I saw a documentary about Roswell, the place in New Mexico, USA that was supposed to be the place where an alien space craft went down. It supposedly was recovered by the US Air Force and had alien bodies among the wreckage. 60 years later, I smile when I hear how some people regardless of evidence or lack there of continue to believe wild stories about that event. The rumors persist…right?
Well, there are rumors about Windows8. Think of it. First of all, can MicroSoft really pull off selling a new operating system to have consumers buy this close to Windows 7, especially with the critical and commercial success of Windows7? If it had bombed, sure the public would be clamoring for a new one. But that is not the case.
Second, what can you expect from Windows8? To want people to buy the OS, it has to be radically different, otherwise, it will be considered a service pack to Windows7. The 128 bit rumor is around, but to make it really work as a 128 bit OS, then there have to be major rewrites of a lot of supporting software and hardware; otherwise, what’s the point? If the applications can not take advantage of the CPU to perform faster, it will be for nought.
Third, hardware technology must already be available to be incorporated into the next OS otherwise the time frame would be longer, maybe 2012, or even 2013. The technology may already have existed when Windows7 was being built, but was put off to wait for other hardware makers to design hardware around.
Fourth, the Windows8 kernel must be redesigned. If it’s just an extension of the Vista/Windows7 kernel, again what’s the point? Microsoft and their R&D team must be looking at what the next generation must be like, but with the emphasis on new technology.
So having said that about rumors, when will Microsoft release Windows8? From a spreadsheet designed by a Microsoft employee, the timeline is around July 1, 2011. That is a mere 17 months away. Here is a copy of the spreadsheet with the timeline not just for Windows8, but for other MicroSoft products.
So here is the latest rumor. The spreadsheet picks the date of July, 2011 as the release date. What makes this spreadsheet is the supposed origin: a Microsoft employee; furthermore, it has been accurate in the pastfor the software timeline. Take it with a grain of salt; but the rumors may be true.
Source:
TechSpot
Facebook and Microsoft have teamed up on a new online document-sharing service that will seamlessly integrate with the popular social networking site. Dubbed Docs.com, the beta site allows users to log in with their Facebook credentials, create Office documents -- Word, Excel and Powerpoint files -- and add friends as either viewers or document editors. New documents will show up in a user's news feed, just like status updates or pictures.
