It’s a huge radical rethinking of Windows —
and one that’s beautiful, logical and simple. In essence, it brings the attractive, useful concept of Start-screen tiles, currently available on Windows Phone 7 phones, to laptops, desktop PC’s and tablets.
I’ve been using Windows 8 for about a week on a prototype Samsung tablet. And I have got to tell you, I’m excited.
For two reasons. First, because Windows 8 works fluidly and briskly on touch screens; it’s a natural fit. And second, it attains that success through a design that’s all Microsoft’s own. This business of the tiles is not at all what Apple designed for iOS, or that Google copied in Android.
Here’s how I described the design (called Metro) when I reviewed Windows Phone 7. All of it applies to Windows 8:
Windows Phone 7.5 is gorgeous, classy, satisfying, fast and coherent. The design is intelligent, clean and uncluttered. Never in a million years would you guess that it came from the same company that cooked up the bloated spaghetti that is Windows and Office.
Most impressively, Windows Phone 7 is not a feeble-minded copycat. Microsoft came up with completely fresh metaphors that generally steer clear of the iPhone/Android design (grid-spaced icons scrolling across Home pages).
... In Windows 8, those tiles show you what’s coming in from Facebook and Twitter. They identify the song that’s currently playing. They show you the current weather. All without leaving this Start-screen dashboard.
... These swipes take about one minute to learn. On a tablet, I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is.
It’s evident that Microsoft has sweated over every decision — where things are, how prominent they are, how easy they are to access. (If you have the time, watch the videos to see all of this in action.)
