Latest version of flagship operating system announced at World Mobile Congress, featuring a completely new interface, imitating the style of the current Windows Phone software
THE NEXT generation of Microsoft’s operating system took a step closer with the news that the consumer preview of Windows 8 is now available.
Microsoft announced the availability of the preview, which allows for testing of the software prior to its official release, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It also demoed a number of Windows 8 hardware running on x86- and ARM-based devices.
The latest version comes months after the developer preview, which was downloaded more than 3 million times, was unveiled late last year.
Windows 8 is designed to be used across a number of different devices, including tablets, phones and PCs. It uses a new tile based interface known as “Metro”.
“With Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” said Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft.
“The Windows 8 Consumer Preview brings a no-compromises approach to using your PC.”
Microsoft says the latest preview has been improved since the developer release, including the touch, keyboard and mouse interface, performance and reliability improvements.
It also brings with it the Windows Store beta, which offers different Metro style apps from third-party developers and Microsoft. The apps can be trialled for free during the preview.
A new preview of Internet Explorer 10 designed for Windows 8 and additional cloud services have also been added. The preview is available from preview.windows.com.
“It’s an even better Windows than Windows 7,” said Sinofsky, as he demonstrated the new system.
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 ”, said Mr Sinofsky, showing off Windows 8 on a tablet and an ultra-thin laptop.
Sinofsky said people from 70 countries had already downloaded the software yesterday 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.
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, in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Microsoft said the latest version unveiled has better performance, quality and reliability than the version it released to developers.
