Microsoft gave its hardware partners a preview of the next version of Windows, code-named "Windows 8," at the 2011 Computex show. The preview, given by Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem, was designed to help the company's hardware partners build devices that take advantage of the new features "Windows 8" has to offer. As expected, the new version of Windows is optimized for newer touch-based hardware, such as tablets, while still maintaining the mouse, trackpad, and keyboard function interfaces most people are familiar with today.

Appearing similar in design to Microsoft's Windows Phone, "Windows 8" also has the ability to work across both x86 and ARM-based architectures, allowing the new Windows to run on a number of different devices ranging from desktop to mobile units.

“Our aim with ‘Windows 8’ is to make the user experience a natural extension of the device, from the time you turn on your PC through how you interact with the applications you know and love,” Angiulo said. “This represents a fundamental shift in Windows design that we haven’t attempted since the days of Windows 95, presenting huge opportunities for our hardware partners to innovate with new PC designs.”

Microsoft also announced that developers will be able to use common Web technologies, such as HTML5 and JavaScript, to create applications for the new operating system, and opened registration for a new developer conference, BUILD, that will take place September 13th – 16th, 2011, in Anaheim, California. For more information and to register for BUILD, visit: www.buildwindows.com