Today at the D9 conference, Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its Windows operating system. Code-named Windows 8, in a surprise move Microsoft is incorporating touchscreen technology into the Windows UI. Windows 8 will be used across a wide range of computing devices – PCs, laptops, tablets and more. One OS for all of those devices. This runs counter to Apple’s philosophy, which has separate OS’s for its desktop / laptops (Mac OS X) and tablets / mobile phones (iOS).
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In short, Apple does not believe that touchscreen interfaces are appropriate for PCs and desktop computers. PC and laptop screens are vertical and up till now, Apple has pooh-poohed the idea of making these touchscreen. So the big question is: will Microsoft’s touchscreen for desktops and laptops actually work?
Windows 8 is inspired by the Windows Phone 7 UI, which has received mostly positive reviews this year. But it could be argued that this is forced innovation from Microsoft, that they’re only doing this to try and one-up Apple. Regardless, due to the sheer market force of Microsoft Windows, it’s going to shake up the PC and laptop (and netbook) market in a big way.
A video from Microsoft showcases the features we can expect from Windows 8.
The main features:
- "Tiles" replace icons. Every app on your computer will be represented by a tile, which has more information and functionality than a simple icon. The Windows start screen will become a "personal mosaic of tiles."
- A ‘swiping’ motion to move between applications.
- The new UI is based on web technologies, principally HTML5 (the new, more interactive version of HTML that is becoming increasingly popular) and Javascript.
- Windows 8 will run both traditional desktop apps, like Microsoft Word and Excel, and new touchscreen apps built using HTML and Javascript.
- A "snap" feature to display two apps at once.
- A "thumbs layout" for the virtual keyboard, when needed.
Microsoft states that the new Windows 8 interface has been "designed and optimized for touch," however it "works equally well with a mouse and keyboard."
John Gruber, a Mac fanatic who runs the influential Daring Fireball blog, believes that Windows 8 is "fundamentally flawed" and is trying to do too much. In a nutshell, he thinks that the complexity of features needed on a PC is fundamentally different from the simplicity needed on a tablet device.
I think the new touchscreen user interface, as seen in the Microsoft demo video, looks compelling. I can imagine myself using touch on my laptop. Less so on my desktop PC, as it’s usually further away from me – so unless I want to work on my guns, I don’t think I’d want to regularly stretch out my arms.
I also believe that swapping between a keyboard and touch will become quite natural after a while, for example using a keyboard for Excel and then swiping one’s way through web apps.
Overall I’m fairly excited by the idea of having a touchscreen UI on both my laptop and desktop, but particularly the laptop. What do you think, does Windows 8 look compelling to you?
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