Windows 8 Introduced by Microsoft : One OS for Laptops, Desktops, and Tablets

Microsoft Introduces Windows 8: One OS for Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets. Windows 8 is on its way, and it’ll be a departure from the Windows we know and love today. That was the message Microsoft sent Wednesday afternoon at the annual D: All Things Digital Conference, taking place near Los Angeles.

At the conference, Microsoft presented a radically redesigned Windows interface: Instead of the traditional desktop with windows, the taskbar, Start menu, and so on, Microsoft demonstrated an interface that looks reminiscent to Windows Phone 7, its smartphone operating system–complete with touch-friendly live tiles.

Microsoft also discussed features of the Windows 8 operating system at the Computex tech conference in Taiwan.

Microsoft also posted a video that shows some of the new features. Most notably, the company says that it’s designed for not only laptops and desktops, but for tablets as well (which makes sense, given its big, touch-friendly buttons and visual style). The new tile-based interface replaces the traditional Start menu, according to Microsoft.

Apps made specifically for Windows 8 will be a bit of a different beast–they’ll “use the power of HTML5, tapping into the native capabilities of Windows using standard JavaScript and HTML,” the company says. What’s interesting about Windows 8 is that it’s another step in PCs becoming more tablet-like. Apple is moving toward making Mac OS X more iPad-like with Lion’s various iOS-inspired features, although Windows 8 seems to go one step further with merging the tablet and the PC.

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