Windows 8 - An early version

     Windows 8 by Microsoft is a full featured OS giving you an advantage over two major hardware currently in tune of this Technology Era. It have two different side like a coin. On one side is a tablet operating system, with the tile-heavy Metro user interface inspired by Windows Phone 7. On the other is an improved version of the full Windows 7-like desktop operating system. The first is very simple and consumer oriented, and competes with tablets like Apple's iPad and Google Android tablets. The other is the operating system favored by power users of complex and professional Windows programs.

     I took an early version of the OS for a spin. The Windows 8 Developer Preview I tested was on an Intel-based Windows 8 developer preview PC. This hands-on looks exclusively at the OS running on a tablet, as that's all I could get my hands on when this issue closed. The first thing noticeable is that Windows 8 starts up in a fraction of the time it takes any previous version of Windows. The startup is so fast that the monitor couldn't keep up to display the POST (power on self test) screen.

     Microsoft seems most excited about its Metro-style apps-referring to the Windows Phone 7 Metro UI. These are touch-optimized, full-screen affairs that only show their menus and settings if you swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Swiping from the right side
of the screen towards the middle brings up what the company calls "Charms" - icons for Search, Share, Start, Devices, and Settings.

     When you're running more than one app, swiping a finger in from the left of the screen displays a smaller view of another running app, and if you leave your finger near the left side, it will resize to fill a quarter of the screen. In this re-imagined Windows, the Desktop is just another app that you start from the Metro Start screen. Once you run it, you will think you are right back in Windows 7. In fact, Windows 8 retains most of the advances of Windows 7-Aero Snap, Jump Lists, Home Groups, Explorer Libraries, Taskbar app pinning, and all the rest.

     Microsoft deserves kudos for such a bold  attempt at a new dual-purpose operating system. Windows 8 not only brings the sleeker, cleaner Metro interface and apps, but it brings commendable improvements to the rest of the operating system. Faster startup, better security, an app store, and better control interfaces, and smarter use of the CPU for better power use are all more than welcome. How the old-style applications co-exist with their younger Metro siblings is still something of a question mark.  Stay tuned as we examine this early version of Windows 8 more thoroughly. Will come with more lot sayings about it in coming weeks.