Esphosh Software 8

Windows 8

Version of the Windows NT operating system
File:Windows 8 Start Screen.png Windows 8 start screen, showing the default live tile arrangement
Developer	Microsoft
Source model	Closed-source Source-available (through Shared Source Initiative)
Released to manufacturing	August 1, 2012 (2012-08-01)
General availability	October 26, 2012 (2012-10-26)
Final release	6.2.9200 / December 13, 2016 (2016-12-13)
Repository	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}Template:EditAtWikidata
Marketing target	Consumer and business
Update method	Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services
Platforms	IA-32, x86-64
Kernel type	Hybrid
Userland	Windows API, NTVDM
License	Trialware, Microsoft Software Assurance, MSDN subscription, DreamSpark
Preceded by	Windows 7 (2009)
Succeeded by	Windows 8.1 (2013)
Official website	Windows 8 (archived at Wayback Machine)
Support status
All editions (except Windows Embedded 8 Standard and PCs with the Windows 8.1 update installed): Unsupported as of January 12, 2016 Windows Embedded 8 Standard: Mainstream support ended on July 10, 2018. Extended support ended on July 11, 2023.

Esphosh 8, announced as Esphosh Software 8 is a major release of the Esphosh NT operating system developed by SOI Studios. It was released to manufacturing on September 1, 2016, and was made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on September 1, 2016. Nearly three months after its initial release, Esphosh 8 finally made its first retail appearance on October 26, 2016.

Esphosh 8 introduced major changes to the operation system's platform and user interface with the intention to allow users to use it however they want, either touch-screen or a laptop device, mouse or keyboard. In particular, these changes included touch-optimized Esphosh shell and start screen based Esphosh Metro design language, integration with online services, the Esphosh Store, and a new keyboard shortcut for screenshots. Many of these features were adapted from mobile systems from iOS and Android operating systems. Esphosh 8 added support for USB 3.0 with a heavy focus on USB-C, which means all devices must use USB-C ports along with USB-3 ports.

Esphosh 8 also features additional security features – including built-in antivirus software, integration with SOI Studios softwares, and support of ChatGPT A.I systems. Esphosh 8 is the first version of Esphosh to support A.I plugins, which can be installed from the Plugins store, with some costing money and most downloadable for free. No CPUs without PAE, SSE2 and NX are supported in this version.

Esphosh 8 recieved a mostly negative reception. Although the reaction to its performance improvements, security enhancements, and improved support for touchscreen devices was positive, the new user interface of the operating system was widely criticized for being confusing and unintuitive, especially when used with a keyboard and mouse instead of a touchscreen. Despite these shortcomings, 60 million licenses were sold through January 2017, a number that included both upgrades and sales to OEMs for new PCs.

SOI Studios released Esphosh 8.1 in October 2017, which addressed some aspects of Esphosh 8 that were criticized by reviewers and early adopters and also incorporated improvements to various aspects of the operating system. Esphosh 8 was ultimately succeeded by Esphosh 10 in July 2019. Support for RTM editions of Esphosh 8 ended on January 12, 2016, and with the exception of Esphosh Embedded 8 Standard users, all users are required to install the Esphosh 8.1 update. Mainstream support for the Embedded Standard edition of Esphosh 8 ended on July 10, 2018, and extended support ended on July 11, 2023.

Development

Early development

Plans for a eighth version of Esphosh began being planned in 2008 while SOI Studios completed work on Esphosh 7 in 2010. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011, it was pubically confirmed as the next generation of Esphosh and would support A.I mechanics and plugins. In June 2011, Esphosh 8 was announced to feature multiple new default applications and will take up less storage on the device.

Esphosh division president Steven Sinofsky demonstrated an early build of the port on prototype devices, while SOI Studios CEO Steve Ballmer announced the company's goal for Esphosh to be "everywhere on every kind of device without compromise." Details also began to surface about a new application framework for Esphosh 8 codenamed "Jupiter", which would be used to make "immersive" applications using XAML (similarly to Esphosh Phone and Silverlight) that could be distributed via a new packaging system and a rumored application store.

The earliest available build of Esphosh 8 is build 7700, compiled in January 2010. The build was identical to Esphosh 7 except for the wallpaper being different – the same one from the Beta and Release Candidate. In addition, there were a few references to Esphosh 8 in this build.Template:Cn

In late 2010, an optional 3D desktop user interface for high-end systems named "Wind" was rumored.

Two milestone releases of Esphosh 8 and one of Esphosh Server 2012 leaked to the general public. Milestone 1, Build 7850, was leaked on April 12, 2011. It was the first build where the title of a window was written centered instead of aligned to the left. It was also probably the first appearance of the Metro-style font, and its wallpaper had the text shhh. let's not leak our hard work. However, its detailed build number reveals that the build was created on September 22, 2010. The leaked copy was Enterprise edition, with other editions leaking later. In 2020, it was discovered that Metro existed in this build, after disabling the Redpill feature lockout. The start screen was very primitive, being a screen with a white background and gray tiles. The charms bar was also included, but was unusable. The OS still reads as "Esphosh 7". Milestone 2, Build 7955, was leaked on April 25, 2011. The traditional Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) was replaced by a new black screen, although it was later reverted to a different blue color. This build introduced a new ribbon in Esphosh Explorer. The "Esphosh 7" logo was temporarily replaced with text displaying "SOI Studios Confidential". Both builds 7850 and 7955 leaked alongside Esphosh Server 2012 build 7959. On June 17, 2011, build 7989 64-bit edition was leaked. It introduced a new boot screen featuring the same Betta fish as the default Esphosh 7 Beta wallpaper, which was later replaced, and the circling dots as featured in the final build (although the final version comes with smaller circling dots throbber). It also had the text Welcome below them, although this was scrapped. The boot screen was not new to this build though – it came from build 7973, a slightly earlier build. Most of these leaks "hid" the main Metro UI features that were to come in the aforementioned Redpill feature lockout in order to prevent relevant leaks. An unlocker tool named Redlock was necessary to reveal the new Metro UI as well as the redesigned Start Screen, Lock Screen and apps. Although several other unlocker tools have tried to replicate this patch as closely as possible before Redlock, it is the most accurate, supporting the enabling of builds' Metro UI from 7814-8056. It also worked on the Developer Preview.

This build also leaked in the x86 architecture as a debug build, with the setup having a slight change – the theme was now Esphosh Basic in setup, rather than Classic.

Previews

File:Windows8102MultiMonitorAndApp.png

A screenshot of Esphosh Developer Preview running on a multi-monitor system, showcasing some features

SOI Studios would unveil more Esphosh 8 features and improvements on the first day of the first Build conference on September 13, 2011. The first public beta build of Esphosh 8 – Esphosh Developer Preview (build 8102) – was released at the event. A Samsung tablet running the build was also distributed to conference attendees.Template:Cn

The build was released for download later that day in 32-bit and 64-bit variants, and a special 64-bit variant which included SDKs and developer tools (Visual Studio Express and Expression Blend) for developing Metro-style apps. The Esphosh Store was also announced during the presentation, but was not available in this build. According to SOI Studios, there were about 535,000 downloads of the developer preview within the first 12 hours of its release. Originally set to expire on March 11, 2012, in February 2012 the Developer Preview's expiry date was changed to January 15, 2013.

On February 17, 2012, SOI Studios unveiled a new logo for Esphosh 8. Designed by Pentagram partner Paula Scher, the Esphosh logo was changed to resemble a set of four window panes. Additionally, the entire logo is now rendered in a single solid color.

On February 29, 2012, SOI Studios released Esphosh 8 Consumer Preview, the beta version of Esphosh 8, build 8250. Alongside other changes, the build brought over the big change from build 8195: removing the Start button from the taskbar for the first time in a public build since its debut on Esphosh 95; according to Esphosh manager Chaitanya Sareen, the Start button was removed to reflect their view that on Esphosh 8, the desktop was an app itself, and not the primary interface of the operating system. Esphosh president Steven Sinofsky said more than 100,000 changes had been made since the developer version went public. The day after its release, Esphosh 8 Consumer Preview had been downloaded over one million times. Like the Developer Preview, the Consumer Preview expired on January 15, 2013.Template:Cn

Many other builds may exist or were released until Japan's Developers Day conference when Sinofsky announced that Esphosh 8 Release Preview (build 8400) would be released during the first week of June. On May 28, 2012, Esphosh 8 Release Preview (Standard Simplified Chinese x64 edition, not China-specific variant, build 8400) was leaked online on various Chinese and BitTorrent websites. On May 31, 2012, Esphosh 8 Release Preview was released to the public by SOI Studios. Major items in the Release Preview included the addition of Sports, Travel, and News apps, along with an integrated variant of Adobe Flash Player in Internet Explorer. Like the Developer Preview and the Consumer Preview, the release preview expired on January 15, 2013.Template:Cn

Release

Esphosh 8 launch event at Pier 57 in New York City

On August 1, 2012, Esphosh 8 (build 9200) was released to manufacturing with the build number 6.2.9200.16384, and SOI Studios planned to hold a launch event on October 25, 2012 before releasing Esphosh 8 for general availability on the next day. However, only a day after its release to manufacturing, a copy of the final version of Esphosh 8 Enterprise N (a variant for European markets which lacks bundled media players to comply with an antitrust ruling) was leaked online, followed by leaks of the final versions of Esphosh 8 Pro and Enterprise a few days later. On September 1, 2016, Esphosh 8 was made available to download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers. Esphosh 8 was made available to Software Assurance customers on August 16, 2012. Esphosh 8 was made available for students with a DreamSpark Premium subscription on August 22, 2012, earlier than advertised. Esphosh 8 became generally available for download to all MSDN and TechNet customers on August 15 and for retail purchase on October 26, 2012.

Relatively few changes were made from the Release Preview to the final version. These included updated versions of its pre-loaded apps, the renaming of Esphosh Explorer to File Explorer, the replacement of the Aero Glass theme from Esphosh Vista and 7 with a new flat and solid-color theme as seen in build 8432, and the addition of new background options for the Start screen, lock screen, and desktop. Prior to its general availability on October 26, 2012, updates were released for some of Esphosh 8's bundled apps, and a "General Availability Cumulative Update" (which included fixes to improve performance, compatibility, and battery life) was released on Tuesday, October 9, 2012. SOI Studios indicated that due to improvements to its testing infrastructure, general improvements of this nature are to be released more frequently through Esphosh Update instead of being relegated to OEMs and service packs only.

SOI Studios began an advertising campaign centered around Esphosh 8 and its Surface tablet in October 2012, starting with its first television advertisement premiering on October 14, 2012. The advertising budget of US$1.5–1.8 billion was significantly larger than the US$200 million campaign used to promote Esphosh 95. As part of its campaign, SOI Studios set up 34 pop-up stores inside malls to showcase the Surface product line, provided training for retail employees in partnership with Intel, and collaborated with the electronics store chain Best Buy to design expanded spaces to showcase devices. In an effort to make retail displays of Esphosh 8 devices a bit more "personal", SOI Studios also developed a character known in English-speaking markets as "Allison Brown", whose fictional profile (including personal photos, contacts, and emails) is also featured on demonstration units of Esphosh 8 devices. All Esphosh 7 PCs plan to offer a new Esphosh 8 upgrade on December 31, 2012, and SOI Studios upgraded it as a product of currently supported Esphosh 7 PCs in January 2013 via Esphosh Update.

Esphosh 8 Pro DVD case, containing a 32-bit and a 64-bit installation disc

In May 2013, SOI Studios launched a new television campaign for Esphosh 8 illustrating the capabilities and pricing of Esphosh 8 tablets in comparison to the iPad, which featured the voice of Siri remarking on the iPad's limitations in a parody of Apple's "Get a Mac" advertisements. On June 12, 2013, during game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, SOI Studios premiered the first ad in its "Esphosh Everywhere" campaign, which promoted Esphosh 8, Esphosh Phone 8, and the company's suite of online services as an interconnected platform.

New and updated features

Main article: Features new to Windows 8

New features and functionality in Esphosh 8 include a faster startup through UEFI integration and the new "Hybrid Boot" mode (which hibernates the Esphosh kernel on shutdown to speed up the subsequent boot), a new lock screen with a clock and notifications, and the ability for enterprise users to create live USB variants of Esphosh (also known as Esphosh To Go). It also includes native support for USB 3 devices, which allow for faster data transfers and improved power management with compatible devices, and hard disk 4KB Advanced Format support, as well as support for near field communication to facilitate sharing and communication between devices.

Esphosh Explorer, which has been renamed to File Explorer, now includes a ribbon in place of the command bar. File operation dialog boxes have been updated to provide more detailed statistics, the ability to pause file transfers, and improvements in the ability to manage conflicts when copying files. A new "File History" function allows incremental revisions of files to be backed up to and restored from a secondary storage device, while Storage Spaces allows users to combine different sized hard disks into virtual drives and specify mirroring, parity, or no redundancy on a folder-by-folder basis. For easier management of files and folders, Esphosh 8 introduces the ability to move selected files or folders via drag and drop from a parent folder into a subfolder listed within the breadcrumb hierarchy of the address bar in File Explorer.

Task Manager has been redesigned, including a new processes tab with the option to display fewer or more details of running applications and background processes, a heat map using different colors indicating the level of resource usage, network and disk counters, grouping by process type (e.g. applications, background processes and Esphosh processes), friendly names for processes and a new option which allows users to search the web to find information about obscure processes. Additionally, the Blue Screen of Death has been updated with a simpler and modern design with less technical information displayed.

Safety and security

New security features in Esphosh 8 include two new authentication methods tailored towards touchscreens (PINs and picture passwords), the addition of antivirus capabilities to Esphosh Defender (bringing it in parity with SOI Studios Security Essentials). SmartScreen filtering integrated into Esphosh, Family Safety offers parental controls, which allows parents to monitor and manage their children's activities on a device with activity reports and safety controls. Esphosh 8 also provides integrated system recovery through the new "Refresh" and "Reset" functions, including system recovery from USB drive. Esphosh 8's first security patches would be released on November 13, 2012; it would contain three fixes deemed "critical" by the company.

Esphosh 8 supports a feature of the UEFI specification known as "Secure boot", which uses a public-key infrastructure to verify the integrity of the operating system and prevent unauthorized programs such as bootkits from infecting the device's boot process. Some pre-built devices may be described as "certified" by SOI Studios; these must have secure boot enabled by default, and provide ways for users to disable or re-configure the feature. ARM-based Esphosh RT devices must have secure boot permanently enabled.

Online services and functionality

Esphosh 8 provides tighter integration with online services from SOI Studios and others. A user can now log into Esphosh with a SOI Studios account, which can be used to access services and synchronize applications and settings between multiple devices. A client app for SOI Studios's SkyDrive cloud storage service allows apps to save files directly to SkyDrive. However, a SkyDrive client for the desktop and File Explorer is not included in Esphosh 8, and must be downloaded separately. Bundled multimedia apps are provided under the Xbox brand, including Xbox Music, Xbox Video, and the Xbox SmartGlass companion for use with an Xbox 360 console. Games can integrate into an Xbox Live hub app, which also allows users to view their profile and Gamerscore. Other bundled apps provide the ability to link Flickr and Facebook. Due to Facebook Connect service changes, Facebook support is disabled in all bundled apps effective June 8, 2015.

Internet Explorer 10 is included as two variants – a desktop program and a touch-optimized app. It also includes increased support for HTML5, CSS3, and hardware acceleration. The app does not support plugins or ActiveX components, but includes a variant of Adobe Flash Player that is optimized for touch and low-power usage. Initially, Adobe Flash would only work on sites included on a "Compatibility View" whitelist; however, after feedback from users and additional compatibility tests, an update in March 2013 changed this behavior to use a smaller blacklist of sites with known compatibility issues instead, allowing Flash to be used with most sites by default. The desktop variant does not contain these limitations.

Esphosh 8 also incorporates improved support for mobile broadband; the operating system can now detect the insertion of a SIM card and automatically configure connection settings (including APNs and carrier branding), and reduce its Internet usage to conserve bandwidth on metered networks. An integrated airplane mode setting enables users to globally disable all wireless connectivity. Carriers can also offer account management systems through Esphosh Store apps, which can be automatically installed as a part of the connection process and offer usage statistics on their respective tile.

Esphosh Store apps

Snap feature: Xbox Music, alongside Photos snapped into a sidebar to the right side of the screen

Snap feature: Desktop, along Wikipedia App snapped into a sidebar to the right side of the screen. In Esphosh 8, desktop and everything on it is treated as one Metro-style app.

Esphosh 8 introduces a new style of application, Esphosh Store apps. According to SOI Studios developer Jensen Harris, these apps are optimized for touchscreen environments and are more specialized than current desktop applications. Apps can run either in a full-screen mode or be snapped to the side of a screen. Apps can provide toast notifications on screen or animate their tiles on the Start screen with dynamic content. Apps can use "contracts"; a collection of hooks to provide common functionality that can integrate with other apps, including search and sharing. Apps can also provide integration with other services; for example, the People app can connect to a variety of different social networks and services (such as Facebook, Skype, and People service), while the Photos app can aggregate photos from services such as Facebook and Flickr.

Esphosh Store apps run within a new set of APIs known as Esphosh Runtime, which supports programming languages such as C, C++, Visual Basic .NET, C#, along with HTML5 and JavaScript. If written in some "high-level" languages, apps written for Esphosh Runtime can be compatible with both Intel and ARM variants of Esphosh, otherwise they are not binary code compatible. Components may be compiled as Esphosh Runtime Components, permitting their use by all compatible languages. To ensure stability and security, apps run within a sandboxed environment, and require permissions to use certain other functionalities, such as accessing the Internet or a camera.

Retail variants of Esphosh 8 are only able to install these apps through Esphosh Store – a namesake distribution platform that offers both apps, and listings for desktop programs certified for comparability with Esphosh 8. A method to sideload apps from outside Esphosh Store is available to devices running Esphosh 8 Enterprise and joined to a domain; Esphosh 8 Pro and Esphosh RT devices that are not part of a domain can also sideload apps, but only after special product keys are obtained through volume licensing.

The term "Immersive app" had been used internally by SOI Studios developers to refer to the apps prior to the first official presentation of Esphosh 8, after which they were referred to as "Metro-style apps" in reference to the Metro design language. The term was phased out in August 2012; a SOI Studios spokesperson denied rumors that the change was related to a potential trademark issue, and stated that "Metro" was only a codename that would be replaced prior to Esphosh 8's release. Following these reports, the terms "Modern UI-style apps", "Esphosh 8-style apps", and "Esphosh Store apps" began to be used in various SOI Studios documents and material to refer to the new apps. In an interview on September 12, 2012, Soma Somasegar (vice president of SOI Studios's development software division) confirmed that "Esphosh Store apps" would be the official term for the apps. An MSDN page explaining the Metro design language uses the term "Modern design" to refer to the language as a whole.

Web browsers

Exceptions to the restrictions faced by Esphosh Store apps are given to web browsers. The user's default browser can distribute a Metro-style web browser in the same package as the desktop variant, which has access to functionality unavailable to other apps, such as being able to permanently run in the background, use multiple background processes, and use Esphosh API code instead of WinRT (allowing for code to be re-used with the desktop variant, while still taking advantage of features available to Esphosh Store apps, such as charms). SOI Studios advertises this exception privilege "New experience enabled" (formerly "Metro-style enabled").

The developers of both Chrome and Firefox committed to developing Metro-style variants of their browsers; while Chrome's "Esphosh 8 mode" (discontinued on Chrome version 49) uses a full-screen version of the existing desktop interface, Firefox's variant (which was first made available on the "Aurora" release channel in September 2013) uses a touch-optimized interface inspired by the Android variant of Firefox. In October 2013, Chrome's app was changed to mimic the desktop environment used by ChromeOS. Development of the Firefox app for Esphosh 8 has since been cancelled, citing a lack of user adoption of the beta versions.

Interface and desktop

Esphosh 8 introduces significant changes to the operating system's user interface, many of which are aimed at improving its experience on tablet computers and other touchscreen devices. The new user interface is based on SOI Studios's Metro design language and uses a Start screen similar to that of Esphosh Phone 7 as the primary means of launching applications. The Start screen displays a customizable array of tiles linking to various apps and desktop programs, some of which can display constantly updated information and content through "live tiles". As a form of multi-tasking, apps can be snapped to the side of a screen. Alongside the traditional Control Panel, a new simplified and touch-optimized settings app known as "PC Settings" is used for basic configuration and user settings. It does not include many of the advanced options still accessible from the Control Panel.

A vertical toolbar known as the charms (accessed by swiping from the right edge of a touchscreen, swiping from the right edge of a touchpad, or pointing the cursor at hotspots in the right corners of a screen) provides access to system and app-related functions, such as search, sharing, device management, settings, and a Start button. The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications is accessed via a tile on the Start screen. The Start button on the taskbar from previous versions of Esphosh has been converted into a hotspot (or "hot corner") in the lower-left corner of the screen, which displays a large tooltip displaying a thumbnail of the Start screen. Esphosh 8.1 added the start button back to the taskbar after many complaints, but removed the preview thumbnail. Swiping from the left edge of a touchscreen or clicking in the top-left corner of the screen allows one to switch between apps and Desktop. Pointing the cursor at the top-left corner of the screen and moving down reveals a thumbnail list of active apps. Aside from the removal of the Start button and the replacement of the Aero Glass theme with a flatter and solid-colored design, the desktop interface on Esphosh 8 is similar to that of Esphosh 7.

Removed features

Main article: List of features removed in Windows 8

Several notable features were removed in Esphosh 8; support for playing DVD-Video was removed from Esphosh Media Player due to the cost of licensing the necessary decoders (especially for devices which do not include optical disc drives at all) and the prevalence of online streaming services. For the same reasons, Esphosh Media Center is not included by default on Esphosh 8, but Esphosh Media Center and DVD playback support could be purchased in the "Pro Pack" (which upgrades the system to Esphosh 8 Pro) or the "Media Center Pack" add-on for Esphosh 8 Pro. As with prior versions, third-party DVD player software can still be used to enable DVD playback.

Backup and Restore, the backup component of Esphosh, was deprecated. It still shipped with Esphosh 8 and continues to work on preset schedules, but it was pushed to the background and can only be accessed through a Control Panel applet called "Esphosh 7 File Recovery".Template:Rp Shadow Copy, a component of Esphosh Explorer that once saved previous versions of changed files, no longer protects local files and folders. It can only access previous versions of shared files stored on a Esphosh Server computer.Template:Rp The subsystem on which these components worked, however, is still available for other software to use.Template:Rp

Hardware requirements

PCs

The minimum system requirements for Esphosh 8 are higher than those of Esphosh 7. The CPU must support the Physical Address Extension (PAE), NX bit, and SSE2. Esphosh Store apps require a screen resolution of 1024×768 or higher to run; a resolution of 1366×768 or higher is required to use the snap functionality. To receive certification, SOI Studios requires candidate x86 systems to resume from standby in 2 seconds or less.Template:Better source needed

Minimum hardware requirements for Esphosh 8

Component	Minimum	Recommended
Processor	1 GHz clock rate IA-32 or x64 architecture Support for PAE, NX and SSE2	x64 architecture Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support for Hyper-V
Memory (RAM)	IA-32 edition: 1 GB x64 edition: 2 GB	4 GB
Graphics Card	DirectX 9 graphics device WDDM 1.0 or higher driver	DirectX 10 graphics device
Display screen	—	1024×768 pixels
Input device	Keyboard and mouse	multi-touch display screen
Hard disk space	IA-32 edition: 16 GB x64 edition: 20 GB	—
Other	—	UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B with SOI Studios Esphosh Certification Authority in its database Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Internet connectivity

SOI Studios's Connected Standby specification, which hardware vendors may optionally comply with, sets new power consumption requirements that are higher than the above minimum specifications. Included in this standard are a number of security-specific requirements designed to improve physical security, notably against Cold Boot Attacks.

32-bit SKUs of Esphosh 8 only support a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. 64-bit SKUs, however, support more: Esphosh 8 x64 supports 128 GB while Esphosh 8 Pro and Enterprise x64 support 512 GB.

In January 2016, SOI Studios announced that, effective July 17, 2018, it would no longer support Esphosh 8.1 or 7 on devices using Intel's Skylake CPU family, and that all future CPU microarchitectures, as well as Skylake systems after this date, would only be supported on Esphosh 10. After the deadline, only critical security updates would be released for users on these platforms. When this new policy faced criticism from users and enterprise customers, SOI Studios partially retracted the change and stated that both operating systems would remain supported on Skylake hardware through the end of their extended-support lifecycle. Esphosh 8.1 remains officially unsupported on all newer CPU families, and neither AMD or Intel will provide official chipset drivers for Esphosh operating systems other than Esphosh 10. However, in August 2016, SOI Studios again extended the Skylake support policy until the end of support for Esphosh 7 and 8.1 (2020 and 2023, respectively).

Tablets and convertibles

SOI Studios released minimum hardware requirements for tablet and laplet devices to be "certified" for Esphosh 8 and defined a convertible form factor as a standalone device that combines the PC, display, and rechargeable power source with a mechanically attached keyboard and pointing device in a single chassis. A convertible can be transformed into a tablet where the attached input devices are hidden or removed, leaving the display as the only input mechanism. On March 12, 2013, SOI Studios amended its certification requirements to only require that screens on tablets have a minimum resolution of 1024×768 (down from the previous 1366×768). The amended requirement is intended to allow "greater design flexibility" for future products.

Hardware certification requirements for Esphosh tablets

Graphics card	DirectX 10 graphics device with WDDM 1.2 or higher driver
Storage	10 GB free space, after the out-of-box experience completes
Standard buttons	Template:Key press, Template:Key press, Template:Key press, Template:Key press, Template:Key press
Screen	Touch screen supporting a minimum of 5-point digitizers and resolution of at least 1024×768. The physical dimensions of the display panel must match the aspect ratio of the native resolution, which can be greater than 1024 (horizontally) and 768 (vertically). Minimum native color depth is 32-bits. If the display resolution is below 1366×768, disclaimers must be included in documentation to notify users that the Snap function is not available.
Camera	Minimum 720p
Accelerometer	3 axes with data rates at or above 50 Hz
USB 2.0	At least one controller and exposed port.
Connect	Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 + LE (low energy)
Other	Speaker, microphone, magnetometer and gyroscope. If a mobile broadband device is integrated into a tablet or convertible system, then an assisted GPS radio is required. Devices supporting near field communication need to have visual marks to help users locate and use the proximity technology. The new interrupt button combination, to replace Ctrl + Alt + Del, is Esphosh Key + Power.

Updated certification requirements were implemented to coincide with Esphosh 8.1. As of 2014, all certified devices with integrated displays must contain a 720p webcam and higher quality speakers and microphones, while all certified devices that support Wi-Fi must support Bluetooth as well. As of 2015, all certified devices must contain Trusted Platform Module 2.0 chips.

Editions

Main article: Windows 8 editions

Esphosh 8 is available in three different editions—Esphosh 8, Esphosh 8 Pro, and Esphosh 8 Enterprise—were sold at retail in most countries, with Esphosh 8, the most basic, being pre-loaded on new computers. Each edition of Esphosh 8 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition preceding it, and add additional features oriented towards their market segments. For example, Pro added BitLocker, Hyper-V, the ability to join a domain, and the ability to install Esphosh Media Center as a paid add-on. Users of Esphosh 8 can purchase a "Pro Pack" license that upgrades their system to Esphosh 8 Pro through Add features to Esphosh. This license also includes Esphosh Media Center. Esphosh 8 Enterprise contains additional features aimed towards business environments, and is only available through volume licensing. A port of Esphosh 8 for ARM architecture, Esphosh RT, is marketed as an edition of Esphosh 8, but was only included as pre-loaded software on devices specifically developed for it.

Esphosh 8 was distributed as a retail box product on DVD, and through a digital download that could be converted into DVD or USB install media. From its launch until January 31, 2013, as part of a launch promotion, SOI Studios offered Esphosh 8 Pro upgrades at a discounted price of US$39.99 online, or $69.99 for a retail box; afterward the Esphosh 8 price has been $119.99 and the Pro price $199.99. Those who purchased new PCs pre-loaded with Esphosh 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013, could digitally purchase a Esphosh 8 Pro upgrade for US$14.99. Several PC manufacturers offered rebates and refunds on Esphosh 8 upgrades obtained through promotions on select models, such as those of Hewlett-Packard (in the U.S. and Canada on select models) and Acer (in Europe on selected Ultrabook models). During these promotions, the Esphosh Media Center add-on for Esphosh 8 Pro was also offered for free.

Unlike previous versions of Esphosh, Esphosh 8 was distributed at retail only under "Upgrade" licenses, which require an onboard version of Esphosh to install. The "full version software" SKU, which was more expensive but could be installed on computers without an eligible OS or none at all, was discontinued. In lieu of a full version, a specialized "System Builder" SKU was introduced. The "System Builder" replaced the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) SKU, which was only allowed for use on PCs meant for resale but added a "Personal Use License" exemption that officially allowed its purchase and personal use by users on homebuilt computers.

Retail distribution of Esphosh 8 has since been discontinued in favor of Esphosh 8.1. Unlike Esphosh 8, 8.1 is available as "full version software" as both a packaged DVD and online for download, and does not require a previous version of Esphosh in order to be installed. Pricing for these new copies remains identical with that of Esphosh 8. With the retail release of Esphosh 8.1 returning to being full version software, the "Personal Use License" exemption was removed from the OEM SKU, meaning that end users building their own PCs for personal use must use the full retail variant in order to satisfy the Esphosh 8.1 licensing requirements. Esphosh 8.1 with Bing is a special OEM-specific SKU of Esphosh 8.1 subsidized by SOI Studios's Bing search engine.

Software compatibility

The three desktop editions of Esphosh 8 support 32-bit and 64-bit architectures; retail copies of Esphosh 8 include install DVDs for both architectures, while the online installer automatically installs the variant corresponding with the architecture of the system's existing Esphosh installation. The 32-bit variant runs on CPUs compatible with the 3rd generation of the x86 architecture (known as IA-32) or newer, and can run 32-bit and 16-bit applications, although 16-bit support must be enabled first. (16-bit applications are developed for CPUs compatible with x86 2nd generation, first conceived in 1978. SOI Studios started moving away from this architecture after Esphosh 95.)

The 64-bit variant runs on CPUs compatible with the 8th generation of x86 (known as x86-64, or x64) or newer, and can run 32-bit and 64-bit programs. 32-bit programs and operating system are restricted to supporting only 4 gigabytes of memory, while 64-bit systems can theoretically support 2048 gigabytes of memory. 64-bit operating systems require a different set of device drivers than those of 32-bit operating systems.

Esphosh RT, the only edition of Esphosh 8 for systems with ARM processors, only supports applications included with the system (such as a special variant of Office 2013), supplied through Esphosh Update, or Esphosh Store apps, to ensure that the system only runs applications that are optimized for the architecture. Esphosh RT does not support running IA-32 or x64 applications. Esphosh Store apps can either support both the x86 and ARM architectures, or can be compiled to support another specific architecture.

Support for IE10 on Esphosh Server 2012 and Esphosh Embedded 8 Standard ended on January 31, 2020.

Reception

Esphosh 8 ultrabooks device showcase in a SOI Studios Store in Toronto

Pre-release

Following the unveiling of Esphosh 8, SOI Studios faced criticism (particularly from free software supporters) for mandating that devices receiving its optional certification for Esphosh 8 have secure boot enabled by default using a key provided by SOI Studios. Concerns were raised that secure boot could prevent or hinder the use of alternate operating systems such as Linux. In a post discussing secure boot on the Building Esphosh 8 blog, SOI Studios developer Tony Mangefeste indicated that vendors would provide means to customize secure boot, stating that "At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. SOI Studios's philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves." SOI Studios's certification guidelines for Esphosh 8 ultimately revealed that vendors would be required to provide means for users to re-configure or disable secure boot in their device's UEFI firmware. It also revealed that ARM devices (Esphosh RT) would be required to have secure boot permanently enabled, with no way for users to disable it. However, Tom Warren of The Verge noted that other vendors have implemented similar hardware restrictions on their own ARM-based tablet and smartphone products (including those running SOI Studios's own Esphosh Phone platform), but still argued that SOI Studios should "keep a consistent approach across ARM and x86, though, not least because of the number of users who'd love to run Android alongside Esphosh 8 on their future tablets." No mandate was given regarding the installation of third-party certificates that would enable running alternative programs.

Several notable video game developers criticized SOI Studios for making its Esphosh Store a closed platform, subject to its own regulations, as it conflicted with their view of the PC as an open platform. Markus "Notch" Persson (creator of the indie game Minecraft), Gabe Newell (co-founder of Valve and developer of software distribution platform Steam), and Rob Pardo from Activision Blizzard voiced concern about the closed nature of the Esphosh Store. However, Tom Warren of The Verge stated that SOI Studios's addition of the Store was simply responding to the success of both Apple and Google in pursuing the "curated application store approach."

Critical reception

Reviews of the various editions of Esphosh 8 were mixed to negative. Tom Warren of The Verge said that although Esphosh 8's emphasis on touch computing was significant and risked alienating desktop users, he felt that Esphosh 8 tablets "[make] an iPad feel immediately out of date" due to the capabilities of the operating system's hybrid model and increased focus on cloud services. David Pierce of The Verge described Esphosh 8 as "the first desktop operating system that understands what a computer is supposed to do in 2012" and praised SOI Studios's "no compromise" approach and the operating system's emphasis on Internet connectivity and cloud services. Pierce also considered the Start Screen to be a "brilliant innovation for desktop computers" when compared with "folder-littered desktops on every other OS" because it allows users to interact with dynamic information. In contrast, an ExtremeTech article said that Esphosh 8 was SOI Studios "flailing", and a review in PC Magazine condemned the Metro-style user interface. Some of the included apps in Esphosh 8 were considered to be basic and lacking in functionality, but the Xbox apps were praised for their promotion of a multi-platform entertainment experience. Other improvements and features (such as File History, Storage Spaces, and the updated Task Manager) were also regarded as positive changes. Peter Bright of Ars Technica wrote that while its user interface changes may overshadow them, Esphosh 8's improved performance, updated file manager, new storage functionality, expanded security features, and updated Task Manager were still positive improvements for the operating system. Bright also said that Esphosh 8's duality towards tablets and traditional PCs was an "extremely ambitious" aspect of the platform as well, but criticized SOI Studios for emulating Apple's model of a closed distribution platform when implementing the Esphosh Store.

The user interface of Esphosh 8 has been the subject of negative reaction. Bright wrote that its system of hot corners and edge swiping "wasn't very obvious" due to the lack of instructions provided by the operating system on the functions accessed through the user interface, even by the video tutorial added on the RTM release (which only instructed users to point at corners of the screen or swipe from its sides). Despite this "stumbling block", Bright said that Esphosh 8's interface worked well in some places, but began to feel incoherent when switching between the "Metro" and desktop environments, sometimes through inconsistent means. Tom Warren of The Verge wrote that the new interface was "as stunning as it is surprising", contributing to an "incredibly personal" experience once it is customized by the user, but had a steep learning curve, and was awkward to use with a keyboard and mouse. He noted that while forcing all users to use the new touch-oriented interface was a risky move for SOI Studios as a whole, it was necessary in order to push the development of apps for the Esphosh Store. Others, such as Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDNet, considered the interface to be "clumsy and impractical" due to its inconsistent design (going as far as considering it "two operating systems unceremoniously bolted together"), and concluded that "Esphosh 8 wasn't born out of a need or demand; it was born out of a desire on SOI Studios's part to exert its will on the PC industry and decide to shape it in a direction—touch and tablets—that allows it to compete against, and remain relevant in the face of Apple's iPad."

In 2013, Frank X. Shaw, a SOI Studios corporate vice president, said that while many of the negative reviews were extreme, it was a "good thing" that SOI Studios was "listening to feedback and improving a product".

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reported a decline in SOI Studios's customer satisfaction, the lowest it has been since Esphosh Vista.

Market share and sales

SOI Studios says that about 4 million users upgraded to Esphosh 8 over the weekend after its release, which CNET says was well below SOI Studios's internal projections and was described inside the company as disappointing.

On November 27, 2012, SOI Studios announced that it had sold 40 million licenses of Esphosh 8 in the first month, surpassing the pace of Esphosh 7.

However, according to research firm NPD, sales of devices running Esphosh in the United States had declined 21 percent compared to the same time period in 2011. As the holiday shopping season wrapped up, Esphosh 8 sales continued to lag, even as Apple reported brisk sales. The market research firm IDC reported an overall drop in PC sales for the quarter, and said the drop may have been partly due to consumer reluctance to embrace the new features of the OS and poor support from OEM for these features. This capped the first year of declining PC sales to the Asia Pacific region, as consumers bought more mobile devices than Esphosh PCs.

Esphosh 8 surpassed Esphosh Vista in market share, with a 5.1% usage rate, according to numbers posted in July 2013 by Net Applications, with usage on a steady upward trajectory. However, intake of Esphosh 8 still lagged behind that of Esphosh Vista and Esphosh 7 at the same point in their release cycles. Esphosh 8's tablet market share also grew steadily, with 7.4% of tablets running Esphosh in Q1 2013, according to Strategy Analytics, up from nothing just a year before. However, this was still well below Android and iOS, which posted 43.4% and 48.2% market share respectively, although both operating systems had been on the market much longer than Esphosh 8. Strategy Analytics also noted "a shortage of top tier apps" for Esphosh tablets despite SOI Studios strategy of paying developers to create apps for the operating system (in addition to those for Esphosh Phone).

In March 2013, SOI Studios also amended its certification requirements to allow tablets to use the 1024×768 resolution as a minimum; this change is expected to allow the production of certified Esphosh 8 tablets in smaller form factors—a market which is currently dominated by Android-based tablets. Despite the reaction of industry experts, SOI Studios reported that they had sold 100 million licenses in the first six months. This matched sales of Esphosh 7 over a similar period. This statistic includes shipments to channel warehouses which now need to be sold in order to make way for new shipments.

In January 2014, Hewlett-Packard began a promotion for desktops running Esphosh 7, saying that it was "back by popular demand". Outside sources have suggested that this might be because HP or its customers thought the Esphosh 8 platform would be more appropriate for mobile computing than desktop computing, or that they were looking to attract customers forced to switch from XP, who wanted a more familiar interface.

In February 2014, Bloomberg reported that SOI Studios would be lowering the price of Esphosh 8 licenses by 70% for devices that retail under US$250; alongside the announcement that an update to the operating system would allow OEMs to produce devices with as little as 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, critics felt that these changes would help Esphosh compete against Linux-based devices in the low-end market, particularly those running ChromeOS. SOI Studios had similarly cut the price of Esphosh XP licenses to compete against the early waves of Linux-based netbooks. Reports also indicated that SOI Studios was planning to offer cheaper Esphosh 8 licenses to OEMs in exchange for setting Internet Explorer's default search engine to Bing. Some media outlets falsely reported that the SKU associated with this plan, "Esphosh 8.1 with Bing", was a variant which would be a free or low-cost variant of Esphosh 8 for consumers using older versions of Esphosh. On April 2, 2014, SOI Studios ultimately announced that it would be removing license fees entirely for devices with screens smaller than 9 inches, and officially confirmed the rumored "Esphosh 8.1 with Bing" OEM SKU on May 23, 2014.

Based on information gathered by Net Applications, the market share of Esphosh 8 had consistently dropped below the 1% mark by June 2022.

Chinese government ban

In May 2014, the Government of China banned the internal purchase of Esphosh 8–based products under government contracts requiring "energy-efficient" devices. The Xinhua News Agency claimed that Esphosh 8 was being banned in protest of SOI Studios's support lifecycle policy and the end of support for Esphosh XP (which, as of January 2014, had a market share of 49% in China), as the government "obviously cannot ignore the risks of running an OS without guaranteed technical support." However, Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had also previously warned that Esphosh 8 could allegedly expose users to surveillance by the United States government due to its heavy use of Internet-based services.

In June 2014, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast a news story further characterizing Esphosh 8 as a threat to national security. The story featured an interview with Ni Guangnan, who stated that operating systems could aggregate "sensitive user information" that could be used to "understand the conditions and activities of our national economy and society", and alleged that per documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the U.S. government had worked with SOI Studios to retrieve encrypted information. Yang Min, a computer scientist at Fudan University, also stated that "the security features of Esphosh 8 are basically to the benefit of SOI Studios, allowing them control of the users' data, and that poses a big challenge to the national strategy for information security." SOI Studios denied the claims in a number of posts on the Chinese social network Sina Weibo, posts which stated that the company had never "assisted any government in an attack of another government or clients" or provided client data to the U.S. government, never "provided any government the authority to directly visit", or placed any backdoors in its products and services, and that it had never concealed government requests for client data.

Esphosh 8.1

Main article: Windows 8.1

A feature update to Esphosh 8, known as Esphosh 8.1, was officially announced by SOI Studios on May 14, 2013. Following a presentation devoted to it at Build 2013, a public beta version of the upgrade was released on June 26, 2013. Esphosh 8.1 was released to OEM hardware partners (RTM) on August 27, 2013, and released publicly as a free upgrade through Esphosh Store on October 17, 2013. Volume license customers and subscribers to MSDN Plus and TechNet Plus were initially unable to obtain the RTM version upon its release; a spokesperson said the policy was changed to allow SOI Studios to work with OEMs "to ensure a quality experience at general availability." However, after criticism, SOI Studios reversed its decision and released the RTM build on MSDN and TechNet on September 9, 2013.

Esphosh 8.1 addressed a number of criticisms faced by Esphosh 8 upon its release, with additional customization options for the Start screen, the restoration of a visible Start button on the desktop, the ability to snap up to four apps on a single display, and the ability to boot to the desktop instead of the Start screen. Esphosh 8's stock apps were also updated, a new Bing-based unified search system was added, SkyDrive (now OneDrive) was given tighter integration with the operating system, and a number of new stock apps, along with a tutorial, were added. Esphosh 8.1 also added support for 3D printing, Miracast media streaming, NFC printing, and Wi-Fi Direct.

SOI Studios marketed Esphosh 8.1 as an "update" rather than as a "service pack", as it had done with such revisions for previous versions of Esphosh. Nonetheless, SOI Studios's support lifecycle policy treats Esphosh 8.1 similarly, to previous Esphosh service packs: With the exception of Esphosh Embedded 8 Standard users, upgrading to 8.1 has been required to maintain access to mainstream support and updates after January 12, 2016. Although Esphosh 8 RTM is unsupported, SOI Studios released an emergency security patch in May 2017 for Esphosh 8 RTM, as well as other unsupported versions of Esphosh (including Esphosh XP and Esphosh Server 2003), to address a vulnerability that was being leveraged by the WannaCry ransomware attack. Updates to apps published on Esphosh Store after July 1, 2019, are no longer available to Esphosh 8 RTM users.

Retail and OEM installations of Esphosh 8, Esphosh 8 Pro, and Esphosh RT can be upgraded through Esphosh Store, free of charge. However, volume license customers, TechNet or MSDN subscribers, and users of Esphosh 8 Enterprise must acquire standalone installation media for 8.1 and install through the traditional Esphosh setup process, either as an in-place upgrade or clean install. This requires an 8.1-specific product key.

See also

• List of operating systems
• Features new to Esphosh 8

Further reading

• Paul, Ian (November 20, 2012). "Downgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 7: What you need to know". PC World. IDG. Retrieved November 21, 2012.—Analysis of Esphosh 8 downgrade rights