First Look: A Sneak Peek at Microsoft's New Windows 8

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Check it out- the new desktop screen for Windows 8, a brand new interface for tablets. At first glance, it is reminiscent of Windows Live Phone Tiles. Some sources suggest that Windows 8 will be a mix of Windows 7, Xbox 360, Microsoft Office, and Windows Phone 7 with some Kinect-like navigation features. So what exactly does Windows 8 have to offer?

First of all, the launch of Windows 8 appears to be an attempt by Windows to mix the best of its products into one computing system. Cellphone features, tablets, the cloud and even gaming have had influence on the development of the Windows 8 experience. The Windows 8 is one OS that will run on 2 versions: regular computers and tablets, scaling from touch-only small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse.
The UI

All apps can be viewed in this tile-based UI, which even has a “thumbs” mode (a clear influence of mobile phones). The animations and multitasking are neat and smooth: swiping right and left reveals the taskbar and the apps page respectively. Snapping allows you to have 2 apps next to each other simultaneously. The main app takes up most of the screen while the secondary app stays docked, allowing you to swap easily and rapidly by swiping to the left to scroll through background applications.
In addition, the context-aware Ribbon interface, which caused a stir in the 2010 Microsoft Office suite, is apparently making its way into Windows 8's Explorer Windows, replacing the drop-down menus and toolbar. This, however, is probably an improvement, making many more of Window's hidden features visibly discoverable. The Ribbon's big buttons are a perfect addition to a touchscreen Windows 8 tablet.


The Cloud

The Explorer Ribbon holds two buttons: Sync and Web Sharing. Microsoft has been angling to push a lot of its services into the cloud, and these buttons show that functionality may be digging deeper into the core OS. The guess is that the Sync button will work like Windows Live Mesh, which synchs program settings across PCs. Web Sharing is likely to be similar to Windows Live SkyDrive, a cloud storage feature that provides 25GB absolutely free.
The Xbox Influence


There is no denying that Kinect hackers have greatly improved the Xbox gaming experience with their DIY tweaks. A talented hacker even made Google's April Fool's joke Gmail Motion come true and used his body to write emails. Encompassing this technology, the leaked Windows 8 blueprints have shown that is that Microsoft plans on using proximity detection and facial recognition to startup and unlock PCs.

In addition, last May, an internal video for Microsoft's "Windows Gaming eXperience" team was discovered, showing the company’s aim to integrate Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to the Internet as a whole, especially social gaming. The platform integration of the future could incorporate Kinect technology to interact with online buddies, play PC games, and much more. Amazingly, Windows 8 requires fewer resources than its predecessor. What’s more, while Windows 7 was available as 32 bits or 64 bits, Windows 8 runs on a 128 bit system, representing a great leap in performance.

A demo video of Windows 8 can be seen below.

Windows 8 is slated for an August 2012 release. Stay tuned.