Here are a few aspects of the new 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. There'll be two kinds of applications for Windows 8, one that runs in a traditional desktop, and the other pseudo-mobile apps based on HTML5 and Javascript, but both environments -- rather, the entire OS -- have been designed from the ground up for touchscreen use. Keyboard and mouse will still be options for both sets of programs, but there are multiple virtual sets of keys for different form factors, including a split keyboard for vertical slate use. Multitasking is simply a matter of swiping running apps into the center of the screen, and you can pull windows partway to "snap" them in place alongside other windows -- even mixing and matching traditional desktop programs with web apps simultaneously (like Twitter alongside your spreadsheet). There's a new version of Internet Explorer 10 (which runs Silverlight) and an app store built into the touchscreen interface, along with integrated services like Office 365. Microsoft says the new OS will run on laptops, tablets and desktops when it appears -- whenever that might be. |
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