Windows 8 will reportedly allow users to easily remove wireless connection profiles by right clicking them in the Network Menu that pops up on the Taskbar and selecting a new option introduced, which testers came across in the recently leaked Build 7955.Microsoft has yet to confirm the new option, so customers need to take the report with a grain of salt.
However, whether real or fake, the new option does point to the fact that network connections management in Windows 8 needs to evolve, especially around wireless connections.
Being a long time Windows 7 user I have certainly appreciated on many occasions how easy it is to set up a new network.
Be them wired, dial-up, VPN, ad hoc, new networks can be added seamlessly to Windows 7, with fresh wireless connection being easiest to introduce and set up. And it really feels like the operating system is doing all of the heavy lifting.
Still, there’s room for improvement, especially around management. In Windows 7 customers need to access Control Panel, Network and Internet and then Manage Wireless Networks.
The administration of connections, especially of wireless networks should be simplified in Windows 8.
I say this because, unlike Windows 7, Windows 8 will be tailored from the get go to next generation form factors, including Tablet PCs.
Smartphone users today undoubtedly have a long list of wireless connections that their devices remember from all the WiFi spots they connected to.
Based on how much consumers travel, the list of wireless connections can get quite long. I don’t doubt the fact that the same will be the case with, let’s say, Windows 8 slates.
Windows 8 offers Microsoft the possibility to provide an operating system that will be smarter than mobile platforms today when it comes down to managing wireless connections, including allowing customers to remove networks that they know they no longer use as simply as possible, and preferably without having to dig half way through the Control Panel.
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