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Microsoft

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

By Debra Littlejohn Shinder March 12, 2012, 1:51 AM PDT

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Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

Introduction

Introduction

ntThe Windows 8 Consumer Preview is out, along with a limited number of preview apps designed to showcase the new Metro style. Some apps, such as Mail, Messaging, Camera, Maps, People, Reader, Weather, and IE, come pre-installed. Nearly 100 free apps are available in the Windows Store, shown above.

n

ntHere’s a look at my favorite preview apps out of the selection available, both pre-installed and downloadable from the Store.

n

ntNote: If you’d prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

People

People

ntThis is a lot like the People hub on Windows Phone; it connects to multiple social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, LinkedIn, Google) as well as to your Exchange account and lets you see what your friends are posting. It also serves as the source of contacts for the built-in Mail and Messenger apps and enables you to send email or an IM to someone directly from the app.

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

The Tower by American Airlines

The Tower by American Airlines

ntI’m an aviation buff, so maybe that colors my opinion, but I love this app. I hope they add more functionality to it in future iterations, but for now I just like the way it looks sitting there on my monitor. The Tower lets you check the status of flights, find out where a flight in the air is at the moment, and get the weather and gate postings for AA hub airports.

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

The Tower by American Airlines

The Tower by American Airlines

ntYou start by selecting your hub (in my case, DFW). Then you can see the AA flights scheduled for the different terminals. They’re color coded to indicate their status. You can see the number of departing and arriving flights, as well.

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

The Tower by American Airlines

The Tower by American Airlines

ntSelect a flight, and The Tower displays details such as the arrival and departure terminals and gates, flight duration, type of aircraft, and whether Wi-Fi is available on the flight.

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

YouCam

YouCam

ntYouCam provides a bit more functionality than the built-in Camera app. With YouCam, you can zoom in or out, adjust the brightness without going into menus, apply special effects (distortions, overlays, emoticons, frames), and switch from front to rear camera (if your device has both).

Five of the best Windows 8 preview apps (so far)

SigFig

SigFig

ntWindows 8 CP comes with a Finance app for keeping an eye on your favorite stocks, but SigFig does much more. With it, you can import the accounts from your brokerages (using bank-level security) and track your entire portfolio, with detailed analytics and investment recommendations.

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By Debra Littlejohn Shinder
DEBRA LITTLEJOHN SHINDER is a technology consultant, trainer and writer who has authored a number of books on computer operating systems, networking, and security. These include Scene of the Cybercrime: Computer Forensics Handbook, published by Syngr
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