Turn the page to Windows 8
Admittedly we’re a bit of Apple fanboys when it comes to certain things, but the company you want to hate, namely Microsoft, has the market share for operating systems and Windows has been improved leaps and bounds since the days of Windows 95. Microsoft has made some fumble attempts at mobile devices but lets face it, they got something right with Windows 7. Turn the page to Windows 8.
Unlike Windows 7, which was a smoothed out version of Vista, (that actually worked well) Microsoft brings us Windows 8. Windows 8 is a completely new OS with extensive changes to the UI as well as functionality.
The Windows 8 OS natively supports a touch screen interface for tablets, pc, laptops alike. It seems more app centric then desktop centric as we are all used to. Check out the Windows 8 experience in the video at the bottom of this article.
Windows 8 presents large tiled graphical areas to click or touch which they call the Metro-style interface. It seems to be a direct translation of the windows mobile interface with a cross between OSX and an Android device. The Start menu is more like a ribbon or film strip you can swipe or scroll to click on tiles for apps and also add folders, shortcuts, websites virtually anything. Sounds similar to OSX functionality, maybe a bit more romper room.
This Metro-style UI is able to stack metro style apps next to one another (again full screen only). We can see this visually intensive and easy to navigate style UI work well for say, a 3d holographic computer screen like in the movie Minority Report. On a quick tangent, check out the video from CES 2009 below, maybe soon we won’t need the glass!
With large Metro-style running applications this full screen environment may quickly become annoying for traditional desktop workstation users. Clearly taking its’ queues from touchscreen devices, swipe, slide, zoom, double tap/tap and generally widely accepted gestures are all part of the interaction between you and Windows 8. Windows 8 aims at a completely redefined way to interact with your OS and get more out of your computing time while becoming even more intuitive and presenting less of a learning curve.
Some of the other features include, Microsoft Xbox 360 integration, a dictionary of shortcuts and gestures, a suite of integrated native productivity apps, Skydive (cloud service), Internet Explorer 10 and more!
While Windows 8 may be a great visual and tablet experience, as with any major software upgrades in the business world, hardcore workstation users may want to hold off for a year or more. We suspect that some of the bugs, which will be inherent for certain hardware configurations may take some months to smooth out as with any new OS. Get yourself a spare hd and download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview copy and test it out for yourself! available now at microsoft.com
via engadget
