The wait is over: Twitter has finally launched its native app for Windows 8 and RT.
Now available in the Windows Store, the app "introduces new functionality" that makes use of Windows 8's tiled interface, Twitter and Microsoft announced on their respective blogs Wednesday.
While its design will look familiar to users of Twitter.com and the microblogging service's other mobile apps -- including the "Home," "Connect," "Discover" and "Me" tabs -- the Windows 8 version also introduces new features tailor-made for the operating system.
"Snap view": Users can "snap" Twitter to the left or right side of the screen, and start up another app. They can also adjust the size of the app to one-third, two-thirds or full-screen.
Photos: Images are now offered in landscape view, which lets users view a bigger version of one photo, and also swipe horizontally to view multiple photos in the Discover tab.
"Share charm": Users can tweet and share content from any app to Twitter by selecting the Share charm (accessible by swiping from the right edge of Windows 8).
"Search charm": The Search charm lets user easily find an account or see tweets by looking up certain hashtags.
"Live Tiles" and notifications: Users can quickly see Twitter notifications (for replies and direct messages) from their Start screen.
To see these features in action, check out the video, above. The app is available in 22 languages, including English, Chinese, German, Spanish, Japanese and French.
What do you think of Twitter's native app for Windows 8 and RT? Do you plan to get it? Tell us in the comments.