Microsoft tablet with Windows 8

A Microsoft tablet with Windows 8 has been a long time coming, but it's finally here. Sort of. We got our hands on a developer's preview yesterday and while flawed, it's extremely impressive. 

Keep this in mind as you read: both the operating system and hardware are developer preview builds. In fact, the  hardware (we're prohibited from even revealing its manufacturer or specs) isn't even going to run Windows 8. And the hardware has an x86 processor, not ARM. When this Slate ships, says Microsoft, it's going to have Windows 7 on it. Microsoft doesn't even have a name for this thing, which it was sure to note (repeatedly) is not the first Windows 8 device.

Confused? It's like this: The tablet we got to play with was running a developer's build of Window's 8 on sub-optimal hardware, and, when this fistful of screen ships, it'll be running Windows 7.

Whatever the hell this thing is, it's a great preview of what's to come, even if only for a limited time. And we do mean limited time. Microsoft's press loaners are all due back in about 72 hours. I've been playing with this thing for the last twelve, trying to pack as much W8 into the time I've got. Here's what we know:

Interface

Let's start with what it's like to touch the thing: fantastic. It is, in fact, the most usable gesture-based interface on the market. It goes beyond what Apple has done by quite a bit. The entire operating system is navigable in a way that is both completely new, and yet familiar within a few minutes of use. Navigation includes some by now familiar touchscreen elements, but is largely novel.

Swiping from the left edge of the screen swaps from app to app. It's blazing fast (even on this crazy setup), and as you swipe other running applications pop in as small windows that size up and take over your screen. You can also use this gesture to give over part of your screen real estate to a second running app, so you have two apps running side-by side in what Microsoft calls a snap state. Bawse.

Swiping the right edge brings up a persistant menu of "Charms:" five icons that act like a home row, letting you quickly jump to the Start screen, sharing, settings, devices, or search. Swiping from the top or bottom brings up application-specific menus and options. You can also use gestures to manipulate objects in heretofore unknown ways. Holding an element with one finger while swiping with another can move it around on the screen, for example. Quite simply, it's the best gesture interface out there right now.

Yet you can also connect a keyboard, or use a stylus to input text (and it will recognize your handwriting, right out of the box). All of this worked very well. And generally speaking, text input is just great. The software keyboard is superfast and responsive. It is probably the best software keyboard I've used yet. I can't type at the speed I do on a hardware keyboard, but it's impressively zippy, and laid out well with ample space between keys, and easy to swap back and forth to numbers and special characters. There is even a split key mode for thumb typers.

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