We knew it was only a matter of time, yet it’s a huge story nevertheless.
It looks like someone with access to a very early build of Windows 8 has gone to the trouble of taking a video of the operating system for the world to see.
It doesn’t look a whole lot different than Windows 7 at this point, but one of the features already incorporated into the next-gen OS is a bigger focus on the “Ribbon,” a top-of-the-window interface that originated in Microsoft Office and has received such positive feedback that the company wants to incorporate it throughout the PC experience.
Microsoft released early builds of Windows 8 to its most trusted insider partners, but even that is a big audience, so leaks like this are inevitable. Screenshots of the operating system began surfacing a few weeks ago.
There’s other speculation that Windows 8 will be tablet-optimized, meaning manufacturers will easily be able to smack the software on a tablet without any, or at least very little, reconfiguration. This is especially important in light of recent sales figures showing PC shipments are down but tablet shipments are skyrocketing.
Whether you’re interested in PCs or tablets, here’s a sneak peak at Windows 8:
