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Microsoft Previews Windows 8 with Cues from iPad and App Store

From how I interpreted the demo, the tile/mobile mode is optional. You can use the classic desktop interface with keyboard/mouse computers.

Slix said:
Windows is at it again, stealing ideas from Apple. :rolleyes:
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More like Apple and Microsoft stealing from the open source community (but isn't that what open source is for?) There have been open source desktop managers that OS X and Windows Vista/7 resemble for 12+ years.
 
Wow!!!

Now that's awesome!!!

BUT: I HATE HOW LEGACY APPS LOOK... BRINING UP THE OLD TASKBAR AND SUCH. HOPEFULLY BEFORE THIS GOES MAINSTREAM, MICROSOFT WILL LET LEGACY APPS RUN IN A MORE WINDOWS 8 LOOKING WAY..

Besides that though, this is awesome! Touch is the future baby! I hope Apple says **** you to Mac OS soon and just creates a desktop variant of iOS.. That's what everyone wants anyways.
 
S.Jobs said:
yes but i see this competing in the tablet market. also college students might give this a shot if lion isnt any good. but i am liking what i am seeing in windows 8
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Good point.

It's still gonna take a lot of work from developers to make "finger friendly" versions of their software.

What we've seen so far from Microsoft is the launcher. It still runs legacy Windows applications underneath... none of which are very tablet friendly.

Plus... most people with tablets also have a laptop or desktop.

It's gonna be a while before a tablet... even running Windows... will be a primary machine. In my opinion...
 
Jason Beck said:
I would love to see a complete overhaul and new OS from Microsoft. This looks like it could be pretty snappy. Windows 7 is great, using it right now in fact. I think this will be something good for Microsoft. They are taking elements from the best of UI's and putting in what people want.

People want snappy interfaces on tablets as much as they do for their desktop. I really hope it works. The UI right now doesn't look bad. I like the grid system. I am sure they won't get rid of some sort of taskbar though. Meh, I would change the background black and the tiles would look great. Purple sucks : ). Or put a picture as the background and have the tiles/widgets in front.

The main thing I am stoked about is the scalable interface. Going from tablet to desktop with apps seems to be a priority for Microsoft right now and streamlining the computing experience. I wouldn't dismiss this Windows 8 as hooplah till we are trying betas. Like it or not Windows 7 is the best Windows since XP. Microsoft knows this, and they know what makes it good. Good job guys, can't wait. I think this will be either an epic fail or epic win for them. I don't see them releasing another incarnation of what we have now.

It's time for something different as the computer experience is changing.
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Hopefully they will allow anyone to download the beta like they did for Windows 7. They really listened to the users input and made many changes in the final release. They should do this again with all future releases. Give the people what they want, not what you think they should want.

skidog1111 said:
Competition is good for consumers. Whether you are mac or pc, iphone or android or windows.
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Obviously you're not a real Apple fan. Real Apple fans don't want competition or choices. They want all companies to fail except for Apple. And they want Uncle Steve to rule the world.

yodachen said:
Microsoft still can't get rid of the idea of selling more operating system = generating more income. That UI looks good, but that is just something developed under this logic, "selling more OS." They try to fit windows in any devices that need OS or whatever devices they think the windows can fits into. It is a good attempt, but it will end up like the current windows phone. Just get the "Surface" to the market as quickly as possible since this windows phone like UI would need the companion of the "Surface."
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If you didn't sell hardware, and only sold software, what would be your strategy for making money, selling it on a limited number of products or manufacturers? And why wouldn't you want your product to be similar across all platforms? Can you think of a company that has done that?
 
Great job to Microsoft, I think they identified that there is a very real possibility of tablet PC's and desktop/laptops merging as the tablet with dock sold separately concept takes hold. In that instance, both the touch and traditional interfaces are needed and this takes care of that issue.
 
Aniday said:
The whole Start Screen touch thing jumps over 9000 sharks.

It's waaay too touch oriented for what's supposed to be a hardware-universal OS. I can't imagine any computer-savvy Windows user ever using the silly Start Screen tile thing. It's a toy appealing to the most casual air-headed users.

They took the idea of mobile touch OS integration from Apple and went waaaay overboard.
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I would imagine that you would see a quite different startup screen and a desktop/laptop. I'm also quite impressed. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Originally Posted by neko girl
Windows just jumped the shark. Can't wait for ChromeOS to eat into its marketshare.
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ChromeOS? Are you serious? It's a complete joke at this point. Have you tried running it? It's basically the Chrome browser with a few addons.
 
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Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (iPhone; Opera Mini/6.13548/24.871; U; en) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54)

If Apple locks down Mac OS X someday, will Windows be offered through the Mac App Store? Kinda off-topic, but hey.
 
InsanelyApple said:
Couldn't agree more!
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Come on guys. What's with the thumbing down? What's wrong with wanting ChromeOS to succeed?

1) I had a Cr-48. It was great. One of the best laptops I ever owned. I bricked it though so I'm going to buy a Chromebook when they are released June 15th.
2) Competition is good for the consumers, so you all should be cheering for ChromeOS and MeeGo to get some market share, so Microsoft and Apple will have to do more and not get lazy.
3) Is it because Google makes Android?
 
That looks quite good I think. I'm quite excited for Windows 8. Recently bought Win 7 for my new iMac and even that is a superb OS.

But yeah. I like how folk are comparing it to the iPad. It's as if the Wii UI doesn't predate iOS.
 
I must say, I'm quite impressed by what I saw. Looks like MS has put quite some thought into it, although, I am a bit reluctant how well it'll work in a mouse and keyboard environment. Still, interesting that MS are finally getting what you should have on a tablet OS and they are bringing back more to the desktop that Apple actually dared for Lion.

I really do feel the normal desktop/laptop OS need a revolution, rather than tiny evolution so this is gonna be fun to follow.
 
Seems like a Metro UI dashboard program slapped on top of Windows 7. While I liked the convenience displayed by this Metro stuff, it just doesn't seem integrated at all. It's like Microsoft is scared of changing the way that users interact with their computers. How will this be useful for a desktop user with mouse and keyboard? I just don't see this taking off unless they revamp the entire UI to be something more like this.
 
On Tiles

I like the idea of the Tile-based UI for a mobile device, where the device's purpose is various quick-scan information-based apps.

I'm not sure I see where a Tile-based UI for a desktop environment makes any sense. My day-to-day computer usage is roughly divided between the following applications:

Textmate
XCode
Photoshop
Aperture
Email
MS Office
OmniGraffle
Web Browser (where I regularly browse between roughly a dozen different sites, plus occasional surfing).

Other than email, how are "Tiles" going to help me with any of those applications? What kind of "live information" would an "Aperture" or "Photoshop" tile usefully be able to tell me?

Granted, most of these are Mac applications, but substitute the above applications for Windows-centric apps, and I still fail to see how my work day is in any way improved by a "Live Tiles" UI.
 
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AppleScruff1 said:
InsanelyApple said:
Microsoft has a curse where every other OS is failed to be doomed. Windows ME and Vista are good examples because 98>Me>XP>Vista>7>8. ;)
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I'd like to hear about your personal experience with Windows 8.
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Do you not understand what he's trying to get at?
 
I hope this will be as good in reality as it looks here. MS may have finally shown a spark of innovation after all these years of being stagnant.
 
It looks pretty nice, and it's early in the planning cycle. The tiles could be useful down the side of a large display.

As a Windows 7 user I hope MS concentrates on two things; First changing settings is still confusing. Even understanding that Windows offers a lot more buttons to push than OS X it's still hard to find some things. As an example my Macs keep plugging along faithfully on my network whereas W7 is always connected to the Internet but only occationally shows up on the other computers. The more I fiddle with the problem and go on line the more confused I get. To me Windows 7 is definitely not "simpler" than XP.

Secondly W7 works great with Photoshop and Canon DPP but it's really ugly to look at. From those light-blue icons and their text to the too-wide border around each window it's not something I want to look at very much. I've adjusted the colors to more grays and darker blues but I can't do much with the icons.

I'm using Windows 7 Pro 64-bit on a late 2009 mini 2.66GHz C2D and it really does perform well. It's snappier than SL was so the basic qualities are there. Since there is always discussions about whether Apple is going to keep supporting pro equipment or just concentrate on iOS keeping Windows around is a very good thing.
 
I only see this as an epic Fail!? Seriously, you want a tile based OS on your DESKTOP?? And a MS OS at that!!! No, keep the tiles for mobiles and tablets, at a push laptops, but please lets keep the mouse and keyboard as STILL the primary input device??

Actually, this could also mean Apple have a chance to steal even more sales from MS!! :D:apple:
 
Am I the only one who feels that this is a bad move?

It seems perfect for a tablet or media touch computer but I really can't see it being used by corporations in a work environment. It seems like they are aiming it more at the Home User rather than a work environment.

Maybe I am just reluctant of change, but I cant see myself sitting down and using that.
 
InsanelyApple said:
Come on guys. What's with the thumbing down? What's wrong with wanting ChromeOS to succeed?

1) I had a Cr-48. It was great. One of the best laptops I ever owned. I bricked it though so I'm going to buy a Chromebook when they are released June 15th.
2) Competition is good for the consumers, so you all should be cheering for ChromeOS and MeeGo to get some market share, so Microsoft and Apple will have to do more and not get lazy.
3) Is it because Google makes Android?
Click to expand...

Real Apple fans don't like competition. They envision a world where Apple is the only company on earth, selling all products and making record products.
 
Apple... said:
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If Apple locks down Mac OS X someday, will Windows be offered through the Mac App Store? Kinda off-topic, but hey.
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Good question I'm curious about that now too!
 
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AppleScruff1 said:
InsanelyApple said:
Come on guys. What's with the thumbing down? What's wrong with wanting ChromeOS to succeed?

1) I had a Cr-48. It was great. One of the best laptops I ever owned. I bricked it though so I'm going to buy a Chromebook when they are released June 15th.
2) Competition is good for the consumers, so you all should be cheering for ChromeOS and MeeGo to get some market share, so Microsoft and Apple will have to do more and not get lazy.
3) Is it because Google makes Android?
Click to expand...

Real Apple fans don't like competition. They envision a world where Apple is the only company on earth, selling all products and making record products.
Click to expand...

Proof? Ha! You have none. :D
 
Very interesting.

If 2011 is year of the copycat with the flood of sub-standard Android tablets, it could well be that 2012 is the year of real competition to iOS.

If implemented correctly, Apple's "app-dominance" will really be challenged by this. Apple's trump card with iOS has always been its app-store and its ecosystem.

If a theoretical Windows 8 device could run the millions of windows apps, this really would blow Apple's 350k-app iOS app store out of the water. And if we are talking ecosystems, having seemless integration (and full networking capability) with 85% of all computing devices means you are starting from a pretty strong position.

As others have said - it definately looks like the touch-based OS is really just a shell running over the top of Windows 7, however this is not necessarily a bad thing. It might well end up giving users the best of both worlds. Intuitive and fun touch-based apps for home, and the ability to run real business applications, with real networking, real multitasking and real file systems when required.

This actually really highlights the problem that Apple has with its split operating systems (iOS and OSX). Will make the upcoming iOS5/Lion launch very interesting.

Don't forget - competition is a good thing.
 
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