6/3/2011 6:00:00 AMBy: Tony  Bradley

…Microsoft held its first major unveiling of what’s in  store with Windows 8 at the D9 conference this week. Windows 8 looks bold.  It looks slick. It looks impressively innovative. But, it also looks like it  will be a major battle to convince business users to embrace it.

To be honest, I think that Windows  8 looks awesome. Despite my repeated pleas to  Microsoft to abandon the concept of Windows on  a tablet, and instead adapt Windows Phone 7, Windows 8 looks like it will  be a very capable tablet platform. Perhaps that could be because Windows 8  looks more like Windows  Phone 7, or the Zune interface than it does the Windows 7 I know and love.

Related story – Windows 8  expected to come in many flavours

One of the selling points of Windows 8 is that it actually  uses fewer resources than Windows 7 and will not  require new hardware. But, I beg to differ.

It  may not require new hardware to run and be functional, but in order to take  advantage of the touchscreen features that seem to define the Windows 8  interface, new hardware will be required. Without new hardware that embraces  the unique qualities of Windows 8, it seems like a less compelling move.

Full Story from ITBusiness.ca: http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=62763

Microsoft called it a “reimagining” of Windows  that will run on all types of devices from small, touch-sensitive screens to  traditional large-screen PCs, and that can be used with or without a keyboard  and mouse.

The new interface  is a significant departure from the traditional Windows desktop that Microsoft  has relied on for decades.The start screen now has several large, colored application  icons that look similar to those on Microsoft’s new Windows  Phone 7 OS. Tapping an icon with a finger launches the application and  allows it to take up the entire screen, without the usual Windows menus, system  tray and scroll bars around the edges of the screen.

Windows Explorer and the Windows desktop will continue to  be available, and Microsoft says the OS will be compatible with current Windows  7 applications and peripherals.

Microsoft has also said that Windows 8 — which it  continued to refer to on Thursday as a “code name” — will run on ARM-based  processors from the likes of Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, as well as on the  x86 platform from Intel and AMD, as it does today. ARM chips are used in most of today’s smartphones and tablets.

 

Full Story from ITBusiness.ca: http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=62746


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