At a Microsoft Developer Forum in Japan today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed what we’ve all been assuming: the company plans to release Windows 8 in 2012, just about three years after the release of Windows 7.
First, as evidenced by the upcoming ARM port of Windows, one of Windows 8′s focuses is adaptability and modularity – more than any previous version of the OS, Windows 8 will be written to power everything from tablets to netbooks to high-end workstations, or as Ballmer put it, ”Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”
Ballmer went on to talk about the need for more intuitive computing, in the form of hardware and software that can more accurately respond to natural input instead of arcane search terms: “Today on a PC, it’s file open, blah, blah, blah, respond, reply, forward. Those of you who have seen the screenshots will know that Microsoft has warned employees about keeping Windows 8 under wraps.
Interestingly Winrumors believe that Microsoft has yet more features hidden in Windows 8 which need specific DLL’s and code to activate them. I think it was only inevitable that Microsoft would catch up with its employees that are helping to leak build of Windows 8. However Microsoft doesn’t comment on employee dismissals so we’ll have to trust the forums which claim to have credible information. According to them, an employee based in Russia and another who worked at Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington have been fired from the company for leaking early Windows 8 builds.