Windows 8 Consumer Preview – The First Images

The first public test version of Windows 8 is almost complete and should be ready for download by the end of this month.

Until then, we can study the new form of presentation of the Windows 8 interface in several screenshots obtained from the 8220 build – preliminary version of Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Images confirm the disappearance of the Start button in the Taskbar, but they give us some clues about its substitute, visible on the right screen as a collection of transparent icons, through which we can access the functions Search, Share, Home screen, Devices and Settings menu.

Apart from changes on how applications are grouped in the Metro interface, the collection of images also shows us some important details about the Internet Explorer 10, such as new policy of automatic installation of update packages.

The system, used for a long time for Google Chrome, promises to increase security by installing faster the security fixes as well as the updated versions of Internet Explorer, avoiding the undesirable situation where a large number of users continue to use old versions of Internet Explorer, extremely vulnerable to malicious attacks.

Windows 8 Might Remain Without the Start Button

The Start button that we all used since the days of Windows 95 ends its career of over 15 years with Windows 7, being replaced by something completely new and more flexible.

Start taskbar in Windows 7 style remains, as well as the system for fixing shortcuts to applications and the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10. In the absence of the Start Menu, the home bar remains the main location for keeping shortcuts to applications outside the Windows desktop.

Apparently, the decision to remove the Start button is not final, Microsoft left clues that it might reintroduce this function in the final version of Windows 8, if a sufficient number of users will ask for it.

Here are some screenshots of the latest Windows OS. Just click on them to make them larger.

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