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Microsoft's Windows 8 Will Be Completely Different

By: Nicholas Kolakowski
2010-02-11

Microsoft Windows 8 development is already under way, according to a Jan. 31 blog posting on the Microsoft Developer Network, and will apparently be "something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows." Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has reportedly suggested in the past that Windows 8 is currently under development, although the tech industry’s gravitation toward the cloud and the rise of browser-based operating systems such as Google Chrome could potentially have a sizable influence on how the next Windows version operates.

Microsoft's Windows 8, the next form of the company’s operating system, may take a radical turn in its user interface and features, at least according to an official blog post by a Microsoft employee that was quickly taken down.

Leaked PowerPoint slides purportedly shown by Microsoft during the last Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles suggest that Windows 8 could be released in 2012.


More at: eWeek


Windows 8 Concept Video (from Dailymotion)

[html]<div><object width="420" height="339"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xb5oql" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xb5oql" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="339" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xb5oql">Windows 8</a></b><br /><i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/UpLoaderNetMaN">UpLoaderNetMaN</a></i></div>[/html]

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More info and an earlier release date speculated on.


Windows 8 Will Change the Way People Think about PCs – Microsoft Employee.

02/11/2010
by Anton Shilov

An anonymous employee of Microsoft Corp. said in a blog post the next version of Windows operating system, which is presently known as Windows 8, would change the way people think about personal computers. He did not reveal any actual details or reasons why Windows.next, as he called it, would be so revolutionary.

“The themes that have been floated truly reflect what people have been looking for years and it will change the way people think about PCs and the way they use them. It is the future of PCs,” an anonymous Microsoft blogger has written, reports Hexus.net web-site.

Even though Windows has come a long way since the revolutionary Windows 95 was released fifteen years ago, newly launched operating systems usually met, but did not exceed expectations, Windows consistently supported hardware and software innovations, but the interface and logic of the system remained virtually unchanged, which is pretty rational, on the other hand. Microsoft has been talking about substantial changes within Windows, e.g., file system, for many years now, however, it never implemented it. Now, Microsoft promises another revolution.

“The minimum that folks can take for granted is that the next version will be something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows – I am simply impressed with the process that Steven has setup to listen to our customers needs and wants and get a team together than can make it happen. To actually bring together dozens and dozens of teams across Microsoft to come up with a vision for Windows.next is a process that is surreal,” claimed the blogger.

Microsoft Windows 8 is expected to be released in mid-2011.

Microsoft did not comment on the news-story.


Source: Xbit Labs

[imnuts Profile Website]

It would be great if the re-wrote the NT kernel and got rid of all of the legacy stuff that is still hanging around from the NT4 days, and possibly earlier. There is no need for that anymore IMO. It'd also be great if they went fully 64-bit as well. It would also be interesting to see if they actually start the new file system that was supposed to come along with Vista with the next version of Windows, but it's anyone's guess as to what is really going to be different.

[NT50 Profile]

It'd also be great if they went fully 64-bit as well.

AMEN
I would love for them to go fully 64bit. This would hopefully make the manufactures go fully 64bit also for ALL software and hardware. But the only way they will do that is if they totaly drop all support and everything for there 32 bit operating systems.
I can remember people gripping about Apple dropping everything for ther OS8 I think it was and all the software would not work on the newer operating system.

[imnuts Profile Website]

It'd also be great if they went fully 64-bit as well.

AMEN
I would love for them to go fully 64bit. This would hopefully make the manufactures go fully 64bit also for ALL software and hardware. But the only way they will do that is if they totaly drop all support and everything for there 32 bit operating systems.
I can remember people gripping about Apple dropping everything for ther OS8 I think it was and all the software would not work on the newer operating system.

Apple doesn't guarantee support for older apps for any OS they release that's new. I tried to use an older version of a program on OS X before between 10.3 and 10.4 and it worked, but not everything worked properly and I had to wait until there was an updated app available for 10.4. MS wouldn't necessarily have to fully drop 32 bit, but they should stop shipping the OS in x86 and x64 versions and just ship 64 bit only but retain the 32 bit app support in the OS. That would get developers to move to the platform faster, yet keep older apps from working.

[augie]

Here's a bit of background on the creator of that video.

Lifting the lid on Windows 8 "Copenhagen" concepts

This guy's not from MS but still interesting to say the least.