Back up to the Cloud with Windows 8

Microsoft Online Backup Service is open to beta testers willing to give the company feedback and to accept that they only get 10GB of space.

They can access the cloud storage by installing an Online Backup Agent on Windows Server 8 and downloading backed up data to any server they choose.

Uploaded data is compressed and encrypted, with only those data blocks that have changed being sent in order to reduce time and bandwidth. The software runs data integrity checks for corrupted data and any problems are fixed during the next upload, according to a Microsoft Windows Server blog post about the program.

The online backup server only supports Windows Server 8, the post says.

Wanted: Windows 8 developers
Microsoft has kicked off its nationwide series of one-day camps to train developers in how to create eye-popping Metro-style apps to populate its Windows Store.

The apps could also be crafted for deployment privately, but the point of the instruction is to encourage developers to incorporate key features of Windows 8 into their designs. For example the system search charm -- an icon that accesses system controls -- can be incorporated so that when users are within an application, they access the same charm in the same place to search within the application. The idea is to give users a sense of comfort about how things work in Windows 8, even if they switch from application to application.

Those attending the workshops should be familiar with HTML5/JavaScript, XAML/C# and C/C++. And they should bring their own laptops for one-on-one coaching with their particular application.