Windows 8 is a radical new version of Windows which has just been released into a free to download consumer preview version. You may remember my previous article about the developer preview where I said that Windows 8 needs a lot of work to get it optimised for regular PCs as well as touch screen devices. After a bit of time playing around with the new version, I think that Microsoft has almost achieved this goal although there are a few minor problems which make some processes a lot slower than they should be.

The idea behind Windows 8 is to unify all of Microsoft's products - PCs, tablets, mobile phones and XBox. They will share an OS which is more or less the same between devices and all of your settings should be synced between the devices meaning you can move from one to the other and continue where you left off. In theory this idea sounds pretty cool but in practice you realise that this basically means that the OS has to be optimised for use with many different input methods and be just as easy to use no matter what device you choose.

One of my biggest complaints in my previous article was that the Metro interface removes easy multitasking and makes keyboard and mouse input much more difficult. In order to rectify this, there are a few new things which have been added to the metro interface. By hovering over the top right hand corner with your mouse, a bar comes down which shows you all of your open applications. This includes both Metro apps and those you have on the desktop view:

This not only makes multitasking easy like the traditional Windows on desktop but also makes the desktop view more incorporated into metro to prevent them seeming like two different worlds. As well as this, tablet users will get super easy multitasking which is not that common on a mobile OS. Another new feature is charms. By hovering over the top left corner a menu pops up which has quick access things like search, settings, devices and other things you may need. This is a lot better incorporated than the previous "start menu" on the developer preview. Accessing the control panel is now really easy, changing volume and brightness is also made a lot easier.

These new gestures are simple, yet quite powerful and they feel natural using both your finger and the mouse which is something very important for Microsoft's concept. Of course, not everything is as good as it should be in this consumer preview. Multi-monitor support is still a bit weird. When extending the display across 2 monitors, one shows the desktop and the other shows Metro. There is no option to stretch Metro across two monitors. On top of this, by opening an app on the desktop mode, instead of it opening on the monitor with desktop mode, it will minimise your metro app and open it on the wrong monitor. This is really counter-intuitive when trying to do multiple things at once and it basically takes a lot longer than it should to set up apps running across both interfaces so you can view them both.

Another new feature is the evolution of Aero Snap where you can put two Metro apps running side-by-side albeit one app runs semi minimised on the side while the other takes up most of the screen. This allows you to run Metro and desktop apps side-by-side on one monitor. This feature seems like it would be useful on multiple monitors but again, you can't seem to do this easily.

The idea behind Windows 8 seems pretty cool when you think about it but there are a few shortcomings right now which will hopefully be fixed before the full version comes out.

Related posts:

1. Windows 8 Developer Preview: What I Don’t Like By now we've all had a chance to play around...
2. Windows 8 Developer Preview Pictures So the new developer build of Windows looks pretty cool....
3. Windows Developer Preview Apps Here is a quick overview of some of the apps...

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New Xbox 360

Microsoft will release a smaller, redesigned Xbox 360 console in Australia on July 1 featuring built-in wireless networking support and an internal, removable 250GB hard drive.

Don Mattrick, Xbox Senior Vice President, says the new console is "sleeker, smaller and whisper-quiet". It will cost $449 in Australia.

Microsoft's unveiled the redesigned machine at its press conference today at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, the first official event of this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). E3 is the biggest annual event on the world's gaming calendar.

The 90-minute presentation was evenly split between hardcore games designed to keep existing Xbox 360 fans glued to their consoles, and new motion-sensing games for the Kinect add-on, which Microsoft hopes can attract a wider audience to their system.

Kinect, which was previously known by the code-name Project Natal, will launch on November 4 in the US and before Christmas in Australia. Around 15 titles will be available at launch.

“For lots of people, that controller is a barrier,” says Microsoft creative director Kudo Tsunoda. “We set out to make a new control paradigm where anybody can get in and play, without having to read the instructions or learn a complicated set of controls.”

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In my opinion, the Kinect seems like a way to cash in on Nintendo's success with the Wii. The Wii is extremely popular with whole families and younger kids and this is different target is what i think led to its success. For this reason both microsoft and Sony are trying to copycat Ninendo's moves to stay in the competition. But, Microsoft's new console looks absolutely awesome.

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COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Sony Corp will launch a slimmer, cheaper version of its PlayStation 3 game console next month, hoping to jumpstart sales and win back market share from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.

Starting in September, the latest, less bulky version of the PS3 will be rolled out at $299 in the United States, 299 euros ($422.7) in Europe and 29,980 yen ($315.6) in Japan, the company said on Tuesday.

That represents a major price cut from the existing PS3 models, which runs between $399 to $499 and have proven less popular than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

"The main thing is that there is a significant price cut," said Ed Barton, analyst at Screen Digest. "We have argued since the beginning that there must be a substantial cut and this is a positive development."

Sony's new PS3 comes with a 120 gigabyte hard disk, but consumes 34 percent less power than the original model and is 32 percent smaller, Sony Computer Entertainment Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said at the Gamescom video game trade show in Cologne, Germany.

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