Windows 8 Secrets: Add Features to Windows 8

Part of a series of co-posts by "Windows 8 Secrets" co-authors Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera. Pre-order Windows 8 Secrets today on Amazon.com and save!

You may recall that Microsoft revealed a few weeks back that it was replacing the Windows Anytime Upgrade feature with a new control panel in Windows 8 called Add Features to Windows 8. Since then, many have wondered how this interface would work and what it would look like. Thanks to a leak by a Chinese tech web site, we now know.

Add Features to Windows 8 can be accessed through the System Properties window, as revealed by MyFiles.com, or via Start Search:

After a UAC prompt, it runs as a classic desktop control panel, offering the chance to buy a product key online or enter a previously-purchased product key. Available options will no doubt later include the Windows 8 Pro Pack, for users of Windows 8 Core, as well as the Windows 8 Media Center Pack, as described in Microsoft’s blog post of May 3. (Paul wrote about this bad decision in Windows 8, DVD Playback, Media Center, And You.) But for now, we’re simply provided with placeholders.

Very interesting.

Have you seen any other Windows 8 leaks you’d like to know more about? Drop us a line and let us know!

–Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera