Microsoft’s Windows operating system has not really changed much in terms of its user interface since Windows 95, but that is about to change with Windows 8. Microsoft’s radical new operating system will feature the same Metro user interface as its Windows Phone platform, and it will be geared towards tablets more than home PCs. So one has to ask, “Will Windows 8 completely change the world of computing as we know it?”
Windows re-imagined
On September 12, 2011, Microsoft’s current CEO Steve Ballmer introduced the world to the company’s latest version of Windows, and trust me, it is nothing like the Windows you are used to.
Windows 8 has a completely redesigned user interface which has been designed to take advantage of the emerging tablet sector. Windows 8 will use the same gorgeous Metro design that Windows Phone 7 uses.
Metro provides users with a fully interactive desktop with live tiles that show real-time information, instead of a blank screen with program icons like current and previous versions of the OS. Everything you need to know is displayed right on the desktop without even needing to open a program. Windows Phone users have been enjoying this for a while now, and soon, millions will experience it through Windows 8.
When looking at the graphical user interface, there is no doubt that Windows 8 has been designed for touch interaction, so you have to wonder if the days of current desktop and laptop computers are coming to an end.
Is this the end for Desktops and Laptops?
Steve Ballmer told journalists gathered at the unveiling that Windows 8 will be just as user friendly with a mouse and keyboard as it will be with touch, but it is obvious that Microsoft is trying to change the personal computer landscape.
Windows 8 is a full blown computer operating system, unlike Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. The new OS will be able to do everything that current versions of Windows can do, and it will be able to do them faster and smarter.
In a world where all data will soon live in the cloud, the need for physical media is coming to an end. Tablets running Windows 8 will not need CD/DVD drives, nor will they need a mouse and keyboard. Everything will be done digitally in the near future, and tablets are really starting to make cloud-based storage the new standard.
All data, music, movies, programs, and games the end user could ever want will be delivered via 4G or LTE cell networks and Wi-Fi connections, and all typing and input will be completed via touch. More powerful processors such as the yet to be released quad-core Kal-El from Nvidia, faster RAM, falling prices, and solid state drives will ensure that new tablets are just as powerful as their laptop and desktop counterparts.
The more you look at it, the more you realize that the need for big bulky desktops and eight pound laptops is diminishing.
Tablets are here to stay
A short while ago, tablets were seen as nothing more than a fad, but that perception is quickly changing. The iPad and various Android tablets have shown that consumers demand for information on the go is huge.
Tablet sales have far exceeded everyone’s expectations, even though they are not really replacements for current personal computers. With Windows 8 powered tablets, the tablet market will be unstoppable.
Pretty soon everyone will be carrying a tablet, not just for media consumption and mobile gaming, but for media creation, and a full blown PC experience that can sit in the palm of your hands.
The end of laptop and desktop computing is coming, and I am sure that Microsoft intends dominate a market that it has struggled in previously. Tablet computing is the future, and with Windows 8, Microsoft will see that Tablet PCs dominate both the tablet market, and the PC market.
Sources:
Microsoft reimagines Windows, presents Windows 8 preview