Microsoft previews Windows 8

Microsoft pulled back the curtain on new Windows computer operating software designed to power not only personal computers nevertheless also rivals to Apple's iPad.

Windows division president Steven Sinofsky stressed touchscreen tablets on Tuesday as he boasted of the diverse types of hardware that Windows 8 will run afterwards its official release.

Sinofsky was part of a Microsoft team that provided an in-depth look at Windows 8 to software developers at a BUILD conference the US innovation giant is holding this week in southern California.

"We re-imagined Windows," Sinofsky said. "From the chipset to the user experience, Windows 8 brings a new range of capabilities without compromise."

Windows 8 was crafted to allow all kinds of computers to be controlled with taps or swipes of screens, gestures familiar to owners of smartphones or tablet computers.

The operating system

The operating system was as well designed to let separate applications work at the same time and to synchronize files across various Windows 8 devices.

"Windows 8 works beautifully across a spectrum of devices, from 10-inch tablets and laptops to all-in-ones with 27-inch high-definition screens," Microsoft said.

Windows 8 was shaping up to be Microsoft's answer to criticism that it had ceded the tablet computer space to Google's Android platform and Apple, which has dominated a market it ignited with the release of the iPad.

"It is a blend, a hybrid, that attempts to give a person the advantages of an iPad and the advantages of a Macbook Air in a single device," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

Microsoft was so eager to get independent developers working on applications for Windows 8 that it gave tablet computer prototypes to each of the 5,000 BUILD attendees so they could begin tinkering with the software.

The week-long gathering will be crammed with sessions at which developers will be tutored in nuances of building applications for Windows 8.

Redesign from the ground up

"Windows 8 is a redesign from the ground up," he continued during at the conference. "We are in effect hearing tablet size and up, all the way into supersized desktop computers."

Software savants unable to attend BUILD will be able to download developer copies of Windows 8 at dev.windows.com beginning at 0300 GMT on Wednesday.

Windows 8 has to hit several more milestones previously a polished version will be released to hardware makers for installation in devices heading for market.

The help of feedback from developers

Windows 8 will be refined with the help of feedback from developers. Microsoft declined to predict when a final version would be ready for release.

Windows 8 was as well crafted to complement Live computer programs that Microsoft offers as online services as part of a strengthening trend toward using applications in the Internet "cloud." About 542 million people each month sign into Windows Live services, the array of which includes Hotmail email, SkyDrive file storage, and Xbox gaming, according to Microsoft.

"I think Apple is going to have to respond to this and will probably be more out-of-the-box than the makers of Windows hardware," Enderle said.