Technology writers give Microsoft a thumbs up as Windows 8 released for public testing

Windows Live Division President Steven Sinofsky at the Windows 8 Consumer Preview presentation in Barcelona on Feb. 29. Microsoft's new operating system uses a system of tiles to manage applications. David Pogue of the New York Times calls it 'a Lego kit for your life’s control panel."

BARCELONA/SEATTLE—Microsoft Corp opened up an incomplete version of Windows 8 for the public to download and test on Wednesday, looking to rev up excitement for its slick, new-look operating system which it hopes will restore its fading tech supremacy. (See below to find out what the tech sites had to say.)

Windows 8, as the first Microsoft operating system compatible with low-power microprocessors designed by ARM Holdings Plc, will run on tablets as well as desktops and laptops, in an effort to counter the runaway success of Apple Inc’s iPad.

“It’s an even better Windows than Windows 7,” said Steven Sinofsky, head of Microsoft’s flagship Windows unit, as he demonstrated the new system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Windows 7, Microsoft’s last operating system, was its fastest-selling ever, racking up 525 million sales in less than three years.

“It’s incredibly fast and fluid to just navigate this UI (user interface)”, said Sinofsky, showing off Windows 8 on a tablet and an ultra-thin laptop at the event in Barcelona.

The test version of Windows 8 is available for download here. Sinofsky said people from 70 countries had already downloaded the software on Wednesday morning, but he did not give exact numbers.

The downloadable version will only work on laptops and PCs running traditional Intel x86 chips. The ARM-compatible version of the system is not yet ready for public use. Microsoft has said it will distribute ARM tablets running Windows 8 to select developers at some point.

Microsoft says it is aiming to get machines running on both the ARM and Intel platforms into the market at the same time but has not set a target date. The world’s largest software company generally tries to bring out a new version of Windows every three years, so that would indicate a full release date around October this year, in time for the holiday shopping season.

In both versions, Windows 8 features a completely new interface, borrowed from what Microsoft calls the “Metro” style of the current Windows Phone software. It features blocks or “tiles” that can be moved around the screen or tapped to go straight into an application.

Microsoft said the latest version of Windows 8 unveiled on Wednesday has better performance, quality and reliability than the version it released to developers last autumn.

For the first time, this version of Windows 8 includes the Windows Store, where users can download and try out free apps, get access to cloud storage with the ability to move content across a range of devices including Windows phones, and download a test version of Microsoft’s newest browser, Internet Explorer 10.

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Microsoft drops Start button from Windows 8

Microsoft will scratch the 17-year-old Start button from Windows 8, according to reports based on a purported leak of the latest beta build.

First reported by The Verge yesterday and then followed by other blogs -- all seemingly based on screenshots posted in a Chinese forum that claim the images are from the newest private "build" of the beta -- the Start button has been discarded in favor of a corner "hotspot" that when touched or clicked switches between the traditional desktop and the new Metro-style Start display.

Microsoft declined to comment on the reports, with a company spokeswoman saying, "We have no information to share at this time."

The Windows 8 Developer Preview, which Microsoft made available to the general public last September, includes a Start button that toggles between the new operating system's Metro Start page and the more familiar desktop.

Microsoft first used the Start button in Windows 95, when it reportedly paid the Rolling Stones millions for the rights to the band's song "Start Me Up" to use at the launch and in subsequent commercials. (Microsoft executives later disputed that, saying the company paid the Stones "a small fraction" of a widely-cited range of $8 million-$14 million.)

Windows 95 debuted in August 1995, and was marked by a dramatic overhaul of Windows 3.1's user interface. 

The Verge and others based their reports on unnamed sources as well as screenshots published over the weekend on a Chinese-language forum. The screenshots claimed to be of Build 8220 of the upcoming Windows 8 public beta, which evidence hints will actually be called "Consumer Preview" rather than "Beta."
Replacing the Start button, according to the reports, will be a "hot corner" at the lower left. When that invisible hotspot is touched or clicked, the interface switches from desktop to Metro, or vice versa. That location is where the Start button currently resides in the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

Microsoft has said that Windows 8 will use a "touch-first" interface where the traditional desktop is demoted to an alternate view.

According to reports, Microsoft will drop the Start button from Windows 8, and replace it with an invisible "hotspot" to toggle between the Metro-style Start page and the traditional desktop.

The beta -- or Consumer Preview -- of Windows 8 will be released late this month, Microsoft first said in December 2011. The company has yet to narrow the launch date, however.

The Windows 8 Developer Preview can still be downloaded from Microsoft's website.



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Surface computer

Surface computing is the term for the use of a specialized computer GUI in which traditional GUI elements are replaced by intuitive, everyday objects. Instead of a keyboard and mouse, the user interacts directly with a touch-sensitive screen. It has been said that this more closely replicates the familiar hands-on experience of everyday object manipulation.

Recent minor innovations in the surface computing field are attributed to Apple, Inc and to Microsoft Corporation. Apple had demonstrated surface computing interfaces intended for professional use since 2006, with no expected product release date. Microsoft unveiled plans for the Microsoft Surface in May 2007.

A surface computer is a computer that interacts with the user through the surface of an ordinary object, rather than through a monitor and keyboard.

The category was created by Microsoft with Surface (codenamed Milan), the surface computer from Microsoft which was based entirely on a Multi-Touch interface and using a coffee-table like design, and was unveiled on 30 May 2007. Users can interact with the machine by touching or dragging their fingertips and objects such as paintbrushes across the screen, or by setting real-world items tagged with special bar-code labels on top of it.

The Surface is a horizontal display on a table-like form. Somewhat similar to the iPhone, the Surface has a screen that can incorporate multiple touches and thus uses them to navigate multimedia content. Unlike the iPhone, which uses fingers' electrical properties to detect touch, the Surface utilizes a system of infrared cameras to detect input. Uploading digital files only requires each object (e.g. a Bluetooth-enabled digital camera) to be placed on the Surface. People can physically move around the picture across the screen with their hands, or even shrink or enlarge them. The first units of the Surface will be information kiosks in the Harrah's family of casinos.

Besides the microsoft-created devices, other computer firms have also entered the surface computing market. These include Mitsubishi Electric with its DiamondTouch.

Also receiving units will be T-Mobile, for comparing several cell phones side-by-side, and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, which will use Surface to service lobby customers in numerous ways.

The Surface has a 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, 2GB of memory, an off the shelf graphics card, a scratch-proof spill-proof surface, a DLP projector, and 5 infrared cameras as mentioned above. However, the expensive components required for the interface also give the Surface a price tag of nearly $10,000.


Microsoft Surface