“Security risks from rogue applications and vulnerabilities in applications that interact with the web and handle user data leave lots of room for exploitation—not to mention ever-present malware on the desktop”, McAfee researcher Prashant Gupta explained in a blog.
At the same time, Windows 8 has additional security features, which include improvements to Windows anti-malware components, declarative resource access, application vetting via the Microsoft Store, and restrictive resource access for applications.
The Windows 8 Metro user interface offers a tile-style surface that supports both touch and traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces, Gupta related. The start screen of the Windows desktop has now been given a back seat in favor of the Metro start screen, which provides, among other things, ‘live tiles’ that applications can update to show fresh status and an always-connected experience for the users, he added.
However, the Metro interface using a keyboard and mouse or touchpad is “awkward”, Gupta noted.
“The latest releases of the Windows preview show various tweaks that make the usability of this interface more mouse/keyboard friendly, but the advantage of touch over traditional input interfaces in this interface is very apparent. This can possibly open a market for devices that will bridge this gap or create a completely new market for interface devices”, he judged.