TechnesstivityWindows 8 Is The Future
We’ve seen a few videos of Windows 8 in action in the last months, it boots in less than 10 seconds, has Microsoft’s Metro UI, shows live updates on the screen and bla bla bla. That’s not even scratching the surface. I just got back from a live stream of Microsoft’s BUILD Developer Conference at the Microsoft Nigeria office and I am wowed!
The OS
Windows 8 is a wide improvement from any of the other Windows OSes. The Live Tile design lets you switch to apps swiftly. Minimise, restore and close in a twinkle of an eye. Windows 7 finally sold more copies than Windows XP, with a number of 450 Million activated devices.
Microsoft says it’ll make it easy for Windows 7 users by allowing them upgrade to Windows 8. Also, Windows 7 apps will be able to run on Windows 8 so there’s no problem of losing your applications and files like we had with the switch from Vista to 7.
It’s very very fast. Without running any other apps, Windows 8 takes only 281 MB of RAM compared to Windows 7, which took over 400 MB or RAM on a 1GB RAM device.
Metro UI – Live Tiles
Windows 8 lock screen allows you pick a background image. It also shows email and other application notifications.
Like we’ve seen and blogged before, Windows 8 uses the Live Tile UI from Windows Phone 7. Apps can be grouped, deleted and moved around the Start Screen. Each app has its own settings so you can do things like increase/reduce volume from within the app itself. You don’t have to minimise and head to the desktop. Oh, all apps are running full screen like apps on smartphones and tablets. There’s also a universal search bar that lets you search your entire hard drive, apps or the web. Apps that have a search function like tweetorama will also search their service for keywords.
Internet Explorer 10
Steven Sinofsky says “It’s a completely chrome-free browsing experience”. Internet Explorer 10 has no tabs like in Chrome or Firefox. Tabs are minimized into small windows that can be accessed at the top of the Internet Explorer bar when its minized a little. Every tab acts as its own window.
For Developers
The event was intended for developers to show the capabilities of Windows 8 and how easy it is to create apps for the OS. As soon as Javascript and HTML codes showed up on the screen, my dad walked out. He couldn’t understand what was happening. 
Windows 8 allows developers build with whatever code they’re used to. The Windows Kernel Services supports a wide range of code from HTML5/CSS/Javascript to Visual Basic, C#, C, XAML and C++. If you’ve written an app that works on web browsers, you don’t have to rewrite the entire thing again that wastes time and money. All you have to do is bring your code into Visual Basic 11[It's a new version], add about 5 lines of code and run it. Presto! It’s a Windows 8 app.
Making your app have the Metro UI is even easier. Open the same code in the new and improved Blend. Add a few CSS codes and your app will resemble native Metro apps. Visual Basic also has a store function which opens up the Windows 8 App store and lets you upload your package to the store for verification.
The App Store is also on Metro. Developers can select prices for their apps, number of days for trials. You can also see what stage in the verification process your app is. If there are problems with your app, Microsoft will offer you advice on what to do to fix the hitches at the different stages.
You don’t have to worry about device drivers and hardware support. All Windows 8 apps will work across all devices that support windows 8. You also have the final decision to make your app work on touch screens or only on mouse and keyboard based devices.
Apps will work with each other without their knowledge. You no longer have to add APIs to your apps for facebook and twitter support. For example, selecting text in Internet Explorer 10 will allow you share your text with all installed applications. Also, if you wish to add an image to a tweet, the photo search will find all photos on all photo based applications you have installed. So you can add photos straight from photoshop to twitter for example.
Hardware Support
Microsoft has partnered with a wide range of hardware manufacturers from Samsung, HP, Toshiba, Intel, ARM and a host of others. The new laptops Windows 8 will be running on are slimmer than Apple’s MacBook. What has happened is that all the hard drives, 3G antennas, USB ports and other peripherals have been integrated into one motherboard so the devices are thinner. What makes them seem fat is the fact that a battery is attached. Windows 8 will run on ARM-based chipsets as well as x86 devices. 32-bit and 64-bit apps from Windows 7 will also run on Windows 8.
Windows 8 supports multiple monitors for those of us who do a lot of work. You can split your screen into 3 or 4 places and each of them will run on its on Window. You can drag apps across each of them when you need to copy or move stuff. Windows 8 supports screens as small as 10-inches up to large monitors.
Windows Live and Skydrive
Every Windows 8 device comes with its own Skydrive account. Skydrive lets you upload and share your photos, music, videos and other files in the cloud. You no longer need a hotmail or windows live account to use skydrive. For Windows Live users however, it’ll allow you share files with your friends on the service. 542 Million people currently use SkyDrive monthly. Skydrive is also embedded into the Mail app on Windows 8. All email attachments automatically save into SkyDrive. The Mail app supports all email services.
For Windows Live users, you can access your photos via the Photos app while you check up on your friends via the People app. The People app pulls in their updates from Facebook and LinkedIn. Assuming your friends have connected their Windows Live Accounts to those services.
What else?
Microsoft gave out Windows 8 tablets to developers present at the conference in California so they can begin to test the OS and create apps before it launches. Windows 8′s pre-release will also be available for download at 3:00AM GMT at http://dev.windows.com. There are still 4 stages to go before it becomes Generally Available to the public.
Why is Windows 8 The Future?
Microsoft has enabled Windows 8 run on a very wide range of devices. From laptops to desktops to tablets to smartphones. If you read the developer section of this post or watched the live stream, you’ve seen how easy it is to develop for Windows 8. Windows 8 also accepts different types of inputs – pens, keyboards, touchscreens, mice and even voice.
This isn’t like what other OS makers are doing. If you’re developing on Android, it’s quite different than if you’re developing for Chrome OS or Mac OSX and iOS. Microsoft has made it easy to program once and have your applications run across devices so you don’t have to bother about hardware.
Your thoughts
What do you think about this upgrade? Is Microsoft about to murder all other OSes or what? Leave us a comment
Wow! This is amazing!! I need to get my hands on that!