Microsoft unveils Windows 8

[Jaivan]

I hope they leave "Windows Classic" theme in it.

[saaya]

So they took the Windows phone UI and strapped it onto win7+
Wow... what a disappointment...
The Windows phone 7 UI is awful...
It looks like a corporate puppy trying to be creative by painting all his squares and tables in all colors of the rainbow...
yeah, thats real creative... and oh so intuitive and easy to use...
Sigh...

[MrMojoZ]

So they took the Windows phone UI and strapped it onto win7+
Wow... what a disappointment...
The Windows phone 7 UI is awful...
It looks like a corporate puppy trying to be creative by painting all his squares and tables in all colors of the rainbow...
yeah, thats real creative... and oh so intuitive and easy to use...
Sigh...

So you skipped every post that mentioned the normal desktop UI is still there just to whine. This board is getting worse everyday.

[Syn.]

So they took the Windows phone UI and strapped it onto win7+
Wow... what a disappointment...
The Windows phone 7 UI is awful...
It looks like a corporate puppy trying to be creative by painting all his squares and tables in all colors of the rainbow...
yeah, thats real creative... and oh so intuitive and easy to use...
Sigh...

Yes it is.

Please state why do you think its crap?

[Tenknics]

Its been said but I wish people REALLY would watch the video before they go right to complaining. Please just watch the video. This scares me, do people even read the articles of links in this news section or comment on based on its title or a screen shot?


No one has described it in depth, maybe I saw a different video.

This is very akin to Media Center but on steroids and with apps..except as far I can tell it's always running...Like it's been said you still have a traditional win7like UI interface and file system. You can also browse said files in the tile mode, it just looks cooler. All you have to do is press the start button and it turns to the "classic" windows style. You can also open both and have them side by side, to do more traditional work with programs in the classic side, and more lighter apps like social stuff on the other ui. You can adjust which side is bigger, or exactly half/half. It's been stated repeatedly that Win8 was designed for 16x9, especially the tablet form factor, hence these side by side features.

Also the classic UI supports all normal written programs, and the apps made for the new UI are html5 and java based. I think that is very awesome..sounds like it will be easy and quick to program for. They stressed they did this because they said developers can start programming now for those apps, that way at launch they will already have a really substantial amount of apps ready to go. I think its a great strategy personally.

It will work well with normal desktops with those who want regular windows. It will work well on tablets and phones with the new ui. And its also perfect for those new hybrid systems are that are getting a lot of design wins. Like the tablets that convert to laptops, or vice versa, or smart phones docking into either. It makes sense...It's a really logical move from an OS standpoint, at least how I see it.


Also the alternate keyboard is fresh (they have standard too) and I'm shocked no one has thought of this sooner. It seems really natural to me.. how I'd hold and type..but then again I don't own a tablet..

[[XC] Oj101]

we have amazing hard ware that for most of use isn't 15% utilized unless we're gaming, so might as well make our OS do something thats interesting and nice to look at..given this wont be everyones cup of tea

It certainly won't, the difference in power draw between idle and load is huge. Imagine an office scenario with sixty PCs which have an idle consumption of 100w and load of 250w. We're talking 6kw vs 15kw. What happens when you want something running in the background but Windows is using 100% of your resources? Does the background process run using the odd few percent of resources that Windows doesn't use and take thirty times longer to complete? Or does Windows sacrifice resources it's using to look pretty and your entire interface starts to lag?

Even at just 25% usage for Windows to look pretty - we're talking tasks take that much longer or once something starts chewing into the 25% Windows wants you can watch your Start menu render one line at a time.

[[XC] Oj101]

Anyone wonder why they are introducing 8 already, when 7 came out not that long ago really, XP had been around for years, and 7 is far better than XP? I was thinking that 7 had a good 4-5 years in it before the next version would come out

Indeed Sparky, considering they have no real competition in the mainstream OS department, why the need to refresh the OS every 18 months?

You can see the standard desktop UI at the end of the video and once again it looks like 7 (which in turn looks like Vista with more bells and whistles).

And they will expect us to fork out $300+ for this?

-PB

Every version of Windows other than XP has had a two or three year lifespan.

Windows 1.01 had a life of two years
Windows 2 (all of them combined) had a life of three years
Windows 3 had a life of two years
Windows 3.1 was a major release as opposed to the small updates that spanned the life of Windows 2 and had a life of three years
Windows 95 had a life of three years
Windows 98 had a life of two years
Windows ME had a life of one year
Windows XP had a life of five years
Windows Vista had a life of three years

Add them together and even them out - each release of Windows has an average life of 2.66 years. Windows 7 has been with us for just under two years already, so statistically we SHOULD get Windows 8 in the early new year.

[paulbagz]

Every version of Windows other than XP has had a two or three year lifespan.

Windows 1.01 had a life of two years
Windows 2 (all of them combined) had a life of three years
Windows 3 had a life of two years
Windows 3.1 was a major release as opposed to the small updates that spanned the life of Windows 2 and had a life of three years
Windows 95 had a life of three years
Windows 98 had a life of two years
Windows ME had a life of one year
Windows XP had a life of five years
Windows Vista had a life of three years

Add them together and even them out - each release of Windows has an average life of 2.66 years. Windows 7 has been with us for just under two years already, so statistically we SHOULD get Windows 8 in the early new year.

Win 2000? :P

-PB

[[XC] Oj101]

Windows 2000 wasn't a desktop operating system. It would fall into the 3.11/NT/200x Server family (arguably, Windows XP falls into both families).

[danielkza]

@Tenknics:

A correction, JavaScript, not Java, they're quite different despite the similar name.

[BababooeyHTJ]

So you skipped every post that mentioned the normal desktop UI is still there just to whine. This board is getting worse everyday.

Watch the videos on VRzone, notice what happens when you hit the start button on the desktop UI.

[paulbagz]

I think the most notable thing is how their pushing touch screens as a viable alternative to mouse + keyboard imo.

They already started doing this with Win 7 and I'm just not feeling it Microsoft.

Soon they will be building in a PC version of Kinect into Touch screens to play our favourite PC games with >.<

-PB

[Macadamia]

Watch the videos on VRzone, notice what happens when you hit the start button on the desktop UI.

So what if the desktop uses the Start menu?

Multitasking and the new snaps aren't exactly suited and will not be the optimum way you use W8 in a desktop, but I'm pretty sure the start screen is resolution independent (does have a minimum of 1024*768 though); that you'll get more tiles with a larger monitor.

Given how suitably sized and color-coded each tile is, and that it is strongly possible that you can just type to launch your app (think Quicksilver and Launchpad) I think the new start screen is an amazing example of how you design for everyone: desktop, laptop and touch. It would be perfect if they allowed a bit of customization with the background, for example using Media Foundation/DXVA to support video backgrounds again (it was in the weather app).


I've no comment for people who say that this looks downright ugly. Just no comment whatsoever.

[FischOderAal]

Anyone wonder why they are introducing 8 already, when 7 came out not that long ago really, XP had been around for years, and 7 is far better than XP? I was thinking that 7 had a good 4-5 years in it before the next version would come out

Milking the cow. Same price, shorter product lifecycle, less innovations per release => moaaaaar giggadollars.

Not to mention that the Metro interface is currently the best interfaces for touch screens.

Oh dear.

[Bojamijams]

Saaya has become the news troll it seems

[Syn.]

Oh dear.

What do you think?

[takamishanoku]

The Windows phone 7 UI is awful...

Wow now i've read it all

[rintamarotta]

Windows 8.. if that gui is going to desktop then i guess W8 will be skipped

[xlink]

looks like apple has something to be scared about. This is aimed at retards.

sadly, I like it.

[KiSUAN]

looks like apple has something to be scared about. This is aimed at retards.

sadly, I like it.

[danielkza]

Milking the cow. Same price, shorter product lifecycle, less innovations per release => moaaaaar giggadollars.



Oh dear.

Point me a desktop operating system that has a more innovative interface than Windows 8.

[phantomferrari]

it looks interesting but not my cup of tea. im not worried because as others have said they will most likely have a way to use a more traditional gui

what i would like to hear about more is the sync service built into windows 8 and how microsoft is going to incorporate skype into the os

[Sparky]

looks like apple has something to be scared about. This is aimed at retards.

sadly, I like it.

Point me a desktop operating system that has a more innovative interface than Windows 8.

Well, apple of course!

/sarcasm

[Mr.X]

Obviously aimed at tablets and desktops/laptops with those hybrid touch monitors but unless there are significant features for regular desktops as well, I don't see the point of upgrading to W8. Especially if there is no way to completely disable the new interface.

On the other hand it may actually make tablets useful, so it's not all bad.

[Computurd]

i cant wait to DL it on technet. looks fun to me. welcome to computing fellas, change is the only constant! i am excited, they are starting to move cross-platform, which is exactly what they need to do. the reason i havent bought a smartphone yet is simply that there hasnt been one that is compelling enough for me to use. slow clunky unintuitive. hopefully this ushers in some truly usable devices
gimme Dekstop, Phone, and Tablet, all synced and i will laugh my arse off....be like a kid in a candy store! man like star trek