Users begin with an opening screen that looks a bit like Microsoft's Bing search engine home page. The change will mark Windows' biggest visual overhaul in decades.Ġ:00 / 2:33 Ballmer's vision for Microsoft Still, the preview revealed a refined, simple, and in many ways elegant user interface that looks very similar to Microsoft's mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. It didn't work perfectly in Microsoft's demonstration, but software in this early stage of development often is bug-ridden. Windows 8 launched in 'preview mode' on Tuesday for developers to toy around with. Windows 7, which has been on the market for two years, only recently eclipsed Microsoft's decade-old Windows XP in its number of users. The changes can't come soon enough for Microsoft: Apple's ( AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad is cutting deeply into PC sales, setting off warning bells for companies like Microsoft that rely heavily on consumers buying new PCs. Windows 8 is designed to be 'touch first, but equally at home with mouse and keyboard,' said Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's Windows division president. The result is a computer that operates as a kind of hybrid PC and media tablet, with all the functions of a standard PC operating system but the user experience of a tablet. Windows 8 has a completely new visual interface, optimized for touchscreens on mobile devices like tablets.

Windows 8 tablet computer