(iTers News) – Much-awaited Windows 8 OS launched into the sales pitch worldwide on Oct. 26 with great fanfare. In Seoul, Korea, about 650 early-adopters started to gather together one hour before midnight on Oct 25 in a digital plaza of Chamsil Lotte World Department Store in an upscale and fashionable Gangnam district, to begin the countdown of the Oct. 26 grand launching of the Windows 8.
(Photo : Mark Young, executive vice president with Microsoft,Inc. Korea(left), and the 1st Korean Windows OS PC Buyer(right))
Mark Young, executive vice president with Microsoft Korea said, “This is very, very big day for Microsoft, and I want to thank all of you for helping us to celebrate Windows 8 birthday, today. All of you are the very first people in Korea to see this amazing PCs and tablets.”
Global PC makers are pinning their hopes for demand recovery on Widows 8 OS.
(Photo : Soo Ha Baik / Citizenship Lead / Microsoft Korea,Inc.)
Savior to PC markets
The complete re-imagined and fluid touch Windows OS highlights breakthrough changeovers in the UI –the way that people interact with machine- for the first time since graphics-oriented Windows replaced command-driven, text-based MS-DOS in early 2000s.
Dubbed as a game changer by CEO Steve Ballmer, the Windows 8 features fluid, intuitive touch UI on tablet PCs and Ultrabooks.
A well-known test-bed for novel IT gizmos, Korean early-adopters’ reception of Windows 8 OS will provide a straw in the wind to see whether the new OS will live up to the industry’s hopes that it turbo-charge PC demand.
“Windows 8 is just more than a next version of Windows. This is a new way of thinking about your PCs. This is the reason what we call Windows 8 as Windows Re-imagined,” said Soo Ha Baik, citizenship lead of citizenship team with Microsoft Korea.
Fluid touch experience
Microsoft and its PC OEM partners started to sell Windows 8 PCs for mid-night party gathers beginning from 12:01 am on Oct 26.
“I have been waiting one month for the launch of Windows 8 PCs. This is the first time that I get on the spotlights, simply because I purchase a PC. Immediately after I saw and touched Windows 8 PCs, I decided to buy one on the impulse. Yesterday was my pay day,,” said the first purchaser in Korea of the Windows 8 PC.
Other techies on the spot said that fluid-like touch feeling gave them different user experiences, allowing them to flip through on-screen pages very quickly with no tension. Windows Store is another allure, as it listed up several thousand of eye-catching apps, including 3D graphics–oriented ‘Daum Table’, music-store ‘Bugs”, and Birzzle Pandora., they echoed.
Quick boot-up of less than 10 seconds popped up techies’ eyes wide, too.
Staring with Oct. 26, Windows 8 will be available for download to upgrade existing PCs in more than 140 markets and 37 languages and at retail locations. At retail stores, Windows 8 will be available in two prime version – Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro- as well as Windows 8 Enterprise for large organizations. At the same time, Microsoft launched a new member of Windows family –Windows RT- a new OS for ARM-based tablet PCs. In addition to Microsoft Office 2013, Windows RT is designed exclusively for apps in the new Windows Store.
In Korea, about 70 model of Windows 8 PCs will roll out through big department stores, franchise shops, and retail chain store across the country.
Windows 8 features new fast and fluid Start screen that allows users to get one-click access to their most favorite apps and content. It also spotlights an entirely new Internet Explorer 10 that is perfect for touch ad built –in cloud capabilities with SkyDrive.
(Steve Ballmer Showcases Windows 8 / Oct. 25, 2012 / Photo by MS)