Windows 8 is coming!

For the past few years - Microsoft haven't really done anything special.  Apple on the other hand have moved from the obscure into the mainstream.  iPhone and iPad are the 2 stand out Apple products for me.  These devices have propelled Apple to another level and Microsoft didn't seem to be responding.

To be fair, Apple are really focusing on the consumer - whereas business is really Microsofts bread and butter.  However, the tablet market has had a severe impact on consumer PC sales and Microsoft have to be increasingly aware of this.

So it's no surprise that a few months ago, Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer preview (the beta version of their next Operating System).  I downloaded the preview and installed it on a PC and I must say that I have been on the whole very impressed.

In its current form, this OS is a bit of a hybrid.  They have designed it with tablets very much in mind - but it works equally well on a traditional PC with a keyboard and mouse.  Microsoft say that Windows 8 really comes to life on a tablet - but sadly, I currently have no suitable tablet hardware available to me to test this out, so for the time being I am stuck using it on a PC.

When you start up Windows 8, this is what you see;

The Start Screen contains tiles for what Microsoft are calling "Metro Style Apps".  You can immediately see that this is a touchscreen environment, and the style is pretty much identical to the Windows Phone OS that you will find on many HTC devices and the Nokia Lumia.  

So this is an early indication of Microsofts intention to standardize their entire range of products, in the same way that Apple has done with iOS.  Microsoft are clearly going to encourage you to have a Windows Phone, and a Windows 8 Tablet or PC/Laptop.  The benefits of this are that all your content will be highly available to you on all your devices and in a familiar way that is easy to access.

Apps

Windows 8 has some really nice native Apps such as the People Hub (which again is already available on Windows Phone).  In essense, this is an address book, but it's so much more than that.  It pulls together all of your contacts, and social feeds into one place giving you instant access to the information you need to keep you in touch.  

Then you have the Photos App.  Here you can quickly access all of the photos that you have on your device, or from your Facebook Account, your Skydrive, and from Flickr.  I like this one very much as it gives you quick and easy access to all of your pictures from all of your devices and social media in one convenient and easy to use Application, and I can only see it getting better in the final release of Windows 8.

In addition these native Apps, you can find many more that you can download from Microsofts new App Store.  Now this obviously has a long way to go until it catches up with Apples App Store and Android Marketplace - but it will get there.  There are already a few really good Apps available in here.  Popular games like Cut the Rope, News apps such as The Daily Telegraph, and when you download an app - it simply appears on your Start Screen as a Metro Tile.

Where is the Start Button though?

You will notice on the Start Screen that there is a tile called Desktop.  When you click this, it takes you into a more familiar Windows 7 style environment - and this will appeal greatly to those who like Windows 7 and aren't big on change.

However, one big change is the absence of the Start Button.  This has caused great waves already in the "tech community" and some developers have even found ways to "hack" the start button back onto the OS.  Whether it is present on the final release of Windows 8 remains to be seen - but for the time being, if you hover your mouse over where the Start button used to be, the Start Screen reappears and enables you to go back to the Metro Style Environment.

Charms

If you move you mouse the the right of the screen, the charms menu appears, giving you access to settings, devices and search features amongst other things.  In tablet format - the charms menu will be accessible via a touchscreen "gesture"

Whats Open

If you move your mouse to the top left of the screen, it shows you what apps you have running in the background and you can go back to them simply by selecting the one you need,

 Overall Thoughts

First impressions of Windows 8 are that it shows much promise.  I like the way it looks and feels like Windows Phone and I think this will help Microsoft to sell it's entire range of products.

I like the Start Screen and the Metro Style Apps.  I'd really like to see it on a tablet though, and it will be interesting to see what the final version is like once it's properly released.

As for that release date - well November this year has been rumoured, but for now, we'll just have to wait and see.  Whenever it is though - I predict Microsoft will be back with a bang!

And that's Windows 8!

Peter