Welcome to Windows 8 Center

Windows 8 to be 128-bit compatible?

As we’ve known for some time, Microsoft had already begun work on Windows 8 before Windows 7 was completed. The reason being that different teams work on different aspects of the operating system, which is why Microsoft was able to do this. Microsoft previously shed some light on what we can see in Windows 8 through a job description.

It appears though, that one specific Microsoft employee was not too careful with their LinkedIn profile, and had accidentally leaked some interesting details regarding Windows 8. According to his LinkedIn profile, which seems to have had many of its details removed, Robert Murdon has been working at Microsoft since January 2002. Windows 8 News managed to catch this on the Microsoft employee’s LinkedIn profile before it disappeared:

“Robert Morgan is working to get IA-128 working backwards with full binary compatibility on the existing IA-64 instructions in the hardware simulation to work for Windows 8 and definitely Windows 9.”

“Robert Morgan is using Hestia (custom software package) for experimenting with the processor for scientific analysis and 3D graphics. Error: Memory Latency? Always gotta be a challenge barrier, it’s gotta be a bug in Hestia. right?!”

“Robert Morgan is frustrated with process standards and regulations! Delays Delays!”

Murdon seems certain that we will see 128-bit compatibility with Windows 9, while it appears that whether we will see it in Windows 8 or not is still uncertain. Coincidentally, many do believe that Windows 7 will be Microsoft’s last 32-bit OS. So could this mean we will see Windows 8 come in 64-bit and 128-bit flavors? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Roadmap reveals possible Windows 8 launch date

A roadmap slide from an Italian Windows Server presentation spotted by UXEvangelist shows that the next major Windows Server release for Microsoft is set for 2012, which is approximately three years from the release of Windows 7.

Although the roadmap is titled Windows Server release, it is still appropriate for our guessing purposes
Windows Server 2008 was a major release and took place in 2008, which is four years before 2012. The next major release for a client operating system will occur one year after. In which case, Microsoft is expecting to release Windows 8 some time in 2013.

Note the ~ (tilda) which means approximate. As we have seen with the development of Windows 7, Microsoft did not mention anything specific regarding release dates until RTM was very near. Original estimates of Windows 7 RTMing in April and October were also off from the July 22 date.

The current poll we have running on the sidebar shows most of our visitors think Q4 2011 will be the Windows 8 release date. What do you think now? Let us know in the comments.

Note: Although Code Name “Windows 8″ may suggest that Windows 8 will not be the final name, “Windows 7″ was also a Code Name before it was declared the official name of the operating system.

Windows 8 User-Designed Concept Video – Amazing or fail?

Dubbed the Copenhagen user experience, the following video is supposed to be a concept for a future generation of Windows – namely Windows 8. I was a bit surprised to see many Windows 7 concepts included so I contacted the creator, who confirmed that some concepts were adapted straight from Windows 7. The concept seems to be one year in the making.

Copenhagen shatters the composite prototypical event patterns people have developed for their OS, Windows.

Copenhagen is a User Experience concept that I designed. It is unique in the fact that it manages to bring together classic design, contemporary design, usability, and art.

There are also some similar Bumptop characteristics in the video. The scraps idea really caught my interest but the portable start menu and taskbar seemed too prone to accidental clicking.

Looks decent on video but will it work in practice? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft starting major improvements for Windows 8 soon

Microsoft starting major improvements for Windows 8 soonMicrosoft already entered the planning stages of Windows 8 last year in March when Windows 7 was still in Milestone 1. The Redmond company recently revealed in a job opening post for the Lead Software Development Engineer position that it will soon begin working on major improvements on Windows 8:

For the upcoming version of Windows, new critical features are being worked on including cluster support and support for one way replication. The core engine is also being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. We will also soon be starting major improvements for Windows 8 where we will be including innovative features which will revolutionize file access in branch offices

The following innovative features are some of the many features that we could be seeing in Windows 8:

• Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) service: A multi-master replication engine set up for folder synchronization across multiple servers. This may be something we will be seeing in Windows 8 Server.
• Major improvements in BranchCache: BranchCache was a new feature developed in Windows 7. Basically when data from an intranet website or file server is accessed, it caches those files locally so the next user can access them more quickly. Major improvements can be expected for BranchCache.

These were some of Microsoft’s comments on the upcoming features:

DFSR is Microsoft’s premier file replication engine and is an integral part of our branch office strategy and File Server role. It can scale to thousands of servers and replicate hundreds of terabytes of data. We have shipped the technology that powers file sharing in Windows Live Messenger, Windows Meeting Spaces (Vista) and Branch Office replication in Windows Server 2008 which has strong customer deployment. DFSR technology saves MS-IT and our customers more than 80% WAN bandwidth by using advanced On-The-Wire differential compression,” the software giant adds in the job posting.