The blog post used quotation marks when it referred to Windows 8, so
there is no certainty that this will be the final name, but if the time
frame is correct, then we know that Microsoft should be within three to
six months of a milestone M1 release that is provided to the company’s
closest partners.
indicates that Microsoft is already hard
at work to prepare the next, most likely much more substantial new
operating system upgrade than Windows 7 was.
Windows 8 was built on the foundation of Windows Vista and,
conceivably, indicates that 2012 will be the right time for Microsoft to
release a major new operating system, as Microsoft typically releases
significant new operating systems every 5 to 6 years. Windows 8 would
follow the general line and release scheduling of Windows 95, Windows XP
and Windows Vista.
Several years ago, Microsoft revealed
that it may soon be necessary to rewrite the entire Windows code or
write it entirely from scratch to make the software more secure and
respond to progress in computer hardware. At that time, the company
announced the Singularity project, which provided a research operating
system that includes many new ideas of Microsoft’s researchers and
engineers.
Windows 8 could and probably needs integrate some of the Singularity
ideas, if this is the operating system that will be the company’s OS
foundation until 2017 2018. We previously heard that Windows 8 may also
include an app store, which should not be a big surprise, given the
current app frenzy. Also expect a much greater focus on mobile
connectivity and integration as well as cloud computing that will
seamlessly integrate features such as Windows Live Essentials.
Windows 7 was released in October 2009;
two and a half years after the Windows Vista went on sale for most
customers. Microsoft officials, including CEO Steve Ballmer, had
promised that after Vista’s many delays that the company would never
again go so long between Windows releases.
The company has not said much about Windows 8, but if it is indeed
two years out, that would make three years between releases. Ballmer did
say this week at a Gartner symposium that the next version of Windows
represents the company’s “riskiest bet.”