Microsoft previews new Windows 8 OS

The new system seems to have moved away from a window-based layout to a more touch-friendly, tile based system which will be the same for both PCs and tablets.

Microsoft gave a sneak preview of Windows 8, a next generation operating system designed to work on both personal computers and touchscreen tablets. Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows Division, demonstrated some of the features of the operating system code named "Windows 8" at the D9 technology conference hosted by All Things Digital.

"Laptops, slates, desktops - all can run on one operating system," Sinofsky said.
"Things that people see work on an iPad, I think we can do that and then bring with it all of the benefits that you have with Windows," he said.

"We have an approach that is different but builds on the value of an operating system that sells 400 million or so units a year. Windows 8 builds upon many of the features in Microsoft's latest mobile operating system for smartphones, Windows Phone 7, including the use of touch tiles instead of icons to launch and navigate between applications," he said.

In a blog post, Julie Larson-Green, corporate vice president of Windows Experience, said Windows 8 is a "re-imagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface. "A Windows 8 based PC is really new kind of device, one that scales from touch only small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse," Larson-Green said. "Although the new user interface is designed and optimized for touch, it works equally well with a mouse and keyboard," she added. Larson-Green said Microsoft would reveal more features of Windows 8, which uses Internet Explorer 10 as a Web browser, at its developers conference in Anaheim, California, opening on September 13, 2011.

Steven Sinofsky

Windows powers most of the world's personal computers but the Redmond, Washington based software giant has been slow to enter a fast growing tablet market dominated for the moment by Apple's iPad. Many other tablet makers have opted to Google's Android software and Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said a "well-formed Windows 8 will pose serious problems to Android." The iPad was expected to remain the tablet market leader but "Microsoft will be a contender," she said. "What's more, they'll have a product that can compete across devices, and a foothold in the post-PC future."

Microsoft typically aims for 24 to 36 months between major Windows versions, suggesting a launch date for the next OS between October 2011 and October 2012. Sinofsky said Microsoft is working to integrate Internet telephone service Skype into the new system, following its agreement to purchase the company last month.