Windows 8 will contain built in support for mobile broadband devices,
and will use metered internet devices in a smarter fashion, according
to a blog post published Friday on Microsoft’s “Building Windows 8” blog.
“We looked at the fundamentals of wireless connectivity and re-engineered Windows 8 for a mobile and wireless future, going beyond incremental improvements,” wrote Billy Anders, a Microsoft group program manager and the post’s author.
“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,” Mr. Anders wrote.
Windows 8 will include a mobile-broadband driver that is common to all devices and operators. Microsoft claims that this will work with plug and play like compatibility.
Windows 8’s network settings console will allow users to assign connection priorities so their machine will automatically connect to a WiFi network if available, and then opt for a 3G connection if no network can be found.
Windows 8 will allow applications to treat connections that are metered, such as 3G, differently from unmetered ones. A web browser, for instance, would only fetch low resolution images and video while using a metered connection.
“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,” Mr. Anders wrote.
For more details, check out the “Engineering Windows 8 for mobile networks” post on Microsoft’s Building Windows 8 blog.
A Windows 8 beta is expected in February, with the final release of the OS before the end of 2012.
