According to Microsoft's roadmap for Windows, Windows 8 is not slated to arrive until 2012. This is a good thing - thanks to all the changes Microsoft's planning, they'll need at least that long to implement them. I have received a big old leak from a source deep within MS HQ, regarding what's coming in Windows 8, and also what's not coming.
Here are some of the (proposed) highlights of Windows 8 (note, most of these things aren't yet implemented, even in the developer builds used at Microsoft):
What's NOT coming in Windows 8:
Here are some of the (proposed) highlights of Windows 8 (note, most of these things aren't yet implemented, even in the developer builds used at Microsoft):
- No more drive letters. Remember how Windows 7 gives the option to hide drive letters? Windows 8 does away with them altogether.
- Because of the first change, the feature of Windows 7 known as "Windows XP mode" got a drastic overhaul. It's now called "Windows on Windows 8" (or WoW8 for short), and provides both a Windows 7 and a Windows XP environment for older applications.
- Here's the kicker about WoW8: Microsoft acquired a company that provides seamless integration between Microsoft's virtual machine software and the host environment. Microsoft's gone ahead and put this into the low levels of the OS.
- Windows 8 will also be the first Windows version to be 64-bit only, due to its RAM requirements (as of right now, 4GB for all editions).
- I've also heard rumors of a Registry overhaul, but I don't have any more details...
What's NOT coming in Windows 8:
- File Label support, a la Mac OS X
- Virtual Desktops, a la Ubuntu Linux (despite Microsoft's claims, they're STILL having trouble getting this working properly)
- I'm sure there are more things rumored that aren't coming, I just can't remember what they are...
