Idecided a few days ago to try out  the latest Beta of Windows 8. The installation of the new OS was a breeze.  I wasn’t sure what the little fish splash screen was about but who am I to judge.  The installation took about less than 15   minutes on a Virtual Machine which I carved out 512MB of RAM.  My fingers where crossed as the OS started, which it did in record time.  I was asked to either create an MSN account or join with an existing, which I already had.  Once I logged in, the unfamiliar GUI (Graphical User Interface) appeared.  Now, I had seen pictures of it in the past, but this was my first time navigating through it.  Fortunately, it was the same interface as my Windows 7.5 phone so nothing to drastic.  I knew there had to be a way to switch from the block tiles to a more familiar Windows screen with its (Start) button on the lower left hand corner.

The Big Change!!

We all are creatures of habit whether we like it or not.  We have our routines, we know where things are and we get familiar with them like an favorite t-shirt or some old shoes.   Windows 8 certainly broke that familiarity real quick as I scuffled to find where is that familiar Desktop… its not there!   Windows broke away from what was originally introduced back with Windows 95, that somewhat familiar look on how to navigate through its desktop.  I was completely blind sided and frustrated at the same time.  As I continued to poke around, i started to find a few quick commands that enabled me to switch to something that looked that a Desktop.  I was able to find my familiar icon’s such as “My Computer, Settings, etc”.  My first thought was if I’m having this much difficulty navigating with this Interface, most Non-Tech users will hate this!  But as I continued to discover this new OS, It started to come to me what Microsoft was doing.  This OS is primary object is for the Tablet PC!

Some of us had probably read in the past that Microsoft was moving in that arena.  Some of us has even played with some pseudo tablet/laptops with Windows 7.  In my mind, I thought Windows 8 was going to be something like that.. but it isn’t.  The new interface is targeted for touch screens and tablets.  Any new application installation is welcomed to use Microsoft’s online store.

This new OS, is truly a light version of Windows 7, with faster boot time and able to run Windows 7 applications.  It even comes with a built in installation utility that will check if your older software can run on Windows 8 natively and if it can’t it will force it into some kind of emulation mode.

Windows 7 will not disappear the moment Windows 8 will be officially on the market.  Microsoft’s plan is to continue supporting Windows 7 just as it did with Windows XP users for the next several years.  This will give them enough momentum to build more cloud applications and give time to regular users to acclimate themselves to the new interface.  Your Hotmail/MSN account will become important as your application profile changes.  You will be able to logon from your Windows 8 Tablet to a Windows 8 Laptop and have access to the same cloud applications, thus eliminating a lot of installation of software on a local drive.  Just as Samsung came out with their recent Smart TV, one day Microsoft will co develop with different appliances that will help us all access our information must more simply.