Windows 8 Hands-On Video Preview, Blindingly Fast Boot-Ups

There has been no shortage of buzz and chatter about the Windows 8 Developer Preview that Microsoft let fly during their BUILD Developer's conference this week.  What's even more interesting is that they made their new beta baby available for public download as well.  So we wasted no time in installing the pre-release software on one of our Intel Core i5-based notebooks here in the HH Lab.  We came away impressed at the current state of the new operating system, however, there is little question that Win 8 is a radical departure from previous versions of Windows.  In fact, it could be easily said that Windows 8 isn't really "Windows" at all.

You be the judge on that but to be sure, Microsoft is developing their new OS from the ground up to offer a whole lot more than some short-sighted opinions have judge it to be.  Windows Phone 7 for the desktop?  No, not in our opinion. There's little question that Microsoft is placing a monumental bet on touch interfaces in the future but even with a keyboard and mouse at the helm, it's easy to see there's a whole lot more going on under the hood of Win 8. 

And performance?  Well, just watch at least the first 30 seconds of our video walk-through of Windows 8 and see for yourself.  If boot times are any indication of Microsoft's performance targets, we think speed freaks and performance enthusiasts might be in for a nice surprise as well.  Fire up the video reel and kick back.  Then peruse the screen shot gallery below.  Of course, be sure to check out our BUILD conference preview of Windows 8 as well.  Enjoy.



Windows 8 Screen Shot Gallery - Click images for high res



Metro and The Classic Desktop



Performance Monitor, IE10 and Gallery of Memories


Paint and RSS Headlines


Control Panel


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