ASSOCIATED PRESS

BARCELONA: Microsoft is for the first time letting consumers try out its upcoming Windows 8 operating system, which it hopes will be used to power a new wave of computer tablets and traditional PCs.

The test "beta" version of the revamped system was introduced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the planet's largest cell phone trade show.

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday offered it up free for download, along with free applications in a new "Windows Store."

Windows 8 doesn't have the traditional "Start" menu and applications are spread across a mosaic of tiles in a design Microsoft calls "Metro."