Could Windows 8 Be The OS We’re Looking For?

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During that two-hour keynote, a number of Microsoft executives tromped on stage to demonstrate some of Windows 8’s until-then-unseen capabilities. These included picture password, which involves tapping parts of an image to access the system, and the Windows 8 app store, which will list win32 apps in addition to the “Metro” apps that are designed to play well with the operating system’s touch-centric mode. The storefront looks altogether different from the app store for Windows Phone, although it likewise emphasises games and other categories designed to appeal to consumers.

Sinofsky and company offered BUILD attendees high-end swag, in the form of a Samsung-built tablet running a developer preview of Windows 8. The 11.6-inch device features SDK (software development kit) apps, a “recovery environment,” a dock to connect with a keyboard or dual monitor, a 64GB SSD hard drive, 4GB of RAM and one year’s worth of AT&T 3G connectivity. It’s powered by an Intel chipset and includes a microSD port.

Robust security

Despite the BUILD focus on tablets, Sinofsky devoted a substantial chunk of his keynote to showing how Windows 8 will appeal to the IT pros and consumers paranoid about security. Windows 8 will feature a number of robust technologies, notably Windows Defender, with additional capabilities.

At one point, an executive plugged a USB with a rootkit virus into the port of a tablet running Windows 8, and the device failed to boot up and compromise the system. That’s just one aspect of the digital armor Microsoft is building for the platform.

Sinofsky also made a point to flip between the desktop and tablet modes. At this relatively early stage, the desktop environment’s windows and taskbar look blockier than Windows 7’s Aero aesthetic, but whether this is anything close to the final Windows 8 “look” remains to be seen. Microsoft has revamped the task manager with a heads-up display and a control panel with granular controls for power users.

Windows 8 also continues the lessons learned from Windows Vista, whose aggressive alerts and pop-ups sparked a firestorm of user complaints. With the upcoming operating system, the alerts (at least, the alerts shown at BUILD) are subtle, with small text positioned near the bottom of a particular screen.

There obviously remains a lot to be revealed. Over the coming weeks and months, trust that Microsoft will continue to push the value proposition of Windows 8, arguing to the world that technology has evolved enough to require a new operating system with an expanded list of capabilities.