While it’s not technically a part of Mobile World Congress 2012, Microsoft chose to co-locate its Consumer Preview of Windows 8 with the world’s largest mobile conference. Even though we’ve played with Windows 8 before, we just had to go to see what’s new in this version. Check out the photos below for an idea of what it was like.
I believe the timing was quite deliberate – not only did you have the majority of the press already in Barcelona, Windows 8 is as much about tablets as it is for desktops. Microsoft is promising that it will be a “no compromise experience” for Windows 8: You’ll be able to have the power and functionality that you expect from a desktop or laptop but you’ll also get mobility and strong touch controls.
We were also very interested to see multiple Windows 8 tablets running on ARM chips. This included the quad-core Tegra 3 and chipsets from TI, Intel and Qualcomm. While these tablets look to be quite powerful and offer a “real” computing experience, I’m still wondering if manufacturers will be able to produce these at prices that are competitive or lower than the iPad.
Oh well, we’re digging through Windows 8 consumer preview, so enjoy these photos for now.
