Part of a series of articles on |
Windows 8 |
---|
Siblings |
Related |
Windows 8, a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system, was available in four different editions: Windows 8 (Core), Pro, Enterprise, and RT. Only Windows 8 (Core) and Pro were widely available at retailers. [1] The other editions focus on other markets, such as embedded systems or enterprise. All editions support 32-bit IA-32 CPUs and x64 CPUs.
Unlike Windows Vista and Windows 7, there are no Home Basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate editions. [12]
All mentioned editions have the ability to use language packs, enabling multiple user interface languages. [4] (This functionality was previously available in Ultimate or Enterprise edition of Windows 7 and Windows Vista.) However, in China and other emerging markets,[ citation needed ] a variation of Windows 8 without this capability, called Windows 8 Single Language, is sold. This edition can be upgraded to Windows 8 Pro. [13] Furthermore, like in Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 (since the latter shares the same Windows NT kernel as its desktop variant), OEMs who preload Windows 8 can choose not to support certain display languages either out of the box or make them available for download. These exact choices depend on the device manufacturer and country/region of purchase (as well as the wireless carrier for cellular-connected devices). For example, a cellular-connected Samsung ATIV Smart PC running Windows 8 on AT&T only supports English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Korean (the last three are available as optional downloads).
Additional Windows 8 editions specially destined for European markets have the letter "N" (e.g. Windows 8.1 Enterprise N) suffixed to their names and do not include a bundled copy of Windows Media Player. Microsoft was required to create the "N" editions of Windows after the European Commission ruled in 2004 that it needed to provide a copy of Windows without Windows Media Player tied in.
Windows 8.1 with Bing is a reduced-cost SKU of Windows 8.1 for OEMs that was introduced in May 2014. It was introduced as part of an effort to encourage the production of low-cost devices, whilst "driving end-user usage of Microsoft Services such as Bing and OneDrive". It is subsidized by Microsoft's Bing search engine, which is set as the default within Internet Explorer, and cannot be changed to a third-party alternative by the OEM. This restriction does not apply to end-users, who can still change the default search engine freely after installation. It is otherwise identical to the base edition. [14] [15] [16]
These are the final editions of Windows (excluding Server) to use the "Windows Embedded" branding. Starting with the release of Windows 10, Microsoft switched to the use of "Windows IoT" branding.
The following in-place upgrade paths are supported from Windows 7. [3] It is only possible to upgrade from an IA-32 variant of Windows 7 to an IA-32 variant of Windows 8; an x64 variant of Windows 7 can only be upgraded to an x64 variant of Windows 8. The retail package entitled Windows 8 Pro Upgrade was restricted to upgrading a computer with licensed Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Finally, there is no upgrade path for Windows RT. [22]
Edition of Windows 7 to upgrade from | Edition of Windows 8 to upgrade to | ||
---|---|---|---|
Core | Pro | Enterprise | |
Starter | Yes | Yes | No |
Home Basic | Yes | Yes | No |
Home Premium | Yes | Yes | No |
Ultimate | No | Yes | No |
Professional | No | Yes | Yes |
Enterprise | No | No | Yes |
In-upgrade is not available for Windows Vista and Windows XP. However, on Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista RTM, it is possible to perform a clean install while preserving personal files. On Windows Vista SP1, it is possible to perform a clean install but save system settings as well. While Microsoft still refers to the scenarios as "upgrade", the user still need to reinstall all apps, carry out necessary license activation steps and reinstate app settings. [24]
Features | RT | Core | Pro | Enterprise |
---|---|---|---|---|
Availability [25] | Pre-installed on devices [7] | Most channels | Most channels | Volume License customers Most channels |
Architecture | ARM (32-bit) | IA-32 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) | IA-32 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) | IA-32 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) |
Maximum physical memory (RAM) [26] | 4 GB [27] | 128 GB on x64 4 GB on IA-32 | 512 GB on x64 4 GB on IA-32 | 512 GB on x64 4 GB on IA-32 |
Secure boot | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Picture password | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Start screen, Semantic Zoom, Live Tiles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Touch and Thumb keyboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Language packs | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Yes |
Updated File Explorer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Standard apps [lower-alpha 1] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
File History | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Refresh and reset of OS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Play To | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Connected Standby | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Update | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Defender | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Better multi-monitor support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
New Windows Task Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
ISO image and VHD mounting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Mobile broadband features | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Microsoft account integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Internet Explorer 10 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
SmartScreen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Store | Non-downloadable as of EOL date | Non-downloadable as of EOL date | Non-downloadable as of EOL date | Non-downloadable as of EOL date |
Xbox Live (including Xbox Live Arcade) [28] [29] | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |
Exchange ActiveSync | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Snap | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Can connect to a VPN? | No | No | No | No |
Desktop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Support for language packs and switching | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Depends on OEM, region, and carrier | Yes |
Device encryption [lower-alpha 2] [31] | Yes | With Windows 8.1 | With Windows 8.1 | With Windows 8.1 |
Supported third-party apps [3] [32] | Windows Store apps only | Windows Store and desktop | Windows Store and desktop | Windows Store and desktop |
Remote Desktop | Client only | Client only | Client and host | Client and host |
Storage spaces | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Windows Media Player | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
BitLocker and EFS | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Sideload Windows Store apps [8] [9] | Partial [lower-alpha 3] | No | Partial [lower-alpha 3] | Partial [lower-alpha 3] |
Boot from VHD | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Can join a Windows domain? | Disabled by default | No | Yes | Yes |
Group Policy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Parental Controls | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Hyper-V [33] | No | No | 64-bit SKUs only | 64-bit SKUs only |
AppLocker [lower-alpha 4] | No | No | No | Yes |
Windows To Go | No | No | No | Yes |
DirectAccess | No | No | No | Yes |
BranchCache [lower-alpha 5] | No | No | No | Yes |
Can be virtualized by RemoteFX? | No | No | No | Yes |
Services for Network File System [36] | No | No | No | Yes |
Subsystem for Unix-based Applications | No | No | No | Deprecated [37] |
Windows Media Center | No | No (yes with upgrade to W8 Pro) [lower-alpha 6] [5] | Optional [5] | No |
Microsoft Office apps bundled with OS | Yes [lower-alpha 7] | No | No | No |
Features | Windows RT | Windows 8 (Core) | Windows 8 Pro | Windows 8 Enterprise |
Included |
Comes with a specified package |
Partially included |
Not included |
To enable sideloading on a Windows 8 Enterprise computer that is not domain-joined or on any Windows® 8 Pro computer, you must use a sideloading product activation key. To enable sideloading on a Windows® RT device, you must use a sideloading product activation key. For more information about sideloading product activation keys, see Microsoft Volume Licensing.
Microsoft Windows was announced by Bill Gates on 10 November 1983, 2 years before it was first released. Microsoft introduced Windows as a graphical user interface for MS-DOS, which had been introduced two years earlier. The product line evolved in the 1990s from an operating environment into a fully complete, modern operating system over two lines of development, each with their own separate codebase.
Microsoft Windows is a product line of proprietary graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and sub-families that cater to particular sectors of the computing industry – Windows (unqualified) for a consumer or corporate workstation, Windows Server for a server and Windows IoT for an embedded system. Defunct families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded Compact.
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users and Windows Me for home users.
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly three years earlier. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. It was succeeded by Windows 8 in October 2012.
The Start menu is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, providing a means of opening programs and performing other functions in the Windows shell. The Start menu, and the Taskbar on which it appears, were created and named in 1993 by Daniel Oran, a program manager at Microsoft who had previously collaborated on great ape language research with the behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner at Harvard.
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on November 8, 2006, and over the following two months, it was released in stages to business customers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and retail channels. On January 30, 2007, it was released internationally and was made available for purchase and download from the Windows Marketplace; it is the first release of Windows to be made available through a digital distribution platform.
Windows Anytime Upgrade was a service by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista that facilitated upgrades across successive editions of Windows Vista. Prices for upgrades purchased through Windows Anytime Upgrade were lower than prices for upgrades purchased at retail. Windows Anytime Upgrade is included in Windows 7 to allow users to upgrade to Windows 7 editions. In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 it was rebranded as Add Features to Windows and was used to purchase an upgrade license for the Pro edition or to add Windows Media Center to an existing Pro installation. Support for this feature was discontinued on October 31, 2015.
Windows DVD Maker is a discontinued DVD authoring application developed by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista, available in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista for users to create slideshows and videos for playback on media devices including DVD players and the Xbox 360 home video game console. It is also available in the Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows 7, but it is no longer available as of the release of Windows 8.
Windows IoT, short for Windows Internet of Things and formerly known as Windows Embedded, is a family of operating systems from Microsoft designed for use in embedded systems. Microsoft has three different subfamilies of operating systems for embedded devices targeting a wide market, ranging from small-footprint, real-time devices to point of sale (POS) devices like kiosks. Windows Embedded operating systems are available to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), who make it available to end users preloaded with their hardware, in addition to volume license customers in some cases.
Windows Vista—a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system—was available in six different product editions: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. On September 5, 2006, Microsoft announced the USD pricing for editions available through retail channels; the operating system was later made available to retail on January 30, 2007. Microsoft also made Windows Vista available for purchase and download from Windows Marketplace; it is the first version of Windows to be distributed through a digital distribution platform. Editions sold at retail were available in both Full and Upgrade versions and later included Service Pack 1 (SP1).
Windows XP, which is the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000 and the successor to the consumer-oriented Windows Me, has been released in several editions since its original release in 2001.
Windows 7, a major release of the Microsoft Windows operating system, has been released in several editions since its original release in 2009. Only Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate were widely available at retailers. The other editions focus on other markets, such as the software development world or enterprise use. All editions support 32-bit IA-32 CPUs and all editions except Starter support 64-bit x64 CPUs. 64-bit installation media are not included in Home-Basic edition packages, but can be obtained separately from Microsoft.
Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and generally released for retail on October 26, 2012.
The transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8 introduced a number of new features across various aspects of the operating system. These include a greater focus on optimizing the operating system for touchscreen-based devices and cloud computing.
The Microsoft Store is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With Windows 10 1803, Microsoft merged its other distribution platforms into Microsoft Store, making it a unified distribution point for apps, console games, and digital videos. Digital music was included until the end of 2017, and E-books were included until 2019.
Microsoft Office 2013 is a version of Microsoft Office, a productivity suite for Microsoft Windows. Unlike with Office 2010, no OS X equivalent was released.
Windows 8.1 is a release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 27, 2013, and broadly released for retail sale on October 17, 2013, about a year after the retail release of its predecessor, and succeeded by Windows 10 on July 29, 2015. Windows 8.1 was made available for download via MSDN and Technet and available as a free upgrade for retail copies of Windows 8 and Windows RT users via the Windows Store. A server version, Windows Server 2012 R2, was released on October 18, 2013.
Windows 10 has several editions, all with varying feature sets, use cases, or intended devices. Certain editions are distributed only on devices directly from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), while editions such as Enterprise and Education are only available through volume licensing channels. Microsoft also makes editions of Windows 10 available to device manufacturers for use on specific classes of devices, including IoT devices, and previously marketed Windows 10 Mobile for smartphones.
Tips is the latest of a series of tutorial hubs in Microsoft Windows that provides information about using features. Information is presented as screenshots, text descriptions, videos, and web links. As Windows upgrades have traditionally been drastic, each version since Windows 95 has had its own tutorial app, and the name has changed frequently. Notably, the feature list shown has tended to expand as newer versions of Windows are released and the most recently released tutorial receives updates through the Microsoft Store, allowing it to receive updates more frequently than Windows itself is upgraded.
And if you want, you can add Windows Media Center for free through the "add features" option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
Can I add features to my Single Language edition of Windows? Yes. If you bought the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack or Windows 8 Pro Pack, you should be able to install it and activate Windows successfully.
You can add Windows Media Center for free through the "add features" option within Windows 8 Pro after your upgrade.
...be sure that SUA [Subsystem for Unix-based Applications] is installed on the target computer. On computers that are running Windows 8 Enterprise, open Control Panel/Programs/Programs and Features/Turn Windows features on or off, and then select Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications.