There are all manner of images, screenshots and leaked details coming out now about Windows 8 and we already know a lot about what Microsoft want this product to be. We know it’s going to be smaller, quicker and more agile than even Windows 7 was able to be. It’s going to have to run effectively and without lag on lowly 1GHz ARM processors, though admittedly Microsoft might specify a dual-core minimum. We also know that it’ll install in around 10 minutes flat on a standard PC.

So if you’re thinking of buying a new PC, the question to ask yourself now is should you really bother?

Windows Vista caused no end of problems when it was launched back in 2006 and forced many people who were using it to upgrade to better and faster hardware just to get it to work. With Windows 7 Microsoft fixed all the problems and gave us an operating system that would work happily, though a little slowly on a 1.6GHz Atom processor.

We can see now that with Windows 8 not only is the bar being lowered ever further when it comes to performance, but that the OS will be giving us more.

Traditionally if you wanted an operating system that would run efficiently on older hardware you had only one choice, GNU/Linux, but it’s now clear that this is a market that Microsoft are going after, and going after agressively.

It’s not that Microsoft want to attack Linux, that’s probably the last thing on their minds. It’s clear that low-power processing is where the computing market is going and for most every day computing tasks these devices are usually perfectly adequate. Microsoft have simply seen which way the wind is blowing and, in an uncharacteristic display of flexibility and innovation, have decided to jump aboard the bandwagon.

So where does this leave everyone with a PC at home? Should you indeed think about buying a new PC at all when the times comes to replace yours?

There are different options for this. The first is that if you are a PC gamer or someone who uses demanding software such as CAD, video editing or even the latest Office suite, some programs in which, such as Access, can be taxing on a PC, the answer remains a resolute yes as the latest games will still demand Core i5 overclocked power to run effectively. If you’re not a gamer though then you could easily find that Windows 8 is even faster and more responsive on your existing computer hardware than Windows 7 (though we have yet to see any actual performance benchmarks).

The third and most compelling reason is that the whole tablet market is evolving still and by the time Windows 8 launches in all its tablet glory we’ll be looking at a whole broad range of innovative devices, some with one screen, some with two, some like a book, laptop, netbook or tablet, some with keyboards, flip down, fold out, and some without, that there will undoubtedly be a new way to interact with our computers that suits us! Frankly, this one has been a long time coming and it’s about damn time.

When Windows 8 launches the world will be more than used to tapping away at a keyboard that’s connected to a large box in a corner of the room, or even in it’s own room, that requires it’s own piece of furniture and that, frankly, is becoming more and more loathed for this very reason year on year.

If you’re planning on buying yourself a new PC, or even a new laptop in the coming year my advice would be to hold fire and wait. Before the end of this year we’ll see what Microsoft will really have to offer us with the next version of Windows and they’re certain to demonstrate the OS running on a wide variety of form factors. There are exciting times ahead and it’s now just not the right year to buy a new PC.

Yesterday I wrote about how Microsoft now have an opportunity to bring all of their platforms and services together to form a seamless connectedness that would not only make life considerably simpler for millions of people, but that could also turn around the company’s fortunes.

The Zune software, on the PC and the Zune HD has been praised for some time now and, to the surprise of a great many people including myself, the new Zune inspired software on Windows Phone 7 Series has caused quite a stir.

But if Microsoft were to extend this further what could a new interface for Windows 8 look like?

I’ve spent just a short while this morning making up the mock-up (below) as one example of how such a new interface could work on the desktop as a replacement for the Start Menu we’ve all come to love or hate.

This is only a sample, obviously there would have to be much more to the interface than this, but as an example of what the future could hold?  Well, what do you think about the future of the Windows interface?

Click on the image to view it full-size.

Everybody’s got a wish list for what they want Windows to be.  As a technical beta-tester for Microsoft and the author of the Windows 7 Power Users Guide, I’ve had a great insight over the last few years into what Windows could have been, having tested features that were later dropped from betas, and I’ve read a great deal of private feedback from other technical testers over the years.

In this series I hope to cover everything I believe Windows 8 will need to be, and what features it should have to truly compete against Google Chrome OS on the netbook and PC, and with iPhone OS and Android on the tablet.

One click install

Microsoft have gone to great lengths over the last few years to make all operations in Windows simpler and quicker to use.  Cutting down the amount and volume of mouse clicks necessary to perform tasks.

This approach has been moderately successful so far and connecting to a wi-fi network in Windows 7 is a great example of how the one-click approach can work.

One single-click solution that Windows is lacking though has been highlighted by Apple with their app store.  For one reason or another the Windows installer still takes users through too many steps to install software.

This simple solution, that Apple and Google have used now to great effect has been around on Linux for years, and is widely regarded as one of that OSes finest features.

Obviously with some packages there are options, Microsoft Office for example is a large package and Google Earth will optionally install the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer.  Having an installer package that will enable a quick single-click install is what Windows needs if it’s to compete in the same consumer market as Android and Apple-powered devices in the home.

Only by making installing programs as easy in Windows as it is with other operating systems can Microsoft be seen by their millions of users to be offering an experience that’s as good and easy to use.

Finger Friendly

The tablet is reborn.  Apple have now launched their much anticipated iPad and this can only mean that another ageing way to interact with technology will be invigorated and soon, everybody will be jumping on the bandwagon.

The introduction of multi-touch computing with Windows 7 was a good start, but sadly Windows 7 is still not an OS you can use simply in that manner.  The ageing interface of drop-down menus and the window control buttons will either have to be redeveloped, redesigned or dropped completely.

Some people would say that this could pose problems for running legacy software on the PC, but the introduction of XP Mode in Windows 7 went some way towards rectifying this.  Microsoft need to announce that all new PCs from the end of 2012 need to have hardware support for virtual machines, and this gives the hardware manufacturers plenty of time to make sure their processor and motherboard ranges support it.

iPhone OS and Android, while nowhere near as advanced or as flexible, are pioneering completely touchable interfaces.  If Microsoft are serious about pushing multi-touch forwards, they need to address the main interface structure of Windows urgently.

Cheap

One of the biggest barriers to owning Windows is the price.  Fortunately with Office 2010 Microsoft are trying out a new click-to-install format, where you can start with a free version of the Office suite with limited functionality that you can expand by making micro-payments for the extra features you need.

Should this work, and there’s no reason why it won’t, this model could be ported to Windows and by the time Windows 8 launches in 2012 we could be looking at the first free version of Windows.

I’ll deal with additional features in the next part of this series.

Who could have imagined over even the last ten years that the PC, a business device, would be welcomed with such open arms into the home.  That huge sections of our living rooms and spare bedrooms would be devoted to huge beige, then black, boxes.  Windows 7 isn’t even out of the door yet, but the tech community is already eagerly looking forward to its replcement.

Windows 8 is due in beta 2011 for release in 2012.  This will mark 30 years of the home computer revolution of the ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro.  Three whole decades since Sir Clive Sinclair launched the ZX81 to such huge acclaim.  His previous home computer, the ZX80, had failed to make inroads in the home, but the £99 ZX81 was remarkable for its time.  It was the first home computer to be widely available on the high street, and the first computer that households could actually afford, with an Apple II or IBM PC costing around £2,500.

I remember fondly getting my first ZX81 and I consider myself very privileged to have been born when I was, and to have been growing up through the most exciting part of the home computer revolution.

I had initially wanted a colouring book but my parents had seen the ‘educational value’ of the Sinclair machine and were determined I was getting one.  I remember vividly the trip to WH Smith that resulted in a very bemused few days for me while I tried to come to terms with what this thing was.  Once I had it though I was hooked!

Back then you joined a camp and developed a loyalty that seemed to take on a life of its own.  If you were serious about computing you were in one of three.  Either Sinclair, Commodore or Acorn (BBC).  The Sinclair fans were the the fun people who enjoyed life on a shoestring and, at least publicly, considered the machine’s foibles endearing, even if we were all privately fuming that it took 45 minutes to load a game of Horace Goes Skiing.

The Commodore people had more money and, thus, a proper keyboard.  They clearly had the better machine but the Sinclair crowd would never let them win that argument.  The BBC crowd were the ones you knew would end up doing advanced degrees at University.  That was the way it was back then.

I was firmly in the Sinclair camp.  After my ZX81 I owned a Speccy, a Speccy+2 and a Sinclair QL.  I am one of a great many people who consider the ZX Spectrum to be one of the finest computers ever created.  It brought about the home computer revolution pretty much on its own and, consequently, was copied right around the globe.

It wasn’t until Amstrad came in with more of a business focus did things begin to change.  The Spectrum and Commodore 64 had given birth to the first generation of dedicated games consoles and that left the market open for something more serious.  Back then everybody was still talking about the paperless office, a concept we’d never really trust these days, and Amstrad brought to market products to help small businesses and individuals become more productive at home and at work.  They lit the way and showed the likes of Dell and Compaq how to produce mass-market PCs for under £500.  It was at this time that Compaq created a compatible clone BIOS for the IBM PC.  From that moment on the home computer revolution was over!

It had lasted only five short years but they were a truly exciting time.

So just how the hell does my personal nostalgia trip fit in with Windows 8 I hear you ask?  It’s actually Windows XP that started the ball rolling with this but Windows Vista and Windows 7 have both grasped the bull by both horns and Windows 8 will, I think, complete the picture.

This is the excitement we feel about how it works and operates and how we interact with the next version of Windows.  After the first PC clones began to appear we became bogged down with performance.  The important thing was the next development in technology and not the operating system itself.  Windows 95 got tongues wagging, but all too quickly the excitement died down to be replaced again by talk of the next big hardware revolution.  Finally we have OS interfaces that excite and engage people on a daily basis and that can actually maintain that level of enthusiasm.  The fact that modern hardware has for a few years now provided all that we need has obviously helped this conversation to flourish.

This revolution really started, nay exploded, in 1982 with the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro and Commodore 64 changing the face of childhood forever.  The clones came flooding in, everyone with their own ideas.  Innovation and excitement were the order of the day and you couldn’t go anywhere or speak to anyone without the home computing revolution coming into the conversation.

It makes me remember spending Saturday mornings in my local high street electronics shops.  There were always large crowds of kids gathered around the computers.  We’d compare the different interfaces and the way the machines operated.  Each one brought something exciting to the mix but it was never the hardware that excited us.  Okay so the keyboard had a thing or two to contribute.  You either loved or hated the squidgy keys of the Speccy and most people hated the blister’inducing keyboard of the Oric 1, even though the machine itself really impressed.  Generally though it was how we interacted with the machines that made them successful or reduced their developers to tears when the receivers were called in.

Back then this was essential because, in order to own one of these machines, you had to program it yourself.  The user interface as everything.  This is where the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro excelled.  All three had interfaces that people could actually use.

You have to have been born during a few short years in the late 1960s and early 1970s to appreciate the magic of that time.  It was truly, the most exciting period of my childhood, and something that no child born before or since will ever be able to share.

This is something we take for granted now on modern PCs.  But it’s still not always that way.  Windows 7 may offer great leaps forward in how we interact with our PCs, but any trained eye will be able to point out all the places it fails.

I can only hope, and look forward, to the way we interact with Windows 8, whatever it is, causing enough excitement to commemorate this 30th anniversary appropriately.