WIndows 8 Developer Preview

Today, at the Microsoft BUILD conference, Microsoft released the developer preview of the next version of Windows, codenamed Windows 8. The reason it's a codename is, because Microsoft are thinking about dropping the name of WIndows. I doubt that'll happen, they have too much brand recognition with that name, so much so they called their phone, WIndows Phone.

The most startling development in Windows 8 is the use of the WIndows Phone Metro UI tiles on the desktop. Basically, they've turned the Start Menu into a full screen page with living tiles. These tiles don't close either. They're running when the Metro UI is at the front, but when you close it, these apps get suspended. Much like a phone or OS X Lion.


Also, Microsoft use the term "apps" to describe these tile-based applications and use the term "applications" to mean desktop ones. Way to pollute terms, but then again, Microsoft have a history of doing stupid stuff like this such as .NET Server.

The new Start Menu is just another nod from Microsoft that they have no clue how to organize your applications and this is their current take on how to do it. Microsoft basically gave up on the Start Menu with Vista, by adding a search bar, so you don't have to find those pesky programs, just search for them. I use a third party tool on Windows called Launchy and it does a better job and more suited to quick operations, ie. the OS doesn't get in the way of what you're doing.

Think about it, you just want to launch an application, so you hit the Start Button to reveal the fullscreen Metro UI, which is now fetching weather data, etc for the various tiles. I just wanted to launch an application, but you've now also fired off a bunch of web based apps that are going to chew through unnecessary bandwidth. It's a developer preview, I get it, so I'll try not to be too harsh.

Anyway, the Developer Preview is free for anyone to download, so head over to Microsoft and see what all the fuss is.