(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Windows 8 In Action
Source: You must login or register to view this content.// You must login or register to view this content. // By: The Open Minded // Saturday, June 4th, 2011

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Microsoft released a new video showing off it's latest and greatest operating system codenamed Windows 8. What struck me about this OS is the fact that is something completely fresh and new. Vista and Win7 seemed to be an extension or a cleaned up version of XP, But Windows 8 has blown most of what we know in a Windows OS out of the water.

Windows 8 is being developed to revolutionize the way touchscreens are used for computing. The "Start Screen" Is the main interface which will greet you when you open Windows 8. You will be greeted with large, eye catching, app icons. These icons will display some basic information about the apps. Now at first glance these app icons may look very alien to the normal computing experience, it is my belief that, once mastered correctly, these apps can be used to make your computing experience very smooth and sleek.

This new OS has some very interesting and handy features that will make working on a Windows 8 computer very fast and easy. As demonstrated in the video, once you start an app there is a feature which will allow you to swipe across the screen to switch between all of your running apps very quickly and easily. This feature is much like the swiping motions used on an iPhone, but in my opinion the Windows developers have made this feature much more handy in this type of situation

Another feature, which is not necessarily new, is the ability to snap two apps on the screen at once. Once an app is snapped onto the screen, you can adjust the size of the two apps to your liking. Once snapped to the screen you will still have the ability to swipe between apps and quickly select what is on either side.

Windows 8 will feature Internet Explorer 10 which will support touch screen web browsing. Now in the video they don't show the actual use of IE 10. He simply opens it and switches between browser tabs. They didn't show him actually browsing through any pages, which tells me that the touch screen use of IE 10 may not be the smoothest experience yet.

One more thing that seemed to put me off a bit was the touch screen keyboard they showed. It looks quite similar to the touch keyboard on the iPad, but again it was not actually put into any practical sort of use in the demonstration. In my opinion the keyboard looked like it would be a bit awkward to use.

They showed the file system, which looked very similar to the file system in XP or Windows 7. Although there is no innovation in that area, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

All in all Windows 8 looks to be a very fresh and new computer experience. Windows 8 will be supported on all PCs, whether they be touch screen or mouse and keyboard, and will also likely be supported on many tablets.

Windows 8 is expected to be released in late 2012.

Watch the preview video here:

What are your opinions on the features shown here in this video? Do you like the new look and feel? Will you be using it when released or are you happy with the computing experience provided by Windows 7?

Looks alright, but saying that I have a touchscreen PC kay:

It is the Tablet version of Windows 8.. The PC version has yet to be seen.

Sticking to Windows Vista, although I want windows 7

Looks more like something for an Ipad or something to me xd

Nah, I don't like the look to be honest...
It just doesn't look right.

Its awful.

Right...
The Mouse and Keyboard version looks almost exactly the same as Windows 7.
So basically, its Windows 7 with an added touchscreen function and maybe a few extra features, why am I going to waste another £100 purchasing this OS?

Personally I really don't like the idea of any kind of Touch Screen computers, I mean, It just wouldn't feel right (For me at least). I think this may be an optional Interface, As opposed to us been "Forced" to use a more touch screen friendly layout.

It does look "New" to an extent, But if I'm honest, It just looks like they've taken the Start screen from the new Windows phone and made it bigger.

On the topic of "I like the idea were getting something new": Well, Let me say "Don't fix what isn't broken". Windows users know the UI well, And they obviously like it, Or they would use an alternative. Whats more, With the large variety of software available now you can change your UI to look like anything you want with little difficulty.

Computers were never designed for touchscreen.. i can't picture myself touching up the screen.

Nope, this is also the PC version...