Microsoft’s Sinofsky Previews Windows Version for Tablets

Microsoft Corp. Windows President Steven Sinofsky previewed a touch-screen version of the operating system that can work on tablets, offering a glimpse of his company’s response to Apple Inc.’s iPad.

Windows 8 resembles Microsoft’s software for mobile phones and uses “tiles,” rather than icons, to help users navigate between applications, Sinofsky said at AllThingsD’s D9 Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Microsoft demonstrated Windows 8 on a 10.6-inch touch-screen tablet and said the operating system can also work on desktop computers.