Windows 8 'plays nice' with Macbook Air

Microsoft’s upcoming flagship operating system Windows 8 —or at least its developer preview version— plays relatively nicely with Apple Inc.’s MacBook Air, a tech site reported. PC Magazine said the sneak-peek edition of Windows 8 managed to recognize and run the MacBook Air’s hardware, at least “for the most part." “For the most part, the Windows 8 Developer Preview installed and ran smoothly on the Air despite being the first public build. It’s stable enough that I didn’t encounter heat issues, the infamous blue-screen of death (yet), or even a single application crash," it said. Earlier this week, Microsoft released its Windows 8 Developer Preview to help developers build apps for the upcoming OS. But PC Mag also said Windows 8 could not recognize many key MacBook Air components, such as:

- speakers - SD card reader - webcam - Bluetooth.

Despite this, Windows 8 “worked perfectly" with the essential components such as Wi-Fi, the keyboard, trackpad, and USB ports. Booting, software A cold boot of Windows 8 took 45 seconds while resume times were “instant" largely due to the Air’s flash storage drive. But PC Mag said there was no way to test Windows 8’s touch features since the MacBook Air lacks a touchscreen. With Wi-Fi working, one can do Web surfing with Internet Explorer 10, tweeting with Tweet@Rama. “I connected hard drives, thumb drives, a DVD burner, game controllers, various keyboards and mice, and they all worked when plugged into the Air’s two USB ports," PC Mag said. Adobe Photoshop CS5, Cyberlink’s PowerDVD, Apple iTunes (though the Air didn’t have sound), and several games all installed and ran fine, it added. PC Mag said its setup included a 13-inch Intel-based Apple MacBook Air with Boot Camp loaded. — TJD, GMA News