BUILD: Windows 8 "Reimagines Windows from the Chipset to the User Experience"

Microsoft’s Steve Sinofsky kicked off the Microsoft BUILD conference in Anaheim, CA this morning by giving a demonstration of Windows 8, which Sinofsky says will "re-imagine Windows from the chipset to the [user] experience."

Sinofsky, Microsoft’s President of the Windows and Windows Live, demonstrated Windows 8 running on a tablet device powered by an ARM processor, an architectural change which will allow Windows 8 to run on a wider array of tablets and other mobile devices powered by ARM processors.

Responding to concerns from some critics that the touch features and other elements of Windows 8 will result in bloated code and sluggish performance, Sinofsky demonstrated a build of Windows 8 running on a 3-year-old Lenovo netbook computer running an Atom processor and with only 1GB of RAM.

Sinofsky also talked about Microsoft’s ongoing improvements to tools and services aimed at helping developers create Windows applications, mentioning that the new WinRT APIs (pictured below) will allow developers to use an enhanced array of development languages and frameworks – such as HTML 5 and JavaScript -- to build Windows applications. These new tools and APIs will also allow Windows 8 apps “to seamlessly run across hardware running x86 and ARM processors” Sinofsky said.

Windows 8 platform and tools diagram showing the new WinRT APIs

We'll be providing ongoing coverage of Microsoft BUILD this week, including news and commentary from myself, Paul Thurrott, Sean Deuby, Michael Otey, so remember to bookmark the Windows IT Pro BUILD coverage page and Paul Thurrott's BUILD landing page.