Microsoft has explained on a variety of ways in
which the upcoming Windows 8 operating system does a better job than its
predecessors that allows users to manage their connections to Wi-Fi and mobile
broadband networks.
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Reads a blog post published on Friday that says "We looked at the fundamentals
of wireless connectivity and re-engineered Windows 8 for a mobile and wireless
future, going beyond incremental improvements,"
Billy Anders, a Microsoft group program manager and the blog post's author wrote
"We knew that
if we were to give you true mobility, that Wi-Fi alone would not be enough.
Therefore, for Windows 8, we fully developed and integrated mobile broadband
(MB) as a first-class connectivity experience within Windows -- right alongside
Wi-Fi,"
Anders wrote "Windows 7 allows users to connect to mobile broadband
networks, but it's up to users to find and install required drivers and
software, including searching for them online at times but Windows 8 comes with
a common mobile-broadband class driver that works with devices from a variety of
mobile operators and vendors, eliminating the need for users to install device
driver software. "You just plug in the device and connect. The driver stays up
to date via Windows Update,"
"Prior to Windows 8, you needed these applications to compensate for
functionality not provided natively in Windows. This additional software
confused and frustrated users by conflicting with the Windows connection
manager, showing different networks, network status, and a separate user
interface," he wrote. "Windows 8 eliminates this confusion by providing simple,
intuitive, and fully integrated radio and connection management."
Anders wrote, Windows 8 also "learns" about the user's connection priorities
based on their actions. As a result, when returning from "standby" mode, a
Windows 8 machine is able to reconnect faster than Windows 7 -- in about a
second. "You do not have to do anything special for this -- Windows just learns
which networks you prefer and manages everything for you. This work was a major
part of the architectural work we did in the networking stack and with our
hardware partners,"
To help with managing mobile broadband data usage and costs, the Windows 8 task
manager lists how much data specific applications have used up, so users are
aware of which applications consume more data.