Of Course Microsoft's Putting Xbox LIVE in Windows 8

Microsoft's looking to bring Xbox LIVE to Windows 8. I know, try not to fall out of your whatever you're sitting in and writhe on the floor in shock. In fact, Microsoft already told us this was happening a few months ago.

So Windows 8, meet Xbox LIVE, and why are we talking about it now, exactly? Three reasons: We just had our first serious look at Windows 8, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb says he can confirm the marriage is happening, and...we have our first official screenshot (that's it up top).





Here's what Hryb wrote on Tuesday:

We are confirming that we will be bringing Xbox LIVE to the PC with Xbox LIVE on Windows. We are very excited about Xbox LIVE coming to Windows 8. Xbox LIVE brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy. At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox LIVE. We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox LIVE on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future.

So not much, in other words, just the usual stuff cut-and-paste from the PR lexicon, e.g. "very excited," "favorite," "all...you want," "made easy," "power of," "look forward to," and so forth.

Let's assume Windows 8 arrives in 2012, as was at one point claimed (then later denied) by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The Xbox 360 arrived in late 2005. It'll be seven years old around this time next year. Even Sony's defatigable (for basically a decade) PlayStation 2 was just six when the PS3 debuted in 2006.

With the Wii U on the table, I'd wager we'll finally see Microsoft's Xbox Next at E3 2012. Xbox LIVE for Windows 8 could, in Hryb's "near future," thus provide clues about what's coming, and who knows, perhaps it'll even function as a "bridge" between the 360's sunset and whatever's around the corner.

iPad 2 Compared Side-By-Side With Windows 8 Slate

 WinRumors has posted a lengthy eleven minute video that compares the iPad 2, running iOS 5, with an unreleased Windows 8 slate. There are quite a few similarities and differences between the two tablets, and the side-by-side rundown of each tablet’s features is quite interesting to watch. If you’re a fan of the Windows tablet, unfortunately, you’ll have to wait at least a year to get your hands on one of them.

How to download Windows 8 today

But what if you want to download Windows 8 and try it for yourself? The good news is that you can.

To download the Windows 8 Developer Preview, simply head over to the Windows Dev Center

HERE  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/home/

and choose whether you want a 32 or 64 bit version.

There's also a 64-bit Windows Developer Preview with developer tools available for download, which also comes with the Windows SDK for Metro style apps, Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows Developer Preview, Microsoft Expression Blend 5 Developer Preview and 28 Metro style apps.

The recommended Windows 8 system requirements are as follows:
1GHz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor
1GB RAM (32-bit) or 2GB RAM (64-bit)
16GB hard disk space (32-bit) or 20GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
A screen that supports multi-touch if you want to use touch input

Do note that you can't uninstall the Windows 8 Developer Preview, so you'll need your Windows 7 disc to hand should you want to revert.

The Windows Developer Preview with developer tools requires a clean install, but if you opt for the one of the versions of Windows 8 without the developer tools and install it on a machine running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can keep accounts, files, and settings. You can also install one of the two versions on Windows XP and keep your accounts and files (but not settings).

Windows 8 comes as an .iso image, so you'll need to burn it to a disc and boot from that to begin the installation.