Bye-bye Desktop, hello Metro! Microsoft ditches standard Windows look and feel for brand new interface, as launch is confirmed for October

Gone is the Start Menu. Gone is the Desktop. Instead, applications, widgets and social network updates appear in the form of a mosaic of tiles. Everything is touch-friendly, as you swipe across screens to access more tiles and more tiles. This is the new version of Windows, and it is almost ready for prime-time, with Microsoft preparing Windows 8 for launch in October. Windows fans may lament their loss, but Microsoft has seen the future, and it is all about touch. Microsoft officially announced the time-frame for Windows 8's mass-market release this morning at a company conference in Toronto. New versions of Windows typically come out every three years, but this update is the most widely anticipated overhaul of the software since 1995. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has designed the operating system so it can run on personal computers or touch-based tablet computers...read more>>...