The guys over at Neowin managed to record a live Windows 8 demonstration by a Microsoft employee over at this year’s CES. One of the interesting aspects of the demo is that Windows 8 is shown on multiple devices and in different versions. This includes features that have not been on film before, like Microsoft Music, new mouse gestures or background colors. And while that is probably nothing to get too excited about, it provides everyone with a nice impression of what Microsoft is going to deliver with Windows 8.

One of the most important things that I personally take away from the demonstration is the fact that Windows 8 will indeed launch in the Metro interface, even on desktop PCs and traditional laptops.

A cool feature that has been demoed on the day was the ability to zoom in or out of the Metro UI, which is a very interesting option to get a better overview of all installed apps in Metro UI. The zoomed out mode furthermore can be used to group and move apps around, which should work a lot better than in standard mode, as it may mean a lot of scrolling until you reach the new position for the selected app or group of apps.

According to the demonstrator, Windows 8 will not make any compromises when it comes to the desktop. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft will keep that promise. Another feature that was demonstrated on the day was the ability to display Metro apps and desktop apps side by side on the same screen, which opens the door for some interesting options.

Here is another demonstration session that has been uploaded by another user to YouTube. It is basically the same session, with the difference that this one is not cut off in the middle.

After watching the new Windows 8 video, has your impression changed or remained the same? Let us know what you think of the operating system.

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It is one thing to read and talk about Microsoft’s upcoming operating system Windows 8, and an entirely other thing to see it in action. If you are interested in Windows 8 you – by now – must have seen the less than five minute long preview that made the rounds a few days ago. You can watch that video here ( Microsoft unveil Windows Next Tablet UI )

But four minutes is not really enough to showcase a new operating system like Windows 8, even if it is only the touch UI, tablet UI, mobile UI or whatever you would call it at this point in time.

Microsoft have released a 32 minute video of the Windows 8 partner preview event in Taipei, Taiwan at Computex 2011. Microsoft corporate Vice president Mike Anguilo demonstrates Windows 8 live, and we have it all on tape.

The demonstration has caused some confusion in Germany, where several popular media portals such as Heise reported that Windows 8 would only support UEFI and not traditional BIOS anymore.

It is very unlikely that Microsoft will make Windows 8 only compatible with UEFI, and there are a number of reasons for that. It would first and foremost mean that everyone with a traditional BIOS would have to switch hardware to run Windows 8, which would drastically reduce the number of users who would want to upgrade to the new operating system. It is estimated that more than 99% of computer users run a traditional BIOS and not UEFI.

Microsoft a few days ago mentioned that Windows 8 would run on the same hardware as Windows 7, which would torpedo that claim. From what we gathered, it is likely that the Heise reporter misinterpreted the words of Mike Anguilo. What Mike said was that Windows 8 will require UEFI on ARM systems, and that it will be required on PCs that want to address hard drives larger than 2.2 Terabytes.

Note that Mike did not say that PCs with 3 Terabyte hard drives need Windows 8. He only mentioned that UEFI would be needed if the space beyond 2.2 Terabytes needed to be used as well.

So, Windows 8 will run on standard BIOS and UEFI just fine.

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Steve Ballmer said that Windows 8, or to be more precise, the next release of Windows, would be Microsoft’s riskiest upcoming product when interviewed at the Gartner Symposium. No additional information where given by Mr Ballmer, leaving a lot of people puzzled by the answer.

If you’d ask tech savvy users before that symposium about Microsoft’s riskiest product, it is almost guaranteed that the majority would not have picked Windows 8. They’d probably have picked Windows Phone 7, or Xbox Kinect, or any of the other products that Microsoft is working on.

But Windows 8? Now, this does not have to mean that the operating system will be bad. It could as well mean that Microsoft finally has decided to add features or make changes that they consider important, but do not know how the public will perceive them.

Could Windows 8 become a second Vista? We are not sure what Mr. Ballmer meant when he answered the question, but he surely must have known something at this point that the public does not. All we know about Windows 8 is from leaks, job postings and other informal sources.

Could it be that Microsoft plans to make a big change in Windows 8? They certainly have to do something to get users to switch to the operating system, especially after the rave reviews that Windows 7 received.

Why would anyone want to switch from Windows 7 to Windows 8, if the latter would not offer something special that the former would not? Take a look at the video below to judge for yourself, and let us know what you think he meant.

On a side note. Mr. Ballmer said the next release of Windows. Not Windows 8. This could hint at the possibility that the next Windows will not be named Windows 8, but differently. Thoughts?

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The following video was not created by Microsoft, but by a UI team in Copenhagen.  It nevertheless still shows some amazing new user experience features that would really make Windows 8 an amazing advance in the Windows series.

Check it out below!

Copenhagen User Experience from Copenhagen Concept.

Unofficial Windows 8 Concept Video was posted on Everything Microsoft - Latest Microsoft News, Guides, Reviews & Themes. If you are not reading this content in an email newsletter, it is being used without permission.