Regarding Win8, for our desktop/laptop situations, I assume we're going to be able to completely disable the touch UI in favor of traditional Win desktop, is that the case?

Very GOOD JOB Windows Team :-)

I'm happy that Microsoft is going in the right direction.

Microsoft please tell me that user interface wont be on the desktop like shown in that video... End users cannot adjust to that kind of change. I work at a PC repair store and we have customers call in confused about why IE 9 has tabs on the same row as the address bar. If that confuses them imagine what this is going to do. There must be a different UI for the desktop? Please tell me I'm right??

I hope the actual release is same as the demo, otherwise it will be a huge letdown.  I understand there are still people that gets confused with IE9 address bar, but the world of computing is changing at the speed of light and yes people will adapt.  Companies that does not innovate will be lost and cant wait for all users to come along.  Look at the growth of smartphone in last 4 years, i bet these customers do carry one of the smart phones.  Now the main challenge for MS, can you release the product in time before someone else does...

In so many ways, Awesome. Very fluid.  Being able to have Windows 8 and Windows 7 apps running side-by-side is very interesting and I can imagine crucial to adoption.  The onscreen keyboard looks to be done right!  Hopefully we'll see pen support in Windows 8 apps.  Next up, "Build" Windows conference.

great job windows teams! Here are a few requests/comments on some things you did announce/didn't announce.

MORE CONSISTANCY (any time you change something [anything at all] from WP7 you should ask yourself (why is our way better. if you can back that claim up... both teams should follow down said path):

I noticed the message "alert" icons on the "lock" screen were slightly different than the ones on WP7. I don't care which ones you use but please use the same icons across both Operating Systems (although I love WP7 design language as is so I don't know how y'all could improve it).

I hope those tiles are "live" and if so I hope they have the same boucing and flipping animations that Windows Phone's tiles have. I dont know what I would do without an emoticon changing on my "Messaging" tile.

I noticed that "Music" had one tile and "Video" had another. If Windows Phone team thought "Muisc + Video" should be one hub, what is Win8 teams justification for two seperate hubs?

"Games" Hub. Please for the love of god kill the GFWL brand. You should simply have a "Games" Hub featuring "Xbox LIVE." Xbox should = Games, Music, and Video across all your platforms (Yes. Zune brand should also be buried with GFWL).

Why in WP7 is it one long grid of "tiles" that trail off the screen but in Win8 they are divided into clearly defined chunks?

Kill the "Control Panel" name and just call it "Settings" (believe it or not "Settings" is less intimidating than "Control Panel"

___________

I want to be able to "pin" everything to the "Start" screen not just apps. Contacts, a specific song or album. a web page, maps, etc. etc.

get rid of the "Start" in the background of the "Start" screen. make it plain like WP7. Feels too much like WMC with "Start" back there (and no that is not a good thing)

___________

Thanks for the consideration. Looks Great. Keep working hard. Focus on bringing the best of all corners of MS together into Windows 8 and you can't fail.

The tiles works great for the Windows Phone, however, it does not work on a computer. Web pages are a poor interface design for applications. I disliked tabs and I wish that they would just go away. As a matter of fact, I turn them off, always. It looks like the design team is listening to the idiots that want the Windows Phone interface on our noteboks and desktops. They need to stop listening to people that know nothing about design.

@bigjim01 your classic windows is still there. no need to cry. in fact it appears that if you don't ever want to run the Start Screen you won't have to.

PS whats with insulting people?

Im already dreaming about having only 3 computing devices. My Windows tablet with HDMI out and BT mouse and keyboard on my desk (with classic Windows when I need to be productive) but disconnect and take it with me runnig the "Start Screen" for computing on the go (when my phone isnt enough). My Windows Phone (which I will always have with me on the go). My Xbox 360 (for media focused computing).

Will we have the option to add a background to the Start screen? As trivial a feature as that might be to most people, to me it's a big part of the user experience. If any significant amount of time using Windows 8 will be spent on this Start screen, then using this new UI  will be very unpleasant because I find those flat color backgrounds distracting.

For years I used a Windows Mobile PDA and I waited a long time  for what eventually became Windows Phone 7. I had no interest in any other mobile platform but as soon as WP7 was announced and it became clear that users would not even get the option to add a background to the Home screen I switched to Android and I haven't looked back. That small bit of personalization goes a long way in making a device comfortable to use for me.

Again, I understand how trivial this must be to other users and I don't claim to speak for anyone other than myself but we don't even have the option to add a background or, at the very least, disable the new UI as Ds2600 suggests, then I'm sticking with with Windows 7 or switching to Mac.

What happens to Silverlight ,XNA & WPF ? Will  it be possible to port Windows phone apps to Windows 8 with little modification ?

GREAT WORK!!MS and Windows team. The new Windows OS looks really great and i love the new UI.

will native windows application like windows live and office will get a touch UI makover?

today was a very disappointing day. I had so many hopes for windows 8. Now windows 8 is just a skin on top the regular windows 7 (aero). :(

Unfortunately, their is only one other relevant consumer os and it looks like windows 8 will be my last microsoft os.

I'm with others when they say that there has to be a way to log in directly to the Windows Desktop if i'm on a Desktop PC or Notebook. I would prefer to have "New Windows"-Apps launch optionally in maximized Windows instead of having to switch to the Touch UI to use them.

Also the question of what will become of Silverlight and WPF in New Windows. They already are designed for a navigation paradigm and with Code Behind are a lot less of a mess than JavaScript and HTML5.

I think that the idea of having a ‘dual’ desktop is actually excellent design. I don't quite understand why some commenters (not here - most of the 'tech' blogs readers' comments (Ars Technica seems to have some of the dumbest)) can't see why this is such a key advantage over the operation of, say, IOS/MacOS X. It will help  to overcome the corporate/enterprise resistance to the adoption of a 'new' interface, as the 'old' one wil still be available - pretty important, given the ubiquity of Windows/Office in so many enterprise environments. Also it means that you're not restricted to either touch-friendly apps OR keyboard/mouse-style apps. So, I could switch from web-browsing with the touch interface, and then open up Photoshop or Office and link up a keyboard for content creation - pretty much the definition of win-win, I'd say. The alternative (which may well come with time) would be the requirement that all current Windows applications get re-written to fit the new interface - good luck with selling that to anyone - especially enterprise users.

I do have two questions though – firstly, to use the full desktop-style OS would seem to require higher hardware requirements than just a touch-friendly one. How will this situation be overcome? What might it do to battery life?

Secondly, I am very worried about the non-mention of Silverlight as a development platform - there only talk about HTML, CSS and Javascript. Why is that an issue? Because Windows Phone 7, the other Microsoft touch-based operating system, doesn't support writing apps in anything but Silverlight! So, unless this changes, when Windows 8 is released, Microsoft will have two touch based operating systems, each running apps on platforms that are completely incompatible. Have I missed something? Internal MS wars?

Take a look at the Build Windows conference webiite. This is a one-off conference to talk about the future of development on the Windows platform. Now try and find even a single mention of Silverlight, WPF, or in fact any .NET based technology on there. Not a major announcement, or API details, but just a mention.

On a different note why don't you allow openID sign-in to the Windows Blog, like the Office Blog? Can we get a little consistency here please?

I'm really not sure what to think on this one. Seems like you just slapped a nice WP7 UI over the existing shell. But maybe you're reworking the whole thing. But if that's true, you're dumbing it down too much. Guess I'll just wait and see.

@ StevieBallz

it's not a skin on top of the standard aero, it's the replacement for the start menu (remember that the start menu displays all programs installed in windows) and that's what they did (full detail about this one is not yet given by MS). switching between the new UI and the standard UI is i think a practical move to use both native windows built softwares with the "new apps" that windows will bring inside windows 8 which leads to an idea that windows will have it's own marketplace of apps (maybe the windows apps marketplace will be merged with the windows phone 7 marketplace). the build is not yet finished so just give it a chance, expected release date is far too long to have a final verdict about it. just keep watched.

I hope you guys are not considering defaulting to the new shell for non-touch devices. Imagine the confusion when someone buys a new PC . For slates it's definetly the way forward for traditional PCs the old shell is so much better

The tile UI looks great for touch devices, but am still willing to see more for the desktop UI and what it can bring for  desktop PCs.

Demo was outstanding and exactly what Microsoft needs to get ahead of the very large crowd of growing IOS and Android devices.   If the Windows 8 release performs as well or better than what I see in the demo, then this will be the multi-platform OS that sets the standard!  

Keep up the great work everyone, and thank you very much for the very open way you are keeping us users in the loop.  

Look forward to the beta release!!!

Looks like you guys are trying some interesting things. I'll have to give it a whirl as a user and as a developer before I'm comfortable giving it a proper review, but please please PLEASE make sure you handle multiple monitor situations. I see there's a lot of focus on touch computing here and that's great, but I still need to license third party software to get an extra task bar or have controls to move windows between monitors and multi-monitor is becoming a lot more common these days. If you can make sure the multi-headed environment is just as slick as single I will sing your praises, especially if you can differentiate functionality for TVs vs workspaces. Also, myself and many I know have a monitor rotated for more vertical real-estate and I think it would be extra handy to be able to snap to the bottom and top of the screen as well as the sides.

After seeing the Windows 8 video, I can only ask..  Are you all mental?  This is great for a tablet, but a desktop PC with this UI?  What are you thinking?  Please tell me I can disable all this tablet like touch screen nonsense and use a interface better suited to mouse and keyboard.  I use a 30" Eizo high end monitor, what use is this interface for me?  No high end screens are touch sensitive, and even they were I wouldn't want my greasy fingers smeared across a £2000

Even if it WAS a touch sensitive screen, having to reach across my desk to operate my UI would make my arm ache in minutes!  

Please..  tell me this is a joke.

If you're serious, then bye bye Windows..  hello Apple.

The idea of two completely different UIs just isn't intuitive to me and a complete mess for normal PCs.

My idea: I'd have thought that they'd have just made the traditional desktop have a "touch mode" that would activate as soon as you touched the touch-screen. This "touch mode" would merely increase the size of UI elements (with animation) to make them more touch-friendly. Making a mouse input would then revert you back to normal again.

Looks like another Windows ME/Vista to me for normal PCs (ie. PCs that are actually PRACTICAL and don't require you to clean greasy smudges off your screen every 5 minutes).

Microsoft I have a question..  Why Not Make a Windows laptop?  Like Apple has an official laptop for their operating system its called Macbook :P..     Windows laptop would be nice.

Please be sure to offer customizable keyboards for W8!  I like the fact that the row of numbers is on the top row of the TIP (Tablet/Text Input Panel) on my HP Slate!  This is very important from a productivity standpoint at my office as I like using Windows and prefer this *feature* that the other tablets do *not* offer!

Microsoft, please support the Kinect for this new interface.

Like some of the feedback post. I also hope the Start screen can be customized. I like Metro and tiles feel alright for WP7 or phones, with small screen estate.

I hope the tiles are transparent. Their contents can remain. Like the welcome screen, whereby our wallpaper take the center stage, information is subtly present, in harmony.

I understand some Windows Users do fill their desktop space with icon. However some of us will never clutter our PC desktop. Even my gadgets (max 4) are in translucent mode. There are no folders and no icon (beside the Recycle bin). The Wallpaper is take the center stage. Maybe I hope to keep it neat to start work.

Please do consider to make those start tiles optional in desktop mode or 'melt' with the wallpaper.

It maybe alright to put it in slate mode, since one might need quick glance of infor on the move. When users are in desktop mode, our body is at rest, it will be nicer, to keep things neat before we start working away in virtual space.

Thanks for reading. Cheers.

I would love to see your Avatar be an option for your profile picture.  Instead of a PIC it would be your Live Avatar.

+1 to the comment about making your own hardware. Xbox and Zune are both very good bits of kit (albeit software broken by geographic boundaries). You guys can make a W8 tablet for sure, and I'd be all over it.

Anyway, big fan of the UI. I'll be getting a W8 tablet for sure.. not certain about upgrading the 5 machines in my house (non touch devices) to the OS yet. I'd like to see more about how a "traditional" setup handles the UI. Page Up/Page Down to scroll side to side seems.. poorly thought through.

Brilliant...

cool...,

amazing...,

awesome...,

coolness...

Above are the few small user feedbacks on my blogs about the "video 1".

And personally i really like the concept of titled start screen...and HTML5 + JS support of for same is really appreciated

Loved Windows 8 concept. The idea to have Tradicional Windows and touch bases on the same device is nice. However  it's not something cool for user that want to be "cool" The new computer "users" don't care too much about the sofware. They want to have a brand to be cool. This really matter to them. it's like to buy some brand clothes to be cool. User needs to wish that.  Why Microsoft don't have a proprietary Hardware and Software like XBOX ???? I have a lot of friends that even don't know that XBOX is made by Microsoft. They just want XBOX.....  Keep the Windows on the way that is going. Why do you guys do not release a "new"  Windows tablet using proprietary hardware using a diferent name. with colors.  Why XBOX is so sucessfull ???  May be it's because has prprietary hardware, software and Services all toguether.   Besides that I think another issue will come. Corporate users will wait for migration to new Windows 8 because they don't see any value to migrate considering that  Windows 8 bring only consumer features.. You guys got another issue.

Paul Thurrot ( I'm sure you guys know who he is) said that the very fact that Windows 8 has stirred such an amout of speculation and talk goes to show the early success that Microsoft is already enjoying. Had it been.. stale, no commotion, no excitement.. I probalbly would have lamented Win8. It truly will change everything like Redmond says.

I'm not sure if you guys heard that Intel was claiming that Microsoft's Windows 8 will not be backwards compatible since, Intel's argument goes, will run on ARM instead of Intel. Microsoft said those statements were "misleading"... wow! that is pretty strong language. I wonder if the so called Wintel monopoly has ended and and "ARM-soft" was started. If there is one guy that I give all the credit ... it is Steven Sinofsky! He is a super energetic and productive version of Bill Gates. I know Sinofsky and his boys can pull Windows 8 off!!! How excting! Windows 8 Tablets will be more abundant than iPads, they will be running the same architecture, and thanks to partners like Acer and others, the Windows 8 Tablet will shoot the iPad down in look and feel.

I would say the most interesting and powerful Microsoft female executive is Julie-Larson Green. She and Sinofsky work like a well-oiled machine. Both have the same goals, the will to reach those goals, and the leadership to command their subordinates. ..Windows 8: TEAM Sinofsky-Green!!!

Windows 8 without WPF as an option to create Apps is just another Chrome OS. Really bad idea to copy Google on this. HTML5 is not nearly close to what you can do in WPF or Silverlight.

I'm really sad with no announcemnt for a new WPF based Development SDK on Windows 8 Metro UI.

IT SUCKS!!!!!

I can't wait for windows 8! But I do have a question: why shouldn't MS build their own Windows 8 tablet? There is no reason they shouldn't. Manufactures like samsung, LG, HP, etc., all build laptops, and tablets using competitors OS's. Does this show loyalty to MS alone? No. I would love to see signature series unit built by MS. The units would probably run better and be built with an Ultra-Slim form factor that would attract more consumer purchases and compete with the iPad & Galaxy Tab. It's time for MS to take more control and stop letting the manufacturers make so many design choices. Let's face it, lots of people buy simpy for visual appeal. I, on the other hand would like a tablet that combines appeal, work, and play. MS seems to be combining all into a single unit that would port across all form factors: Laptop, Desktop, Slate, WP7, & Xbox360........They are hitting the nail on the head in my book.

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