Windows 8

Microsoft showed its first public demo of Windows 8 in June 2011, and it's not at all like the Windows operating systems you've come to know over the past 25 years. The next version of Microsoft's operating system (Windows 8 is just a codename) is a radical departure, designed around touch screens. If this revelation is making you worried about your existing MS software, here’s a few FAQs for you based on the early Windows 8 build that was demonstrated back in June 2011:

What Windows 8 features did Microsoft demonstrate?

Essentially, Microsoft showed how Windows 8 will work on both tablets and traditional PCs. The operating system's home screen is filled with big, touchable panels and from there you can tap and swipe your way to other touch-based applications. But underneath that touchy layer is plain old Windows, with a task bar, file manager, app icons, everything.

How does the touch interface work?

From the start menu, which shows basic information like time and unread e-mail counts, users swipe upwards to reveal the home screen and its tiles. Users can multitask between open apps by swiping across from the left bezel. And therein lies the best looking feature of Windows 8. When swiping in a new app, users can snap it in place next to the app that's currently running. This allows users to view two apps at the same time, something that no existing tablet operating system can do.

How will Windows 8 apps work?

Microsoft says it's created a new kind of app for Windows 8 using HTML5 and JavaScript, and they are a lot like the apps you'd expect to find on a tablet. A weather app shows the five-day forecast. A news reader displays stories and thumbnail images in big, rectangular panes. Microsoft also showed off Internet Explorer 10, which is optimized for touch. Presumably Microsoft will distribute these apps through its own store; there's a ‘Store’ tile in the version of Windows 8 that Microsoft demonstrated, but the company offered no details.

What about existing Windows apps, such as Office and Photoshop?

They will still work. Loading one of these apps will bring up a more familiar version of Windows. Classic Windows apps will use ‘fuzzy hit targeting’ to aid finger taps, but they won't be optimized for the touch screen like Windows 8's HTML5/JavaScript concoctions. Legacy apps can, however, run side by side with the new Windows 8 apps.

When's the Windows 8 release date?

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Windows 8 will launch in 2012, but the company hasn't been any more specific than that. Expect more details on Windows 8 in September, when Microsoft hold their BUILD conference for developers in the US...

For further information/advice on this topic please contact Ward Williams: www.wardwilliams.co.uk