What windows 8 offers you

The next tidbit has had tongues wagging in tech world regarding Microsoft's new operating system Windows 8. Numerous glimpses have been revealed by Microsoft over the last few months, which created high excitement in industry.

The hype has increased the curiosity level of Windows' fans that just can't wait to catch hold of device powered by this operating system. Now, slowly the picture is becoming clearer as the Tech giant, Microsoft has disclosed another sight revealing some changes coming in the next-generation of Windows software.

Here are few things users need to know about Windows 8 which Microsoft has claimed, is a reimagining of Windows, from the chip to the interface.

New Welcome screen

The first visible change would be seen in the starting screen as the tech giant is going to replace the Windows Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps. The proposed design of the operating system is similar to the tile interface on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 mobile handset software.

Touchscreen-plus

There's been a lot of buzz about the touch interface of Windows 8, here we need to confirm that the new OS will run efficiently on a variety of hardware devices ranging from traditional PCs to laptops and tablets, using both touchscreen and mouse and keyboard commands. It will comfortably run old Windows applications. In case, the apps are not optimized for touch, it would just run them in the old interface via a keyboard and mouse.

In addition, it will allow users to ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so that they can multitask using the capabilities of Windows.

Integrates Skype and IE 10

Coping with the latest trends and changing user's requirements, Microsoft is said to be working to integrate Internet telephone service Skype into the new system, following its agreement to purchase the company last month. Windows 8 will use the latest version of its web browser, IE 10 as the chief Web browser.

System requirements

Seems, Microsoft has learnt a lesson from Windows Vista launch, whose system requirements were more than that of the older version. The newer Windows 8 will be able to run on a wide range of machines because it will have the same system requirements or lower than that of Windows 7. The optimal screen will have 16:9 aspect ratio and minimum resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels.

Reprogrammable

From the glimpses revealed, it is found that Windows 8 has used a different application programming model; basically, HTML5 and JavaScript, which are used for Web apps today.

The demo also displayed smooth transition between existing Windows programs and new Windows 8 apps. The full bunch of Windows apps would be continue to be available to users, including the Windows Explorer and Desktop, software and peripherals

To run on 'mobile' processors

Windows 8 would be the first full version of Windows capable of operating on chips made with technology using ARM Holdings. Even, Qualcomm Inc has said that it would collaborate with Microsoft for the next version of Windows for its Snapdragon family of processors.

Releasing date

The exact release date is still kept secret by Microsoft. Analysts believe that Microsoft typically aims for 24 to 36 months between major Windows versions, expecting a launch date for Windows 8 is between October 2011 and October 2012.

Major risk ever for Microsoft

The new OS would be Microsoft's biggest refresh after Windows 95 when desktop PCs were most common. This time, Microsoft is updating Windows for a consumer technology world that is obsessed with online services and touch-centric devices such as tablets and Android powered smartphones. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer termed Windows 8 as Microsoft's riskiest product ever.

However, numerous Windows 8 features are still under wraps which further raise the curiosity factor. However, Microsoft promised to reveal more features of Windows 8 soon. So, stay tuned to get more information on this.