Introduction
MicrosoftWindows8wasintroducedin2012,anditbroughtalonganewlookandfeeltocomputing.Itisanoperatingsystemthatwasdesignedtobeusedondesktopcomputers,laptops,andeventablets.Also,unlikeitspredecessors,Windows8wascreatedtobeusedwithtouch-capabledevices,aswellastraditionalinputmethods.Inthisarticle,wewilltakeacloserlookatthefeaturesofWindows8andwhatmakesitsounique.
TheNewInterface
OneofthemostsignificantchangesinWindows8wastheuserinterface.ItintroducedtheModernUI,whichwasacompletedeparturefromtheclassicWindowsdesktopinterfacethatusershadbecomeaccustomedto.TheModernUIincludedlivetiles,whichweredynamic,interactivepanelsthatdisplayedallsortsofinformation,suchasweatherupdates,newsarticles,andsocialmediafeeds.UserscouldalsopintheirfavoriteappsandprogramstotheStartscreen,makingiteasiertoaccesstheirmostfrequentlyusedapplications.
TheAppStore
AnothersignificantfeatureofWindows8wastheintroductionoftheappstore.ItalloweduserstodownloadandinstallapplicationsdirectlyfromMicrosoft'scentralrepository.TheseappswerecreatedtotakeadvantageofWindows8'stouch-optimizedinterfaceandcouldbeusedonbothdesktopandtabletdevices.Someofthemostpopularcategoriesofappsincludedproductivitytools,games,andsocialnetworkingapps.
PerformanceandSecurity
Windows8alsoimprovedperformanceandsecurity.ItwasdesignedtobootupmuchfasterthanpreviousversionsofWindows,anditusedfewersystemresources,makingitmoreefficient.Windows8alsointroducedMicrosoft'sSecureBootfeature,whichensuredthatonlytrustedsoftwareandoperatingsystemswereallowedtostartupthedevice.Additionally,MicrosoftintroducedWindowsDefender,anantivirusprogramthatwasbuiltintoWindows8,furtherenhancingthesystem'ssecurity.
Conclusion
Windows8wasarevolutionaryoperatingsystemthatbroughtafreshnewlookandfeeltotheworldofcomputing.Itstouch-optimizedinterfaceandappstorealloweduserstouseawiderrangeofdevices,includingtablets,anditsenhancedperformanceandsecuritymadeitacompellingchoiceforbothpersonalandprofessionaluse.Whileitmaynothavebeenperfect,Windows8pavedthewayforthenextgenerationofWindowsoperatingsystemsandlaidthegroundworkforthetouchscreen-drivencomputingworldweliveintoday.
