Windows 8 preview ahead of midnight release
By: Millaine Wells
Updated: October 25, 2012
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 on Thursday, and you will be able to buy it at midnight.
It is a radical re-design of the operating system, the company hopes will compete with Apple and Google.
Local 5 asked the computer experts at Cyber Works if it worth the upgrade.
"Windows 7 had fallen behind the times and needed to be more user friendly for touch screen devices" says James Overly, Owner of Cyber Works.
Windows 8 looks nothing like the Windows you are used to. You will immediately notice there is not start button.
Instead users are greeted by an app based screen.
The Windows App Store is slim pickings compared to Apple and Android, but more are expected on the market soon.
Even if you do not have a laptop or tablet, Windows 8 is portable.
"You can actually take a flash drive, copy all your user settings, go to another computer that has Windows 8 and you'll actually be working with your desktop, with your programs and your data" explains Overly.
The desktop is not gone for good, you can switch back and forth.
"Consumers should have no fear of purchasing a computer with Windows 8. It is going to do fantastic for the general public" says Overly.
But, he cautions businesses to wait and The Green Bay School District Agrees.
"Something that is brand new, we always wait. You wait to make sure that the bugs are out of it" says Jeff Gibson, the district's Director of Technology.
Green Bay just upgraded 12,000 of its computers to Windows 7 this past summer.
The district is however looking at Windows 8 to meet state testing requirements on the horizon.
By 2016 schools have to have touch screen devices for the tests.
"That is going to force us to examine our options" says Gibson.
The new operating system also boasts a faster start up time.
A feature called "snap" allows you to divide your monitor into multiple work spaces.
You can upgrade to Windows 8 for a debut price of just under $40.
Microsoft also unveiled its new tablet Thursday called surface.
It sells for just under $500.
