Microsoft"s Corporate Vice President Dan"l Lewin has provided a clue as to when the next version of Windows will hit the shelves, with indications showing that the last few months of next year is the planned for the OS to hit retail availability. This comes as he was speaking at a startup event in Silicon Valley for the BUILD conference coming later this year in September.
According to TechRadar, when answering a question in regards to the next Operating System, which is currently codenamed Windows 8 after its predecessor, he said "we will be in market - if you look at the crystal ball and just say what happened in the past is a reasonable indicator of what our forward looking timelines will be".
Mr. Lewin later went on to briefly mention that the beta schedule, which is planned to start during/after the BUILD event, will in turn leave 12 months before the new OS reaches consumers. This follows a similar pattern that Microsoft followed with the development of Windows 7. The Windows 7 beta proved popular with technology enthusiasts which in turn helped to iron out small issues, creating the company"s best release since Windows XP.
Windows 8 is due to bring a variety of changes to computer users, with the metro themed, refreshed Start menu as being one such change. So far, the renewed front-end look has been largely popular and may finally bring a unified look across all Microsoft products.
During his talk at the startup event, he also provided some insight into why tablets will be running the next version of Windows instead of the Windows Phone platform. The emphasis he claims, is on security for enterprise and the evolution of the consumer"s needs. Consumer now want PC features on a tablet, rather than compromising with a more mobile platform to fit the tablet environment.
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