14 DAY TRIAL // In case there were any doubts, the next major iteration of Windows is still very much a work in progress. This applies to all aspects of the operating system, including, or especially, the core user experience. In mid-September 2011 at BUILD, Microsoft released Windows Developer Preview, an early development milestone of Windows 8, a pre-beta Build.
According to Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division, the focus of Windows 8 Developer Preview Milestone 3 (M3) is application development, including building Metro apps.
In this regard, Sinofsky underlined in the latest post on the ‘Building Windows 8’ blog that the core user experience of the platform is still under development.
To me, this means that users are still far from seeing the result of the natural user interface and graphical user interface marriage in Windows 8, as well as its full impact on user experience.
The reimagining of Windows introduced Metro, a multifaceted piece of innovation as the operating system was tailored to next generation form factors.
But at the same time, this is not just about the new Metro UI to go along with the Metro platform and apps in Windows 8. It’s about much more, especially since the reimagining of Windows runs deeper than just Metro and touches the traditional desktop as well.
At BUILD, the software giant showed only a glimpse of how the desktop also evolved, but I suspect that the company will have more to unveil to customers.
In the meantime, early adopters should keep in mind that Windows 8 Build 8102 M3 is still a Developer Preview designed to spark app building, and not to test UX.
This being said, I do believe that with Microsoft pushing Windows 8 toward the Beta development stage, there’s no time like the present to provide feedback to the Windows team, submit bugs and suggestions, any sort of input that would end up bettering the final version of this operating system.
Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download here.