Window 8

Post date: May 31, 2011 3:13:43 AM

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced that it would be including support for system-on-a-chip (SoC) and mobile ARM processors in its next version of the Windows operating system. which is expected to be called "Windows 8".

Windows 8 includes a new "Hybrid Boot" option that uses "advanced hibernation functionality" on shutdown to allow faster startup times. Another new feature is the ability to create a Portable Workspace, an installation of Windows 8 on a USB storage device.

Milestone 1 (build 7850, with a build date of September 22, 2010) was leaked to BetaArchive, an online beta community, which was soon leaked to P2P/torrent sharing networks on April 12, 2011. Milestone 1 includes a ribbon interface for Windows Explorer, a PDF reader called Modern Reader, an updated task manager called Modern Task Manager " and native ISO mounting.

A Milestone 3 build, build 7971, was released to close partners of Microsoft on March 29, 2011 but was kept under heavy security. However, a few screenshots were leaked. The Windows 7 Basic theme has been replaced with a new theme, where the boxes that encase the "close, maximize, and minimize" buttons have been removed, leaving just the signs.

Milestone 3 includes a new Welcome screen, a new packaged application model called AppX that is based on Silverlight,Windows Store to review and buy applications online, and a setting to automatically adjust window color to fit the wallpaper. It also includes a stripped down "Immersive" version of Internet Explorer, similar to the mobile version of Internet Explorer, but using the desktop Trident rendering engine.

At the Microsoft Developer Forum in Tokyo on May 23, 2011, Microsft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the next version of Windows will be released the following year (in 2012).

"And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."

However, the company quickly corrected Ballmer's words in a company statement issued that afternoon.

"It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows."

-courtesy Wikipedia