News - PC Tech Authority by William Maher on Jun 2, 2011
June 2-2011. New video showing the start screen for Windows 8 reveals the next official version of Windows will look drastically different.
Designing a new OS is always a difficult balancing act, but when it's the operating system used by millions of PCs around the world then it's no wonder you can't please everyone.
With Windows Vista fading into memory, and Windows 7 apparently a financial success, Microsoft has revealed a sneak peek at the next version of the OS, which they're calling Windows 8 for now.
What the video reveals is a starkly different Start screen. The first thing you notice is the desktop of tiny icons PC users have been familiar with for decades, has been replaced by big, blocky "tiles", as Microsoft calls them.
The idea is you'll be able to see information at a glance, without having to open up your email client, or calendar.
We've already commented how this live feed approach, instead of sifting through menus or a desktop sprawling with icons, is one of the key interface differences between Android, Windows Phone 7 and iOS.
On the phone, simplifying things with big, blocky icons, and reducing the need to open separate apps makes sense. You're not sitting in front of a phone; you want to glance at it, and get back to whatever you're doing. Time will tell whether the same approach makes sense on the PC or laptop.
To what extent users are locked into the new UI isn't clear. As the video shows, the Windows desktop interface today's users are familiar with still exists in Windows 8 - load Word or Excel and the interface reverts to something resembling Windows 7. As to whether users can toggle the new Start screen and live tiles on or off, Microsoft hasn't shed any light.
What is clear is that Windows 8, which will also run on devices running ARM chips, looks like being much easier to use on tablets than it is today. Users can switch between apps by dragging apps running in the background from the side of the screen. Internet Explorer 10 looks more finger-friendly, with a new touchscreen keyboard layout designed so you can use your thumbs.
It does appear that this new look isn't just for tablets. As Jensen Harris from Microsoft says in the video, it's going to run "on laptops, it's gonna run on desktops, it's gonna run on PCs with mouse and keyboard, it's gonna run on touch slates, it's gonna run on everything. Hundreds of millions of Windows PCs, powered by this new interface and new platform."
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