More Windows 8 Concept art.
Windows 8 Alpha Concept by B0M8
More Windows 8 Concept art.
Windows 8 Concept 01 Alpha by NorthDakota91
More Windows 8 artwork from the geniuses at Deviant Art
Stephen Chapman from msftkitchen has posted a crapload of roadmap diagrams on his site.
They seem to indicate the release of Windows 8 Server in 2012.
What’s funny is he seems to find these roadmaps from very simple and publicly accessible sources.. hilarious
Yup, more people have things they wanna see in Windows 8.
This time it’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDNet
He has a pretty good list..
Some of the highlights are below…
Custom installer
Look, it’s the 21st century. Installing the OS on one drive and setting it up so that the data is stored on another drive should be a trivial matter that’s handled during setup. The current installer is simply prehistoric and I hope to see dramatic improvements in Windows 8.
Better support for compressed file formats
There are are a number of very good, free, open source tools for handling compressed files out there. My favorite is 7-Zip and it’s capable of handling all sorts of exotic archives. However, I’m still sort of surprised that apart from supporting .ZIP archives, Windows still can’t handle any other commonly used compressed file format.
Combined antivirus/antispyware/firewall
This seems like a no-brainer to me. Microsoft should bring all the security software under one application in the next incarnation of Windows.
Updated Task Manager
The Windows Task Manager is a very useful tool. However, it’s very long in the tooth and overdue for a revamp (apart from some minor additions, it’s the same Task Manager that was present in NT4). It doesn’t need to be as complex and fully-featured as Sysinternal’s Process Explorer, but more features could be useful.
You can read the rest of the article here…
Ok so this one is a little easier and more obvious.
Advanced security is usually the number one thing people say they want in an operating systems upgrade but I am being a tad more specific. I would like to see the OS designed in such a way that different sections of the code are “isolated” from each other.
It isnt enough to have UAC (although that’s a great start) but I believe that when you are writing software that will be used by potentially 500 million to 1 billion people, you have to assume that the average user needs protection from themselves.
There have been tremendous security improvements made to Windows 7 and (ironically and less elegantly) in Vista but the problem is, it is still relatively easy to infect a Windows PC.
Once infected, a virus can propagate and run instructions in an inappropriate manner with potentially devastating impact.
I believe that Windows 8 should be designed to have different components working as sealed off silos.
That way, even if a piece of the system is compromised, the overall integrity would remain intact and the infection wouldn’t be allowed to spread.
What do you guys think?
We received the following Windows 8 art submission from Levente-Csaba Kovacs.
It’s called Windows 8 in water…
Intel researchers have demonstrated an experimental 48-core processor with 10 to 20 times the processing power of today’s advanced Intel processors.
A 48-core processor could eliminate the need for keyboards, remote controls, or gaming joysticks. Researchers are already porting existing cloud applications to the 48-core processor.
Intel acknowledges that programming processors with multiple cores is a challenge for the industry.
However, the company said its 48-core prototype allows popular and efficient parallel-programming approaches used in cloud data-center software to be applied.
eWeek just released an article about the 10 things they want to see in Windows 8.
This was a pretty weak article to me. I was surprised by some of the “things” they want to see.
For instance, #4 is
A Web-Only Version
Now that Google has made it clear that it intends to capitalize on the Web with Chrome OS, Microsoft can’t allow the search giant to gain the upper hand on the Internet. Windows 8 should have a Web-only version to make it appeal to those looking for that.
but then # 10 is
A Commitment to the Desktop
Although I’d like to see a Web-only version, I also want Microsoft to stay true to the desktop in Windows 8. Yes, Web-based operating systems are exciting, but they’re not ideal for most people. Just because Google has tied its future to Web-only operating systems, Microsoft can’t follow suit. It’s simply not a good idea.
Whatever.
I did however agree with #4 and the following:
Social Network Integration
One of the big disappointments in Windows 7 is the general lack of social networking built into the operating system. Considering the impact it has on most users’ lives, Microsoft should do a better job of integrating social networking software into its operating system. Whether that comes in the form of widgets or desktop software is unimportant—it just needs to be there.
You can read the full article here
Microsoft tends to (appropriately) release several different versions of their operating system when they release it.
Vista had multiple versions as did Windows 7 (Home Basic, Ultimate, Professional etc).
One of the consistent pieces of feedback I get on my sites from visitors all over the world is, if you don’t live in a developed country, Windows is unaffordable.
This is often the rational used by millions of people who use wares, cracks and serials to bypass Microsoft software protection.
So, just for sh*ts and giggles, wouldn’t it be cool if Microsoft had an ad supported version of their operating system that was (in essence) free?
They could call it Windows 8 Starter edition (a la Office 2010).
You would be able to install and set up Windows 8, log in and install programs as usual.
The catch? Well, your screen saver and desktop background would (on a schedule set by Microsoft) show ads or logos or branding of companies based on the geographical location you were at.
A copy of Windows 8 Starter Edition being used in Seattle for instance would show ads by Starbucks and local Seattle restaurants/businesses.
The ads would be persistent and baked into the OS and there would be no option to turn them off.
They would have to strike the right balance of showing ads and allowing the user to get their work done but it could be done.
It would work for everyone:
- Microsoft could earn revenue off of each version of Windows 8 Starter they sold;
- Advertisers would have a captive audience and could also advertise more cost efficiently and effectively based on geography;
- Users would get a free copy of Windows and wouldn’t have to go without or look for hacks, warez or serials..
Now, I am a realist and I know that some rocket scientist out there would try and disable the ads just because.
But even with hacks and piracy factored in, I believe that it would still be a win/win for everyone involved.
What do you folks think?
