Dwight Watt - Newspaper Article #141 3/14/2012


Question: What is Windows 8?

Answer:

Windows 8 will be the newest version of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Windows 8 was released in the consumer preview edition in late February. This is what used to be called the beta version. Microsoft is still correcting errors in the code and uses feedback from people using this version to fix the last errors.

The official copy of windows 8 is expected to be released in late 2012. It should be relatively bug (error) free, but with the size and complexity of programs like Windows it is impossible to make them totally bug free.

Windows 8 is an upgrade to Windows 7. It features a totally new desktop that is called Metro that is designed for programs or applications that have been designed for Metro. Basically Metro puts a number of large colored Icons (pictures representing the programs) on your desktop and it appears similar to what people have become accustomed to seeing on their smart phones and other mobile devices. Windows 8 is designed to work on your smart phone, net computer and regular PC and appear similar on all of them. The large icons in the Metro desktop are designed for touch screens to easily touch and run programs.

You will be able to change a setting and get your traditional Windows desktop also but Microsoft intends that we will be using the Metro desktop in future. We will wait and see how the users like the Metro desktop and whether it will be successful or not.

If you want to try Windows 8 now you can go to the Microsoft website and get a Consumer Preview Edition copy. However if you get it and use it do not use on a machine that has important items on it as beta copies (which this is) are not always stable and can crash and can lose everything. You may find some things do not work with the beta version but do when regular version arrives.