Windows 8 offers many new features and represents a more substantial change than some former Windows versions. This starts with a more versatile interface that can accommodate touch screen use, as well as new authentication methods, including a picture password option that replaces a text password with a visual sign-on.

Windows 8 also can run on ARM or limited memory devices. New applications for this operating system will use HTML5 and JavaScript (JS). Multi-screen features are meant to enable more productivity. This OS is also designed to operate on a wider range of mobile and consumer devices.