Windows 8 consumer preview in pictures

3/5/2012 2:03 PM EST

From what I see, this is really the first significant operating change since Windows 95...

3/5/2012 2:59 PM EST

It looks to me that new Windows desktop has iPhone and Android look and feel.

3/5/2012 4:07 PM EST

So my two questions are:

1. Does Windows 8 require a touch screen? In some applications, like wall displays that the user can actually walk up to, no problem. In other cases, like wall displays that are impossible to reach, or even desktops where the largish display is somewaht out of reach, it would be nice to have an alternative to the screen swipe. My suggestion is a mouse pad sort of device, that a user can swipe remotely. Or even swiping with a mouse pointer, perhaps.

2. Remember how MS IE became intrinsic to Windows, during the reign of Win95? Once installed, you could not delete it, and eventually it became mandatory for Windows Updates? Well, is Microsoft playing this same game with Bing over Win8? I kind of got that impression from the pictures.

3/5/2012 5:19 PM EST

It's too little too late IMHO.

3/5/2012 5:58 PM EST

I can see a lot of consumer interest in the Metro UI for tablets and phones, but for non-touchscreen laptops & desktops, it strikes me as a little weird. All those tiles just make you want to reach out and touch the screen, or gesture at it or something like that...not use a mouse & keyboard.

3/5/2012 7:44 PM EST

I really hope they did a lot of work under the hood. The UI changes kind of look like: The moved the task bar to the right vertical, removed the "3D" shadowing on window borders and replaced a hierarchical menu structure with a bunch of single color boxes.

I downloaded the consumer preview and, if I can get it installed in a virtual machine, I'll have an opportunity to see for myself. I do think Win7 was a big improvement over Vista, but I'm skeptical about Win8.

3/5/2012 8:44 PM EST

Too little and too late. Also, if MS can be number one in year or two, they should not go further with this product.

3/5/2012 8:52 PM EST

It isn't clear to me whether the big tile look is the only option for UI. However what ought to be clear to Microsoft is, they don't want to repeat the dud that WinVista was.

So, I have to believe that some of my (our) first impressions are missing some optional UIs?

3/6/2012 1:04 AM EST

Win 95: Good
Win 98: Bad
Win 98SE: Good
Win ME: Bad
Win XP: Good
Win Vista: Bad
Win 7: Good
Win 8: ???

3/6/2012 1:13 AM EST

"Integrated App store" ! MS is copying Apple's approach in MAC OS. Again!

3/6/2012 3:24 AM EST

seems to be great attempt by MS. Flexible,comfortable,easy and friendly to the users.Soon this will become the most liked OS.

3/6/2012 4:41 AM EST

Microsoft should get this out asap to gain the market share of smart phone OS.

3/6/2012 2:00 PM EST

It seems to me that Win8 is going to be a "consolidated" OS for both tablet and computer. User has an option to choose between different UI - keyboard and mouse or, touchscreen. Win8, as well, consolidates the GUI of all platforms - smartphone, tablet and PC. It is a logical and smart move. Who would want to keep changing/ learning UI as they use different devices at any moment?

3/6/2012 5:23 PM EST

I already have Android, iOS and Windows devices, plus a digital camera and MP3 player with their own UIs. Each was no doubt "intuitive" for their designers, but requires fresh learning for me. Alas!

Now Windows will have a fresh UI in part to look hip. More learning for me.

As always with new OSes, the question is what real new hardware do they enable. For Win 8 its ARM and touch screens. An important bit of catch up for Microsoft, but it doesn't really move the ball forward for the industry.

Final issues that will determine its success: How robust is the OS and how fast is the responsiveness on various x86 and ARM SoCs?

3/7/2012 4:43 AM EST

Last week, I bought Asus ET2400 desktop with Windows7 touchscreen, 3D support. I wonder what is new in touchscreen even after such PC touchscreens, IPhone, IPad, etc. First of all, the initial look of Windows8 does not attract me. However, eager to see how the competition goes.. as a future innovator.

3/7/2012 12:05 PM EST

All I see are pretty pictures that home consumers will love. Big tiles all over the screen make the computer illiterate say "Oooo, pretty."

What does this do for me, as an Electronics Designer? Will my applications run faster? Will it absolutely force application developers to use the APIs instead of directly running the hardware? That's the biggest reason for application instability and crashes.

User interfaces bore me, I'm still using the "Windows Classic" look on XP-64. What difference does it matter if my window borders look "curvier"?

My desktop doesn't need touch screen, can you imagine running wires around a schematic with your fingers on the screen? My arms feel sore already!

Gripe, gripe, gripe, that's all I do. Happy days!

3/7/2012 12:12 PM EST

Microsoft has the most to lose in this evolving world of Cloud Computing and Virtual Apps. I believe the success of Windows 8 is critical for Microsoft to remain in their dominant position. When Vista was released, there was no Tablet Computers, touch-screen smart phones, or Google Android OS. Putting out a sub-par product such as Vista (or for those older readers Me) is a public relations problem, but has no real long-term affect.

However, the whole computing environment is undergoing a fundamental change, and Microsoft has seemed to be slow to recognize the potential long-term affect it could have on them. This seems to be an attempt to bring them back to relevancy in this new environment, as much as an update of an operating system.

3/7/2012 1:02 PM EST

The Metro UI looks ugly. I don't think it looks good on a phone or tablet, and it looks even worse on a traditional PC. There's just nothing elegant about it, just blocks of kindergarten color and simple typefaces.

Microsoft seem to have teamed up with Nokia on having a collective funeral, what a shame.

3/7/2012 9:06 PM EST

There is a broken logic in One Size Fits All. It never does.

Think, say, how terrible a steering wheel would be on a bicycle or how terrible handle bars would be for a car! Different form factors are best served with different interfaces.

This exactly the same mistake that Microsoft made with WinCE, but now they are making it the other way.

Remember when Microsoft rolled out WinCE? It had the old "start button" UI just like a PC. Nobody could convince Microsoft that this was a terrible UI for a handheld device.

Finally Microsoft have gone away from the start button UI for mobile, but now the idea has traction they can't stop dragging the idea onto the desktop where it is a terrible idea.

3/7/2012 9:25 PM EST

To be fair it looks clean and neat but there is this big but, would it perform so smoothly on a real mobile device which people carry around is the big question. And I really wonder how much of battery drain these tiles would cause due to their always on presence.

At least they could have changed the name IE to something snazzy and kept it light but they are headstrong aren't they..

3/8/2012 5:42 AM EST

I think it's a really clever strategy from Microsoft; leverage their dominance in PC to make consumers familiar with their smartphone UI. Carriers say they want a 3rd "ecosystem" for smartphones (divide & conquer) and Microsoft is stepping neatly up to the plate. My understanding is that you can run either/or of the two UIs on a PC? I have a Nokia/Microsoft smartphone (Lumia 800) it's very easy to use

3/8/2012 5:13 PM EST

It seems to be Window software engineering is an adhoc engineering keep changing in short period of time, this means window users, has to keep buying new versions..... endless addicted to buy window OS, why not Window engineering group sit down to think very very deep your future plan of Window software direction, be your software upgradeable from here and there for a longer period of upgrade of features and function before a complete new consolidate version !!!