Microsoft Windows 8 public beta confirmed for February 2012
Want to get your hands on Microsoft’s next operating system. You’ll be able to sooner than you think. Microsoft has conformed that a public beta release of Windows 8 will arrive in February 2012.
The new operating system has yet to be publicly explored, but already it’s looking suitably swish, and just the sort of interface prepped for tablets.
New Xbox 360 dashboard ready to go live
Windows 8 will get its official release sometime in 2012, so February will be the first time the general public will get to play around with Microsoft’s colourful new OS, which should translate well to being navigated by touch.
Thanks to Nokia cosying up to Microsoft, we’ve been hearing lots about Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. Well, Windows 8 will in some ways be very similar. Like the phone OS, the WIndows 8 experience is made up of tiles dedicated to a particular function, and customisable like a widget. Each tile is live, always presenting up to the minute data. A calendar tile for example will display your closest appointments.
Video game fans will also note similarities with the latest Microsoft Xbox 360 dashboard, which has just gone live, making it easier to navigate by hand using Microsoft Kinect. It all points to a new operating system set to possibly deliver some of the best tablet experiences yet. We look forward to seeing what Microsoft comes up with in future.
User comments (3)
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CaptainCuthill07 December 2011
Its good look for the xbox if your using kinect but its just going to be a pain on windows. I feel Microsoft is trying to get a bite out Apples apple :P
Report as inappropriateMike_D07 December 2011
Some of the videos showing the features are making it look like its aimed at tablet and touch panel users? While it all looks very nice with its apple like swiping, Social Media integration and simple navigation, I have concerns about windows desktop being dumbed down. I hope that these features are not at the expense of proper performance for gaming and development tasks. Power hungry predecessors prove that sales can be badly effected by playing to the "causal user".
Report as inappropriateLJG07 December 2011
For anybody that is a little concerned how this will work on a PC it also has the 'traditional' windows (7) interface and actually uses less system resources whilst providing greater functionality... this is definately a step in the right direction by Microsoft, and designing this with tablets and ARM in mind aswell as PCs is what allowed them to do it.
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