Microsoft Build 2011

Windows 8: What You Need to Know

On Tuesday, Microsoft showed off the first tablets running Windows 8, and provided a bunch of new details about the operating system. I’ve already ogled the hardware, so now let’s look at the big takeaways from the Windows 8 software, at least from what Microsoft has disclosed so far. Here’s what you need to know:

Metro is the New

In Pictures: The First Windows 8 Tablet

Microsoft is getting serious about tablets with Windows 8, and we’ve got hard proof. Pictured above, and in the slides that follow, is the first tablet running Windows 8, built by Samsung. It’s just a prototype, and may never hit store shelves in its current form (a version of this hardware will launch as a Windows 7 tablet), but it …