Windows 8 Syncs Settings Between Systems Using Windows Live ID
by Andrew Cunningham on September 26, 2011 5:00 PM ESTToday on the Building Windows 8 blog, Katie Frigon explains how user settings, Metro apps purchased through the Windows app store, and other data can be synced across Windows 8 devices using a Windows Live ID.
When setting up a new or reloaded Windows 8 device, you're given an opportunity to sign in with a (or create a new) Windows Live ID. Windows will then create a user profile with that username, and can sync various settings including your lock screen picture, desktop background bookmarks and browser history, and various other settings to the cloud and between devices.
A new Control Panel gives users control over exactly what is synced, and IT administrators will also be able to determine whether users can link their domain accounts with Windows Live IDs (and the kinds of data the users can sync). Data synced to Microsoft's servers is encrypted using SSL/TLS, and that new devices associated with your Windows Live ID must be confirmed before they can access your sync data. The post also notes that local accounts and domain accounts can continue to function just as they always have, if desired.
These changes are mostly consumer-oriented, and mirror moves by Apple and Google (among others) to sync data between different devices using a central account. For more information (and, as always, there's plenty more), check out the post on the Building Windows 8 blog.
Source: Building Windows 8 Blog
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epobirs - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Will this just be for Metro apps or will newer versions of desktop apps like Outlook get to play, too?mcnabney - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
It is truly amazing that technology which has existed for almost twenty years (in the business world) is making a big splash as it becomes available for consumers.seamonkey79 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Hopefully it will be as annoying as when Google does that between my phone and my tablet! It's so fun having to go through and clean out all of the stuff that my phone needs when I first sign in on my tablet. I really enjoy spending forty five minutes uninstalling the duplicated function apps that my phone didn't come with a year and a half ago that my brand new tablet came with. Joy!RyleeNolens - Saturday, December 10, 2011 - link
It has been established that Windows 8 is going to be available in beta by February. Windows is going to follow a similar tack to some of its rivals. A portion of the beta, and also the full edition, will be an app center, called Windows store. Developers, start your fingers and begin consuming obscene amounts of Mountain Dew, as Microsoft wants designers focusing on applications for Windows 8.http://www.appisaurus.com