Microsoft's reimagining of Windows is nearly done. The Windows 8
Release Preview, now available for download, is the last test version
before the final build which will go to Microsoft's hardware partners,
on a date expected in "about 2 months", according to Windows chief
Steven Sinofsky.
This is a remarkable release, and represents
Microsoft's effort to escape the prison it has created for itself in 27
years of Windows (Windows 1.0 appeared in November 1985). Windows is the
world's most popular operating system on PCs and laptops, but the buzz
in today's computing landscape is elsewhere, in mobile and in tablets –
mainly Apple's iPad – which offer users a better experience.
The
core operating system is locked down and therefore more secure; apps
install with a tap from a download store, rather than with complex setup
routines; the battery lasts all day; the device itself is lightweight,
portable and shareable, in contrast to bulky laptops with flaps for
screens.
Windows 8 is Microsoft's answer. The company has taken
its existing Windows operating system, with all its strengths and all
its problems, and parked it in a box it now calls Desktop. Next, it has
created a new touch-friendly, mobile, secure, operating system complete
with its own app store.
Microsoft has carefully avoided giving
this a name, preferring that we should just think of it a Windows, but
the new platform is called the Windows Runtime and the design style
Metro.
Metro is not, on the whole, something which Microsoft's
existing customers want. Windows 7 succeeded because it was
unequivocally better than Windows Vista: faster, more reliable, and with
useful innovations like its improved taskbar from which you can launch
applications.
Metro by contrast is new and unfamiliar, and
delivers little obvious benefit when installed on a desktop or laptop
with keyboard and mouse but no touch capability. Put Windows 8 on a
slate though, and it starts to make sense and come to life.
Even
on a legacy PC, Windows 8 improves markedly once you learn the basics of
navigation. Leaving aside Metro, Windows 8 benefits from three years of
engineering improvements since Windows 7 in 2009, resulting in a
faster, smoother experience.
Nevertheless, the bifurcation of
Windows comes at a cost. Desktops apps generally have no knowledge of
Metro apps and vice versa. This is confusing, particularly with Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), which exists in both Metro and Desktop versions.
The
two versions do not share bookmarks (favourites) or cookies, so you can
sign into a site such as Amazon on the Metro side, then open it on the
Desktop side and find you are not signed in. It is also easy to lose a
web page, or to open it twice by mistake.
Late Apple visionary co-founder Steve Jobs, who created iconic gadgets like iPhones, iPods and Mac computers, was also considering creating an iCar, an official of the tech giant has revealed. 
