Today Microsoft released a Consumer Preview of its new Windows 8 operating system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, to much interest – the preview has already been downloaded over 3 million times, according to USA Today.

Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft states, “with Windows 8, we reimagined the different ways people interact with their PC and how to make everything feel like a natural extension of the device, whether using a Windows 8 tablet, laptop or all-in-one,” adding that Windows 8 is “a generational change for Windows.” The new tile-based user interface of the operating system is based on Microsoft’s Metro design language, and is thoroughly different in form, as compared to Windows version of the past – there’s no start button.

Here are some Twitter posts regarding the preview: