GLOBAL, SEPTEMBER 16, 2011: With mobile ad spend translating to billions of dollars in revenue around the world, it’s easy to see why software developers are scurrying to the next big thing. And as the race gets tighter in an effort to compete with the phenomenal Apple iPad2 (and its lightweight iOS), computer giant Microsoft seems to have closed in with its latest innovation, Windows 8.
Faster, prettier, and more flexible than its predecessors, Windows 8 promises to be the software of choice among tablet users by going the opposite direction as its rival Apple. Thinking that each gadget serves specific purposes, Apple continues to beef up its desktop software but opts to arm their tablets with lighter-app-dependent operating systems that appeal to more basic functions. Microsoft, on the other hand, will try to incorporate PC-like functionality to the world’s most popular tablets with drastic overhauls of the iconic Windows system.
Aside from using an improved version of the well-received Metro Interface, Windows 8 maximizes tablet performance by allowing users to view tabbed windows of websites and apps at the same time. For instance, a user can watch videos, engage in social media, and even work on an Excel file simultaneously. The key is the auto-tabbing and self-adjusting interface, a huge leap from the limited Apple tablet iOS which forces users to exit apps in order to use a new one.
"The opportunity for building these applications is Windows. These applications will run on all new Windows 8 PCs, desktop, laptop, Windows tablets, small, big screens, all-in-ones–every Windows PC, whether it’s a new PC or an upgrade from Windows 7," Windows president Steven Sinofsky told the 5,000 developers gathered for his keynote address at the conference on Tuesday. "That could be 400 million people when this product launches. That’s a market opportunity for all of you."
It is also for this same reason that Microsoft is working with hardware makers to ensure that Windows 8 can run on ARM chips. The ARM system-on-a-chip architecture is crucial to make devices themselves thinner and lighter. Slim and attractive tablets with a PC-capacity operating system will then become a reality once Microsoft has fine-tuned these details. No announcements have been made on when Windows 8 will be out, but Microsoft urges both PC and tablet users to be on the lookout.
