14 DAY TRIAL // When made available for the general public later this month, Windows 8 Consumer Preview
will include a series of pre-installed applications.
Clearly, this is something that many have been expecting, but no specific info on what these applications will be all about has emerged until now.
Today, however, we learn that the Redmond-based software giant is making the final changes to the new OS flavor, and that these also include the list of applications that will be pre-installed when the Consumer Preview is made available for download.
A recent article on The Verge claims that this list of apps would include Camera, Messaging, Mail, Calendar, SkyDrive, People, Photos, Video, and Music.
More software might come pre-installed in the OS. These Windows 8 applications will be upgradeable via the Windows Store, since all of them are Metro apps.
Mail, Calendar, People, and Messaging apps are common apps for OS flavors destined for mobile devices, and Windows 8 was bound to have them loaded from the start. However, it appears that they will not be Windows Live branded.
The Messaging application is also expected to include SMS support, in line with the support for SIM cards that Windows 8 tablet PCs will sport.
Windows Phone already has all these applications, and, since Windows 8 was said to be borrowing a lot from this platform, it does not come as a surprise that Microsoft chose a similar approach with the tablet PC-enhanced OS.
There is also the possibility that the Music and Video apps in Windows 8, currently branded Zune, will be moved to Xbox Live for Windows, which will become the entertainment brand for Windows 8 Music, Video and Games.
What remains to be seen, apparently, is whether Microsoft will have these applications bundled with Windows 8 when the platform is launched later this year.
The Redmond-based company might be considering bundle plans for OEMs, along with pre-install options for Windows Live Essentials. The software giant also designed the Windows Store to handle app updates separate from OS upgrades.
The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 might also arrive on devices with an Xbox Live Companion application, similar to the one loaded on Windows Phone.