New Era Begins: Say Hello to Windows 8 Touch

Washington, Jun 2: Finally the wait is over, here comes the Windows 8! The software giant Microsoft has previewed the upcoming version of their popular operating system Windows, codenamed as Windows 8, at the D9 Conference.

The new Windows 8 prototype demoed on a tablet computer and a laptop revealed its all new features, which are similar to Windows Phone 7. The exciting feature on Windows 8 is its 'touch interface' that features tile-based Start screen. In earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft used Windows Start button, Task Bar and Tiles, but the new version replaced all these with a single 'Start screen.'

Anyhow, the Windows 8 version will support all applications that run on Windows 7. Although the new user interface is designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard. Windows 8 apps use the power of HTML5, tapping into the native capabilities of Windows using standard JavaScript and HTML to deliver new kinds of experiences.

Microsoft claimed that the new Windows 8 apps are full-screen and touch-optimized, and they easily integrate with the capabilities of the new Windows user interface. Microsoft opened a new era for app developers to come up with apps running on Windows 8 platform.

Features of Windows 8 User Interface:
* 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

"Our aim with Windows 8 is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love," said Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem at Microsoft.

"This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven't attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs." he added.

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