Say goodbye to the traditional desktop with windows, a taskbar, a start menu, and the like. Demoing Windows 8 this week, Microsoft showed the world its vision for the future of desktop computing, and it "looks reminiscent to Windows Phone 7, [Microsoft's] smartphone operating system--complete with touch-friendly live tiles," according to PCWorld. Hoping to make a smooth transition into emerging channels, the latest version of Windows is designed for not only laptops and desktops, but for tablets as well -- "which makes sense, given its big, touch-friendly buttons and visual style," PCWorld notes. That said, Windows 8 is …

At a critical time for the music streaming start-up, Spotify's global head of business development, Faisal Galaria, has left the company. For better or worse, "Galaria had set international expansion as Spotify's top priority, ahead of near-term profitability," reports paidContent UK. As a result, after two years of trying to break into the United States, Spotify was reportedly just licensed by three of the four top U.S. labels. The company also just announced a partnership with Facebook to be more thoroughly integrated into the social network. Until Spotify breaks into the U.S. market, however, the Facebook partnership is …

Besting the iPhone and other smartphones, Android devices seem to be the most data hungry, according to new Nielsen data. Why? Well, "It's still not clear why that is and whether or not this indicates more usage on the part of Android users or something inherent in the platform that lends itself to more data use," GigaOm writes. Further complicating matters, Nielsen found that iPhone users downloaded more apps -- and consumed more streaming music and video -- in the last 30 days than Android users. So, what gives? "It could be that Android owners are more power users …

In the war for consumer connections, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams believes Apple and Google have a distinct advantage over Facebook and, yes, Twitter. That's because, as makers of the top mobile operating systems, Apple and Google have positioned themselves as the ultimate digital gatekeepers. "Why is it, when you install an app from the AppStore that requires an account, and you don't already have an account on the service, you have to fill out a form and create one?" Williams asks. "It seems like a dumb question, until you consider that this is not your computer. On your …

Google has a clear disadvantage to Facebook in the critical realm of identity identification, and the blame lies squarely on Eric Schmidt's shoulders -- or at least according to the recently departed Google CEO. During an interview with All Things D on Tuesday, Schmidt said the social problem Google is now grappling with is largely his fault. "He said he recently looked up memos he wrote four years ago about Google needing to address online identity," according to All Things D. "I clearly knew that I had to do something, and I failed to do it," Schmidt -- …