to display information about the signing certificate and purpose for signing the document.

PGP TrustCenter Configuration Guide for Microsoft Office 2007

Verifying a Digitally Signed Document

When you open a digitally signed document, a red ribbon is displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the document.

A digitally signed document can be verified by clicking on the red certificate icon at the bottom of the document and then selecting the signature from the pane on the right-hand side of the document. This will display information about the signing certificate, the certificate’s validity and the reason why the document was signed:

 

 

Clicking on the View button will display the signing certificate.

A digitally signed document cannot be modified in anyway, and if it is, the signature will be invalidated.

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