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Microsoft aims to kill the icon with Windows 8

Microsoft aims to kill the icon with Windows 8

By:  Rafael Ruffolo  On: 13 Sep 2011 For: ComputerWorld Canada Creator

The new “touch first” interface will become Microsoft’s flagship platform for the smallest tablet devices all the way up to the biggest server environments. Find out all the details about Microsoft’s next Windows release

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – If there was ever any doubt that Microsoft Corp.’s next Windows release was going to be a tablet-focused OS, those opinions were shattered on Tuesday.

The Redmond, Wash. giant, which kicked off its BUILD developer conference with a full preview of Windows 8, has designed every major feature on the new OS with touch screens in mind. A huge change related to this shift to touch is a visual one, as the entire look and feel of Windows Phone 7 has been ported over to the desktop and tablet OS.

Windows 8’s new touch-centric overlay is unavoidable and will become the default “start” screen for its users. The traditional “file and folder” desktop interface is still accessible, but is being referred to as “just another app”

“Icons are yesterday’s way of representing apps,” said Jensen Harris, director of program management for the Windows User Experience.

The new “Metro-styled” start screen is filled with customizable “live tiles,” which can be clicked to launch apps or viewed at a glance like a series of real-time widgets. For example, a calendar tile might display your next appointment, while launching the tile will open up the full calendar app.



Within the new start screen UI, apps fill the entire screen to ensure they are the focal point of the experience. While using a full screen app, users can swipe their fingers from left to right to cycle through other apps running in the background.

“Every single pixel from the top left to the bottom right is the app,” said Jensen. “For years Windows was about the chrome. But now we’ve said we’re humble. We’re at the service of the app.”
 
Microsoft is encouraging app developers to create these “Metro” style apps whenever possible to limit the amount of times users are taken back to the traditional desktop view.

Still, in the early developer preview of the OS, users will find themselves being sent back to the classic Windows 7 desktop view. The “My Computer,” advanced “Control Panel” and “Task Manager” apps all launch in their traditional desktop form.

Microsoft also admits that apps requiring the precision of a mouse such as Adobe’s Photoshop suite will continue to live on in the classic desktop UI.

Despite this, Microsoft’s goal with Windows 8 is to build a system completely driven by a web of Metro style apps working together and constantly updated and synced in the cloud.

Any Metro app in the system can share and receive data from any other app, Jensen said. For example, users can send pictures from one photo app to another, with all those changes automatically linked to your Windows Live log-in.

“We want you to be able to walk up to a PC, type your ID and get your stuff,” said Chris Jones, corporate vice-president of Windows Live.

For developers, Microsoft is providing Visual Studio 11 Express, which includes features such as code auto-complete and debugging support. In addition to C#, C++, XAML or other .Net development languages, the OS can also be coded using Web development platform such as HTML5 and JavaScript.

“Making APIs available through JavaScript, we are bringing Web technologies into the client,” said Ales Holecek, a distinguished engineer on the Windows development team.

To hammer home its commitment to developers, Microsoft is also launching a Windows Store that will feature both desktop and mobile apps. After submitting an app to the store, developers will be able to follow along and get progress updates as it works its way through Microsoft’s certification process.

Other major new features in the operating system include the ability to booth within seconds, full support of USB 3.0 and the inclusion of Hyper-V for virtual desktop functionality.

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Tags: Windows 8, Microsoft
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Rafael Ruffolo Rafael Ruffolo was a senior writer for ComputerWorld Canada from 2006 to 2011. He was the winner of a Kenneth R. Wilson award for business journalism in 2009.

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