The first glimpse of the much anticipated Windows 8 operating system was revealed by Microsoft on Wednesday, giving those present a sneak peek which signals the newer influences behind the major overhaul of the company’s 25 year old operating system. The fundamental target behind the new operating system, which is being revealed for the very first time at D9, is creating a platform which is just as well suited for an 8 inch tablet computer as it is for a powerhouse desktop machine. In an interview with the media, the president of Windows, Steven Sinofsky, said that this universally fitting functionality of the operating system is not a sacrifice and that this was a very big milestone for the company.
The interface has been totally revamped and now features a new start screen at the center of the UI which draws quite heavily on the tile based interface which the company has earlier used with Windows Phone 7. The programs used by the users are all now visible in the form of tiles which can be accessed very comfortably by the touch of a finger, adding a more touchscreen friendly dimension to the interface. There are essentially two kinds of applications which are supported by Windows 8. The first type is the standard Windows application which runs on the desktop which is very similar to the desktop in Windows 7.
The second type of applications will look and feel more like mobile applications which fill the whole screen and will be written in Javascript and HTML5. The next version of Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer 10, is also expected to be a part of Windows 8 and has already been configured to run on the platform. It will also feature several apps like widgets which check emails, stock prices and weather. Even as Microsoft refused to offer any more details, a prominent link to a store was plainly visible on the start screen which was displayed on Wednesday. This is being seen as a confirmation of Microsoft’s plans to get in the business of distributing Windows programs directly, similar to what Apple does with the iPhone and Mac through an App Store.
Sinofsky accepted that the success of the Apple iPad has exposed flaws in the design of Windows which makes life easier for users. Notable among these were a comfortable touch screen interface, a system for app distribution and a new business model for its developers. He added that Windows 8 has been designed specifically to address all three of these issues while at the same time preserve its compatibility with the thousands of Windows programs existing today. Even as Windows 8 clearly appears to have been influenced by tablets such as the iPad and those running on Android, the plans for the next operating system in the Windows family had already been in the works since Microsoft started shipping Windows 7 in July 2009, which is a couple of months before the iPad was released.
