Yesterday, Microsoft took the covers off one of their most ambitious projects in years, one that could arguably place the company back into the limelight they lost in the tug-of-war between Apple and Google. The unveiled Windows 8 operating system was designed specifically with touch and tablets in mind, borrowing heavily from the Windows Phone 7 interface, a decision which has us excited because this looks like the most consumer-friendly (and colorful) Windows OS ever. We spotlight a few reasons why you might want to get excited (we are)...
What's evident upon watching the video above is Microsoft has tablets on their mind. And even though they say Windows 8 will work with a mouse and keyboard (perhaps in conjunction with their upcoming/delayed swipe-touch mouse), the OS demo reveals a laser beam focus upon the tablet experience. Frankly, it's the best thing we've seen since iOS, exhibiting what we believe is a better execution of touch-based operations than either Google, RIM and their ilk have produced in the race to catch up with the iPad. Love it or hate it, the iPad is the leader in UI design, but what we respect about the direction Microsoft has taken here is less "copy and paste" and embarking in a much more risky vision of the user experience on mobile devices, from the phone to the tablet, all the way to larger PC screens.
Key features of Windows 8:
- Fast launching of apps from a tile-based Start screen, which replaces the Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps.
- Live tiles with notifications, showing always up-to-date information from your apps.
- Fluid, natural switching between running apps.
- Convenient ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so you can really multitask using the capabilities of Windows.
- Web-connected and Web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that have access to the full power of the PC.
- Fully touch-optimized browsing, with all the power of hardware-accelerated Internet Explorer 10.
The "live tile" system will be recognizable to both Windows Phone 7 and Zune users, giving users access to apps and updated information within the tiles. An interesting feature is the inclusion of a split-style keyboard for vertical oriented tablet typing, something that should make typing on a virtual keyboard possibly easier for newer user of tablets. We also liked the swipe down to switch to other open windows option, alongside the colourful-modern GUI throughout.
What we didn't like was seeing elements of the old Windows operating system underneath, revealing itself when certain applications are launched. But this could be just where development is at with Windows 8 (out of habit, we keep wanting to type OS 8) and refinement of application UI is likely to evolve as the release nears a planned 2012 launch. In any case, this is great news overall for Windows and OS X users alike, simply for the fact the Windows 8 preview raises the bar in regards to consumer-oriented touch devices/interfaces beyond some of the clunky-awkward tablet UIs that have yet to bridge to a wider audience (yes, we're pointing our fingers at you, Android, aka "Dude OS 1.0").
Not sure this OS X user is going to "switch", but we're definitely interested in installing the future version in dual boot mode and giving Redmond's latest creation a fair shake. We like what we've seen thus far...let's see if they can deliver a better experience with less pop-ups, bloatware and malware that has crippled the Windows experience for many, elements just as important as the graphical and performance improvements exhibited above.
What do you think about what you've seen with this preview?
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No thanks, I'll pass.
I'm a fan of it. I'd love to see a similar integration of OS X and iOS. I use both systems (work vs. home) so will take all the windows improvements I can get.
It hasn't even been two years yet since they released Windows 7.
I appreciate the new UI, but from the video it looks like little more than a cool overlay on top of Windows 7.
Why is it that windows can never seem to get anything right? Nobody wants an overlay on top of a "slightly old" os.
I mean, my college just got windows 7 computers and now they are putting this junk out?
Horrid. A confusing overlay atop an already patched-together user experience. Worst offender - menus that change, shrink, grow and relocate. No.
Imagine if the steering wheel and brake pedal in your car started moving around at random as you drove down the road. Or if the keys on your keyboard relocated and resized themselves as you were trying to type. Talk about a bad user interface. Computers are already difficult enough to use without all the controls flying about.
Another by-geeks, for-geeks interface from the clowns in Redmond.
I like the daring Microsoft has been showing. This looks a lot better than OSX Lion.
I bet this has Steve shouting to his dev team - "WHY HAVENT WE THOUGHT OF THIS?!??!?!"
I am really looking forward to dumping OSX for Windows 8
That's all fine and dandy for a cell phone or tablet. But working environments don't need all these graphical distractions to complete work. Social sites are a drain on productivity enough as it is.
Different strokes for different folks. It's not always an Apple vs. Microsoft thing rather an Apple or Microsoft. Competition gives us a choice, better products overall, and a better price. Ideally. :)