Re: windows 8
Although Windows 8 might look and feel like an entirely new "user experience,", Microsoft is actually layering a new animation-enabled user interface (UI) on top of an only somewhat upgraded Windows 7.
The Windows 8 Start Menu is customizable through a mosaic of tiles, which differ from traditional desktop icons by letting you view live information from Windows 8 Metro style apps without actually accessing the apps.
In demoing the tile-based UI at last week's Build conference , Microsoft showed how the tile for a Windows 8 weather app is able to display the current temperature in a city -- along with projected temperatures for the next two days -- without requiring you to open up the app. A tile for Windows Live Mail will show you your latest message, while a tile for a social networking app will show you notifications. "The [Metro] apps are full-screen. They're beautiful. They're designed for touch, but of course, they work great with a mouse and keyboard as well if that's what you have. We wanted to make it really fast and fluid for you to switch between them," according to Jensen Harris, lead program manager on the Microsoft Office User Experience. Windows 8 users are also able to access Windows 7 apps. "Everything that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8," maintained Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and indows Live division, during a keynote at the Build conference. However, in order to access Windows 7 apps, you need to switch to a different built-in UI.
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