On Tuesday of this week Microsoft formally unveiled a developer preview of its new Operating System, Windows 8.  Microsoft is dubbing this version as the reimagining of Windows and in their opinion the biggest, boldest change for Windows since Windows 95.

The new operating system has been designed to run on all kinds of devices such as desktop machines and almost any form factor mobile device you can think of.  At the centre of the operating system are the new multi-touch features meaning that using Windows 8 from a touch enabled device is going to feel very natural and similar to that of the likes of Apple with its iPad.  Windows 8 facilitates new kinds of programs called metro styled apps.  These are essentially like other mobile device apps, but the difference here is that there is a common design theme they are calling metro.  This looks very much like the user interface that’s present in the windows phone devices that are becoming ever more popular.

There are some very compelling features in the new version of Windows, like the ability to synchronise content up to the cloud using your Windows Live account and the ability to share that content with all of your Windows 8 devices seamlessly.

Currently nearly 70% of all tablets sold are iPad’s.  Is Windows 8 good enough to try and get some market share in the tablet world?  We think so.  There is still a long way to go for Microsoft and Windows 8 as the developer preview is buggy, but it looks to be a genuinely exciting direction that the company is heading.

We will be keeping a very close eye on Windows 8 and we endeavour to understand how this new platform can further help our customers be more successful.

If you like what we do, spread the word, our only purpose is creating work you want to talk about. To see how we can help you bring your ideas to life call us on 0207 101 1841 or use our contact form.

We often get called or emailed by prospective clients who have seen something they like on our website that relates to something with their brand or design requirement. It maybe one of our eCommerce website designs, a company brand development or a 3D visualisation.

Often we are asked to provide a ballpark figure for a website design or a branding exercise or 3d visual. We often feel that our prospective clients think we are being difficult when we ask a lot of questions before we can provide a ballpark cost for this, but there is method to questions.

If I were to go into my local supermarket and ask the first employee I saw ‘how much is a box of cereal?’ they would almost certainly think I was crazy and, if I were lucky, they would ask me some more probing questions, ‘which cereal in particular sir?’ or perhaps ‘what do you like? Corn flakes?’, now the reason I use this analogy is because design services are much the same as a box of cereal. Each brand and variety are different, and each serves a purpose and more importantly, each appeals to different people in different ways. Me personally, I will happily pay big to buy Kellogg’s Froot Loops that can only be imported from the US, Dave for example loves Weetabix with warm milk (but he's just a little weird). So you see we are all different.

So we could just give our prospective clients a price straight away when asked, but surely, for a more enjoyable serving of design genius at breakfast time, or any other time for that matter, we need to find out what it is you want and why you want it, after all, our design service should serve you for a lot longer than a single meal time.

If you like what we do, or just want to talk over breakfast, spread the word, our only purpose is creating work you want to talk about. To see how we can help you bring your ideas to life call us on 0207 101 1841 or use our contact form.