Windows 8"s upcoming public beta, now known as the "Consumer Preview" was always expected to come with a number of applications. Today The Verge, using unnamed sources, claims to have received a list of the Metro apps that will be preinstalled in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
The app list includes a number of expected programs including Camera, Messaging, Mail, Calendar, Microsoft"s SkyDrive cloud service, People, Photos, Video and Music. All of these apps are expected to be updatable via the Microsoft Store, according to the story. It adds that while these apps will be in the Consumer Preview version of Windows 8, they may or may not all appear in the final shipping version of the OS, which is due out before the end of 2012.
Microsoft previously announced that it would offer Xbox Live features on Windows 8. Today"s story claims that Microsoft has already developed an Xbox Live Companion app for Windows 8 and that it could also be part of the Consumer Preview version when it launches.
Meanwhile, more and more screenshot leaks of pre-Consumer Preview versions of Windows 8 continue to pop up on the Internet, which should reveal more about Microsoft"s plans for Windows 8 before the Consumer Preview is launched on February 29.