Will Windows 8 help Microsoft succeed in the mobile market?

"A reckless gamble.”

This is what a U.S.-based IT magazine called the operating system Windows 8 released by Microsoft at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 29.

Many experts praise the new operating system, however, with CNN calling it an effective way to respond to Google and Apple.

The new system was well received by consumers as well. Upon the release of Windows 8 at the Barcelona event, Microsoft has allowed consumers to download a trial version. Just 24 hours after the release, more than a million users downloaded it. The trial version supports just five languages: English, German, French, Japanese and Chinese.

○ Features of Windows 8

Windows 8 is the follow-up to Windows 7, which was released in 2007. Though the new version is for desktop computers, it can also be used in smartphones and tablet computers, leading to big differences from previous Windows series.

The biggest difference is the disappearance of the “Start” button, which has been a symbol of the Windows operating system. Microsoft decided to remove the button 17 years after its appearance on Windows 95.

Instead, a Windows key on the keyboard brings about a new start screen called “Metro-Style,” which is filled with square and rectangular application icons. This was introduced by the Windows Phone operating system.

Unlike existing Windows operating systems that activate a program when a user clicks the program’s icon with a mouse, the new version automatically shows the contents of a program on the tile-shaped icon. A “mail” icon shows the number of unread email messages and a “weather” icon shows up-to-date weather.

Another feature is Windows Live, an Internet service ID that a user is required to input. The ID is also used for Windows smartphones and tablet computers. As data-sharing among all devices is available, users can use the bookmark and addresses set on their home computers in their office computers and smartphones.

A computer using Windows 7 needs no separate upgrade to install Windows 8, which is another advantage of the new operating system. In the past, most PCs had to be upgraded to accommodate a new operating system.

○ Competition with Apple and Google

Microsoft is not the sole company that has developed an easy-to-use operating system that can be used on desktop computers, smartphones and tablet PCs simultaneously. Apple and Google have been leading this technology with the iPhone and Android phones. So Microsoft is a latecomer in this sense.

Each company has different strategies, however. Apple, a leading player in the smartphone market, has applied its popular iPhone’s operating system iOS to the iPad and is also replacing OSX, the operating system for Macintosh computers, with iOS.

On the other hand, Google has remodeled its Web browser Chrome into an operating system for personal computers. Also in the works is Chrome for smartphones and tablet computers.

Microsoft controls 90 percent of the global market for PC operating systems despite its small influence in the smartphone market. Building on its position in the PC market, the company has entered the mobile market by converting its PC operating system into one for smartphones.

sanhkim@donga.com