Windows 8: The Sangam of Power and Simplicity!
Sangam
(Image Source: http://sangamyatra.blogspot.com/2010/08/about-sangam.html)
The word confluence is known as sangam, in Sanskrit, the language I learned in school in India. Triveni Sangam, the confluence of three rivers: Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, takes place in the southwestern village of Uppinangadi in the town of Allahabad that is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Tamil Sangams were legendary assemblies of Tamil scholars of poets in the remote past. Sangams had power.
Lovers in India like to think of sangam as the confluence of man (the river Ganga) and woman (the river Yamuna). One of the most famous Indian movies starred Raj Kapoor, the legendary Indian actor, and was about love and it was titled Sangam. In time, Sangam became associated with a simple thing like love.
When Sangam originated, it had power. Eventually it became simple.
So what has the Computer Corner to do with sangam? Confluence! Windows 8 combines Power and Simplicity like I have never seen before in my 22 years of being a computer industry analyst! I was in AWE when I saw the superb presentation delivered by Microsoft’s Steven Sinofski at the Build Windows 2011 Conference on September 13, 2011! The 90-minute video can be viewed at this link.
Background
The Personal Computer, or "PC," from any vendor, such as Apple, HP, or other; represents power. Smartphones such as the iPhone, Android Phone, Blackberry Phone, and Windows Phone; and tablets such as the iPad, Android tablet, PlayBook tablet, and the forthcoming Windows 8 tablet represent simplicity.
Remember how much the first PC's cost? Yes, several thousand dollars! With the passage of time, the PC now costs an order of magnitude less and delivers power that is an order of magnitude more. Similarly, the mobile phone has become far more compact and powerful.
As hardware becomes more powerful, one operating system is likely to emerge, in my humble opinion, that will tap that power for both types of users, those who need power and those who need simplicity.
How Windows 8 Delivers Power and Simplicity
To accommodate power users, Windows 8 delivers the same desktop experience you now have in Windows 7. Windows 7 users will be instantly comfortable with the Desktop interface in Windows 8. To accommodate users who need simplicity, Windows 8 offers the Metro interface. You access the Metro interface by either flicking the right edge of the tablet and touching the Windows icon, or by hovering the mouse to the lower left corner pixel of the screen and clicking the Windows icon. When you boot Windows 8, it welcomes you in the Metro interface, you click the Desktop tile to switch to the classic Windows interface. I expect all computer monitors in a couple of years, by the time Windows 8 goes mainstream, to have multi-touch capability.
The Windows 8 Metro interface
So what is the Metro interface? If you’re a Windows Phone user, you will recognize its Live Tile interface—that was originally developed by Microsoft for its now defunct Zune MP3 player—instantly. In it you have access to purpose-specific simple apps, such as Stocks, Alarms, Weather, News, Tweet@rama, Piano, and hundreds more. To navigate to productivity applications from Metro, click the Desktop Live Tile.
Need a more comprehensive list of features in Windows 8? Click this link.
I have been working on a Windows 8 computers at home and work exclusively since the Developer Preview was released in mid-September and I am impressed with its stability and richness of features. In mid-October I added the Acer Iconia W500 tablet running Windows 8 to the list of computers I use daily. I now have access to my Kindle and Nook books on the same tablet; no more Nook for Barnes and Noble eBooks and no more Kindle for Amazon eBooks. I can finally get rid of the multiple eBook Readers (Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader) I own, should I want to!
Conclusion
I am convinced that Windows 8 tablets are likely to dominate the burgeoning worldwide tablet market because users demand choice and Windows 8 provides it like no other operating system: Power & Simplicity!
Wish to form your own opinion about this? Microsoft has made the Developer Preview of Windows 8 available for download to the general public. Download it from this link, spend eight weeks with it as your primary operating system and let me know whether you agree. I look forward to hearing from you.
About the Author
Ranjit has been writing on computer topics since 1987 and has authored five books on CAD (MicroStation and AutoCAD). His next book (sixth) is on success in life and business (Be-A-Teacher.com). He is the founder of RAM Corporation, a licensed Professional Engineer and the Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers National Capital Section's (asce-ncs.org) Automation Committee. He welcomes comments and feedback via email. To email the author, use the Contact Us page on this Website.