Microsoft gives a sneak peak at its next version of Windows

Operating system, code-named 'Windows 8’

Microsoft has released the first sneak peak of its upcoming Windows 8,
which will be the next version of the Windows operating system. It has been
designed to work on both PC’s and touch screen tablets. The sneak peak was
actually shaped into a blog post, which also featured a YouTube video
representing the functionality of the operating system.

The President of Microsoft Windows Division, Steven Sinofsky,

personally demonstrated few of the features of this new operating system,
which is not actually named yet but only coded as "Windows 8," at the D9
conference by All Things Digital. Sinofsky declared that "laptops, slates,
desktops -- all can run one operating system." He said that "Things that
people see work... on an iPad, I think we can do that and then bring with it
all of the benefits that you have with Windows." Finally he also added "We
have an approach that is different but builds on the value of an operating
system that sells 400 million or so units a year."

Analysts have claimed that, from the looks of it, Windows 8 has been
designed by adopting most of its features from Microsoft's latest mobile OS
for smartphones, Windows Phone 7. The replacement of Windows long-used
icons with touch "tiles" is one of the most prominent changes. In the
Windows 8 interface, tiles will be used to launch and navigate between
applications rather than windows icons. It was mentioned in the official blog
post, by the VP of Windows Experience, Julie Larson-Green that Windows 8
is a "reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface. A Windows 8-
based PC is really a new kind of device, one that scales from touch-only
small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and
mouse." Larson-Green added stated that "Although the new user interface is
designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and
keyboard.”

It was also asserted by Larson-Green that Microsoft will be constantly

revealing more features and functionality of Windows 8, which is using
Internet Explorer 10 as its Web browser. Windows is one of the worlds
widely used operating system, though Microsoft has been facing quite more
trouble in entering the ever-changing tablet market as it remains dominated
by Apple's iPad. Almost every tablet maker has chosen Google's Android OS
up till now, but an analyst from Forrester Research, Sarah Rotman Epps has
declared that "well-formed Windows 8 will pose serious problems to
Android."