Micorosft’s BUILD Convention is underway and the company has demoed its latest pet project Windows 8, the fabled operating system
which will unify PC, tablet and mobile phone operating systems in one unit and solve all our problems. Well, maybe not all our problems. However, the good news for Microsoft is that so far, Windows 8 has proved to be an excellent piece of work in progress and we can hardly wait to lay our hands on the real product.
As expected, Windows 8 is a major departure from the conventional path followed by MS operating systems. First off, Microsoft clarified that new operating system is based on Windows 7 and hence all the programs and applications that you can run on Windows 7 would be compatible with Windows 8 too.
Among the new features of Windows 8 is its brand new Start Screen. The new screen is heavily influenced by Windows Phone 7. The UI is definitely more touch friendly. Instead of cryptic passwords, the lock screen will now use touch sensitive graphics. It will also show icons for information like battery meter and internet networks. The operating system also debuts Metro style UI, which is clearly aimed at touch screen devices. This UI puts various social media info into tiles and you do not need to enter the Windows file Eco system for accessing these tiles, thus reducing the access time.
The operating system will also give a push to cloud computing as it will feature more robust support for Microsoft’s Sky Drive. The syncing between various Microsoft powered devices will also be aided, so it will be all the more easier for you to sync your Windows Phone 7 handset with your PC. The operating system will also facilitate multitasking by presenting all the apps in two forms i.e. in the dock form and in full screen mode. In short, Windows 8 is going to incorporate a ton of new features, but how well these features co-ordinate with each other and how well the whole concept is executed is yet to be seen.