The most immediate and fundamental difference between Windows 7 and Windows 8 is the main interface. Although the Desktop view is similar to traditional Windows, most of the time you'll be interacting with Windows 8's Metro interface - and boy will you notice the difference. The Metro interface is the default home screen for Windows 8, and features a series of colourful tiles, each offering access to a discrete application. Each offers live information, so you can see how many emails are in your inbox, for example, without having to open an application. You can customise your device's Metro interface, adding for instance access apps, web pages, images and even people - or at least their picture, contact details and your combined communication. Metro is bold and striking to look at, and you can change its colour scheme to suit your taste. You can also log in to an account, and take your settings and apps with you wherever you roam, similar to using your Google account with Android. Metro is scalable, too: so if you zoom out the tiles rearrange themselves in a meaningful way. Windows 8 touch or type It's sure to attract as much criticism as it does praise, because Metro is so very different from what went before, but Metro is certainly new to Windows 8. It's also designed to work best with touch-enabled devices, so if you are running a Windows 7 PC without a touchscreen, you may decide that the change is not worth it. There's a lot of dispute about the potential value of touchscreen PCs and laptops, and it is indisputably true that touch is not ideal for typing on an upright screen, for instance. But if you do have a touch-enabled device, you may find that you interact with a Windows 8 PC using your digits a lot more than you expected to. With our Windows 8 Slate and Bluetooth keyboard setup we find that we've been using the keyboard to type out emails, for instance, but touching the screen to hit send. Windows 7 has touch capabilities, of course, but it's nothing like a true touchscreen OS: with the Metro interface. Windows 8 with Metro is. See also: Windows 8 Tablet review. For more on the changes in Windows 8 and how to use them visit Windows 8 Advisor. For detailed advice on installing Windows 8 Release Preview, read our article: How to install Windows 8.