Windows 8: an OS to get excited over?

The first preview of Microsoft's next generation of its operating system, codenamed Windows 8, was demonstrated today by the company and it has some pretty interesting looking new features.

Microsoft said the new OS is a "reimagining" of Windows, "from the chip to the interface" and from the demonstration in the video below, that certainly looks to be an accurate assessment.

Here are a few of the features being touted:

• Fast launching of apps from a tile-based Start screen, which replaces the Start menu with a customizable, scalable full-screen view of apps.
• Live tiles with notifications, showing always up-to-date information from your apps.
• Fluid, natural switching between running apps.
• Convenient ability to snap and resize an app to the side of the screen, so you can really multitask using the capabilities of Windows.
• Web-connected and Web-powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript that have access to the full power of the PC.
• Fully touch-optimized browsing.