Yesterday, Microsoft released details of new, 'Refresh' and 'Reset' features for Windows 8 on its blog site. The new features enable a complete reinstall of the operating system, back to factory settings, with 'Refresh' your personal data, Metro apps and settings are left intact and reinstalled after factory settings have been restored, 'Reset' performs a full wipe.

Many power users believe that over time Windows performance degrades or that the kernel can corrupt, often leaving a full format and reinstall as the only open. The new 'Refresh' and 'Reset' capabilities are Microsoft's answer to these users, streamlining the process of restoring a PC to a good, working condition, though, this is an answer likely brought about by the wish for Windows 8 to run on the tablet platform, with Microsoft feeling the need to have what are essentially 'Factory Reset' capabilities, similar to those observed on iOS or Android, a simplified and consistent approach to restoring the factory state.
Richard Edwards, principal analyst at Ovum thinks not.

"I don't think the enterprise is the ideal place to be experimenting with a new OS. The traditional, more hesitant IT manager will wait to see how it pans out on the consumer market. "

He added that he expects Microsoft to roll out to one or two early adopters, most likely recognisable firms, but that the majority will wait until well into 2013 before deciding whether to deploy it.

Edwards believes that this is partly because Windows 7 is doing a good job running corporate laptops and desktops. However, he argues that the new OS could see some traction running enterprise tablets.

"Large organisations have a wide range of business and user requirements, a significant portion of which can be catered for by the tablet market. IT managers will be looking at Windows 8 with this in mind. "

One problem that Microsoft will find is that the tablet market has become a battle of two giants; Apple's iOS and the Android OS. Edwards argues that breaking this duopoly could be a challenge for the software giant.

"It's going to be very tricky for Microsoft to compete. The user experience will be fundamental to the success or failure of the OS. If the experience doesn't surpass that which we're already used to, Windows 8 will be regarded as a lame duck. "
A less nuclear option is the so-called "Refresh your PC" option which will retain personal data, OS/PC settings and Metro-style apps while also reinstalling Windows 8. It would seem that Microsoft will also remove traditional native Windows apps and not reinstall them.

"We do this for two reasons. First, in many cases there is a single desktop app that is causing the problems that lead to a need to perform this sort of maintenance, but identifying this root cause is not usually possible, " wrote Windows team program manager Desmond Lee.

"And second, we do not want to inadvertently reinstall 'bad' apps that were installed unintentionally or that hitched a ride on something good but left no trace of how they were installed, " Lee added.

The functionality can be accessed either from within Windows 8 or via Windows RE, the new recovery tool which is accessible prior to Windows loading. If even this fails to start, there's also a tool to create a bootable USB flash drive which can be used to run the Windows RE tool.

Microsoft also talked up the speed that Windows 8 manages to accomplish the refresh and reset options with a refresh taking a little over eight minutes and a 'quick' reset taking just six minutes on the Samsung developer preview laptop.
One benefit of refresh is, according to Lee, that you don't have to back up your machine first.

In the Windows 8 beta some of those "important" settings that will be preserved in the refresh will include: wireless network connections, mobile broadband connections, Microsoft BitLocker and BitLocker To Go settings, drive letter assignments and personalised settings such as desktop wallpaper. Other settings will be dumped, as, according to Lee, misconfigured settings can be a cause of system problems.
Unlike manually reinstalling Windows, you don’t have to go through the Windows Welcome screens again and reconfigure all the initial settings, as your user accounts and those settings are all preserved, " explained Microsoft.

"You can sign in with the same account and password and all your documents and data are preserved in the same locations they were before. "

Both recovery options will be available to users through the Windows 8 Recovery Environment (RE) maintenance tool.

Additionally, Windows 8 will look to simplify the process of creating disk images for backup purposes. The company said users will be able to use a command line tool called 'recimg' to create a snapshot of their system.

The clean images can then be stored and used as a backup, which can then be deployed complete with desktop applications and account settings when needed.

What started as a discussion around the behaviour of those manufacturing the faulty PIP breast implants and the regulation of such products, is now being used to vilify women choosing to have cosmetic surgery.

At a time of crisis for 30, 000 British women who suspect they may have the PIP implants, certain women, some of whom are fully paid up members of the ‘sisterhood’, are leaping on the bandwagon to make pitying points about Barbie-doll bodies and arrogant remarks about self-esteem.

Shame on them. Women who chose to have implants have done nothing illegal. They made a choice and they have been let down, and the last person that let them down is themselves.
From my point of view I want to give women a degree of reassurance, " he said. He hoped the expert group, chaired by the NHS medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh, give greater assurance about the official advice by the end of the week.

Chastising some private providers for the "inadequacy and inconsistency" of their data so far, Lansley said any woman who had been given the implants in the private sector should expect "exactly the same" response and help as her counterparts in the NHS. The scandal, he added, had raised the question of whether there should be a register for breast implants.

More than 40, 000 women in the UK have been given Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP) implants.

The Independent Healthcare Advisory Service (IHAS), which represents all of the major cosmetic surgery chains, has called on the government's expert working group, which begins its investigation on Wednesday, to look carefully at figures it has obtained from an audit of all its members. The figures, from thousands of patients, show a rupture rate within the accepted norm, of 1%-2%, the IHAS says.

The organisation is publicly distancing itself from the figures supplied before Christmas by Transform, an IHAS member and one of the biggest cosmetic surgery chains. Transform reported a rupture rate of around 7%, from a group of around 100 clients, triggering the government inquiry.
But a panel formed by Australia's top medical watchdog, the TGA, says it has found no evidence that the implants carry an increased risk of cancer or leakage.

The president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Associate Professor Rodney Cooter took part in the panel.

RODNEY COOTER: Based on the evidence that's available to the TGA, there's no reason for raising any further alarm to Australian women with PIP implants.

The decision overseas was based on toxicology studies but the studies that have been done on the gels and the shells of these implants by scientists here at the TGA in Australia have not shown any results that would suggest that we should alter our stance at the moment and that is to reassure women that if they have no problems and the implant is not ruptured, there's no immediate cause for concern.

DUBRAVKA VOLODER: As many as 9, 000 Australian women are believed to have received the French-made breast implants before they were banned worldwide 18 months ago.

There are now 20 confirmed cancer cases in France in women who've had the implants but there are no known cases in Australia.

Carol Bennett works for the Consumer Health Forum.

CAROL BENNETT: The thing that's comforting to me is that the TGA have done a review of these products and they've made the call that these products don't pose a greater risk than the failure rate that would be expected for this kind of device.

DUBRAVKA VOLODER: She says she believes the panel's decision will be comforting to many women.
But Dr Wollaston is not alone. She is joined by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in the Daily Mail who pities the women with ‘inflated breasts as a passport to happiness’ and Cristina Odone in The Telegraph who takes a particularly hard line concluding that if your breast augmentation goes wrong, ‘that’s just tough’.

Why are all these women taking such a tough line? Would they be so judgemental on other choices? A tattoo gone septic? An eye infection from a contact lens? A muscle tear from weightlifting? The government is considering a fat tax on food. Why not go further and have a tax on those with cirrhosis of the liver through too much alcohol; those with cancer through smoking; breaking your ankle through jogging; those that play rugby and end up in casualty or the obese?

There will be those of you who believe that this should happen. Let’s hope you never put a foot wrong.