Growing Panes

Microsofts introduction of the Windows 8 operating system, which brings a common platform to the smartphone, the tablet, the Xbox and the desktop, received a warm reception at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona earlier this year.

Wired called it actually innovative, and even cool. USA Today described it as a quick, slick and surprisingly elegant revamp of Windows. Although Peter Pachal of Mashable.com wondered if it made sense to have one operating system for these very different devices, the software was clearly attracting attention. The NextWeb blog reported that a consumer preview of Windows 8 was downloaded a million times in its first 24 hours.

The new Windows interface, called Metro, started life as the new interface of Windows Phones. It has a spare looka series of multicolored tiles on a one-color backgroundbut the rectangular or square tiles can be portals to other services. The tiles let you see real-time data from applications like email, social media and instant messaging. Have 15 emails? Your mail tile with its little envelope symbol shows the number 15.

One tile, for instance, can be for people and bring together all your social networks. Another might be store, which lets you one-stop shop for apps, music, movies and games. A tile can also represent an individual application, such as Windows Explorer, Evernote and Skype.

While they all have similar looks, each device handles the tiles in different ways: Phones and Windows 8 allow tiles to be moved, pasted or sent back to the app library. The Metro interface on Xbox looks the same but the content and order are fixed. For those who prefer the Windows 7 look, desktop consumers have the option of reverting to the old interface.

A few warnings if you test-drive Windows 8: Pay attention to the compatibility check of your software and accessories that precedes actual installation. And Windows 8 is different. Its easy to understand and fun to experiment with, but be prepared to spend some time getting into it.