Microsoft launched Windows 8 Operating System

Microsoft Corporation on 25 October 2012 officially launched its new Windows 8 operating system for PCs and tablet computers in New York.

According to the company, Windows 8 has been redesigned "from the chipset to the experience" and now boots up in a much shorter time than its predecessor, Windows 7.

Windows 8 will be available for download to upgrade existing PCs in more than 140 markets and 37 languages. In addition to the windows 8 operating system, Microsoft also unveiled Surface tablet.
 
The tablet, named Surface, will come in two versions, one running Window RT, a 'light' version of Window 8, and a pro version running the full operating system. The tablet's cover folds out to become a keyboard.

Windows 8 Features

• The New Windows 8 provides a new graphic user interface – Modern (also called Metro) UI (suitable for phone, tablet, notebook and classic PCs). This interface is characterized by “tiles” which work as links and also as interactive widgets (RSS, weather, e-mails). Modern UI is optimized for touchscreen, but can be controlled by mouse and keyboard.

• Microsoft reworked the booting process, replacing classic BIOS with a new system called UEFI. This provides secure boot, which is protection against viruses. Although Windows 8 is lighter than Windows 7, it demands more pixels on the screen. The minimum is 1366 x 768 pixels, which affects many users of laptops that have a maximum resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.

• File Explorer, formerly called Windows Explorer, has a new ribbon bar interface. It can pause and resume a file transfer, and has an improved method to resolve conflicts when two files have the same name.