MICROSOFT HAS promised a completely new experience with Windows 8, with the operating system “reimagined” from the chipset up. The company was keen for conference attendees to get hands-on experience with the operating system, handing out Samsung tablets running Windows 8.

The machines were described as “developer preview” tablets and there is no guarantee that they will become widely available, but it gave a good idea of exactly what the operating system can do.

The first thing you notice about Windows 8 is how quickly it starts up. Microsoft demonstrated the same speed on a variety of different machines at the preview day on Monday, so it’s safe to say that the operating system will be a faster boot across the board.

The second most striking thing is the absence of the traditional desktop. Interaction with the operating system starts with the lock screen, which can be personalised for users to include, everything from the background image to gesture-based unlock codes.

With the expanse of desktop now relegated to an app, just like any other, the traditional pop-up Start menu has also been binned.

To access your applications, you now have a series of tiles, similar to Windows Phone 7. Like the phone operating system too, tiles are dynamic, which means you get information without having to open up your applications.

The preview tablet was a Samsung 11.6in tablet with a dock that provides users with ethernet, USB and HDMI, as well as a way to charge the device. It was also supplied with a keyboard, to demonstrate just how easy it is to use traditional inputs on the new operating system.

The Metro-style user interface seen on the tablet isn’t just for mobile devices. This is how Windows will look, in all its tiled glory, on every device.

If you have a touch-enabled device, you can use gestures such as swiping left to right to flick back through open applications. With a mouse, the scroll wheel does that job instead. You choose which you’d rather use, but the basics of the system remain the same regardless.

On the touch interface, you get to choose your style of input too, whether it’s a regular qwerty keyboard, a split keyboard or handwriting recognition. Unlike some handwriting recognition apps, the Windows 8 version is pretty accurate.

The Metro-style apps are more immersive than what you’re used to from Windows too, with Microsoft taking away the chrome to give apps even more screen space.

As on a PC, you can multi-task easily and flipping back through your apps is done with yet another touch gesture – swiping from left to right.

A new capability called “contracts” means that apps will be able to share content, or be used as a conduit for sharing, without the developer having to allow such sharing for each individual service or app. For the most part, this was effortless, although there were a few hiccups in testing.

Will it, as Windows claims, change everything? It’s too early to say yet, but the end result is a slick-looking operating system that is also a little less bloated than the previous versions of Windows. That can only be a positive thing.