Windows 8 being presented at Microsoft's Keynote during the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show.
While the knowledge of Windows 8 isn't exactly breaking news, the latest edition of Microsoft's Windows operating system for PC is closing in on its late-2012 release season. That said, the company took a good portion of its nearly four-hour keynote and press conference explaining all it can about the operating system, new ultrabook laptop computers being designed specifically for it, and the capabilities of Windows 8's "Metro" interface.
"Windows 8 is more than the next version of Windows," said CMO Tami Reller as she introduced her segment of the press conference. "It's a new way of thinking about your PC."
The company referred to the upcoming OS as "Windows re-imagined", saying it will offer a "no compromising experience."
One of the goals Microsoft looks to be trying to achieve with Windows 8 is offering as similar a user experience as possible across all of its supported platform (PC, tablet, Windows phone, and Xbox 360). Part of how the company is striving to achieve this is through its tablet-like Metro interface.
Current Xbox 360 users should find Metro to be familiar as a version of it was launched not too long ago for the video game console. The home screen, referred to as "Start" on PCs and tablets, is the starting point for Windows 8 users upon logging into the operating system. Start is a collection of streaming tiles separated into pages similar to icons found on the home screens of an iPhone or Android device.
For those wanting a more traditional user interface, Windows 8 users can switch to a more standard PC windows experience akin to that found in the current Windows 7 operating system. Should both interfaces be needed, a feature called "Snap" will allow for a split-screen between Metro and traditional Windows for what is presented as a seamless integration of the two interfaces.
While the bulk of the time was spent explaining and demonstrating Windows 8 in front of a large, live audience, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer felt it necessary to give the company's current operating system a little time in the spotlight -- pointing out that Windows 7 is the best selling operating system ever.
"[There are] five million users of Windows 7 on the planet," he said. "We're licensing about seven new copies a second."
By his calculations, that means that from the time the keynote began through to the point that it ended, roughly 25-thousand new Windows 7 users had registered their software worldwide.
And for those Windows 7 users who are concerned as to whether or not their current PC will be ready for the next Microsoft operating system once they are ready for the upgrade, Ballmer stated that all Windows 7 PCs will be ready for Windows 8 on day one.
News10/KXTV