Microsoft Offers a Sneak Peak at Windows 8 [Video]

Microsoft has offered a sneak peak at Windows 8 and it looks a lot like Windows Phone 7.

The operating system was shown for the first time at The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

According to All Things D, the goal with the OS is to create something that works equal well on an 8-inch tablet as on a powerful desktop attached to a large display. "It's 'no compromise' and that’s really important to us," said Windows President Steven Sinofsky.


First thing that you are going to see when you start Windows 8 is a new Start screen that features a personal mosaic of tiles. Every app on your system is represented by a tile. The tiles can live update and display information without you having to open the application itself.

Windows 8 will also support two different types of applications. One is the normal Windows application which runs in a desktop similar to Windows 7. The other is a new type of application that must be written in HTML5 and Javascript. These applications look similar to mobile apps and will fill the entire screen. Microsoft has already ported some of its applications such as Internet Explorer to this format.

Touch capabilities are being heavily integrated into Windows 8. You can swipe from the side of your display to move between applications. A feature called Snap lets you pull apps from the side of your screen and display them as a compact sidebar.

Microsoft declined to say when Windows 8 would be available but more information should be available at its developer conference in September.


Check out the video to see Windows 8 in action. Notice the tile for a Windows App Store...