News - Windows 8 slides leak

[HEXUS]

The Microsoft Server group has let slip a couple of slides with the Windows 8 codename on them, aimed at 2012.

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[j.o.s.h.1408]

Already?

[Grey M@a]

Why are people really surprised at this? Microsoft themselves stated they were looking at the 3 year OS cycle again. If they manage that OS every 3 years is another thing though

[Irien]

One of the mistakes MS made with Vista was talking about Win7 before the dust even settled. It sends completely the wrong message to the consumer to be talking up the next release before most of them are even ready to take on the current one. I think that had a lot to do with the public perception of Vista - if even MS were washing their hands of it and talking up the next release, why should the public want the current one?

[Grey M@a]

One of the mistakes MS made with Vista was talking about Win7 before the dust even settled. It sends completely the wrong message to the consumer to be talking up the next release before most of them are even ready to take on the current one. I think that had a lot to do with the public perception of Vista - if even MS were washing their hands of it and talking up the next release, why should the public want the current one?

Why wouldn't they, the money isn't in the high street sale, its with the enthusiasts, industry and OEM's. They buy the OS's, the majority of users don't even know what they are using half the time.

The usual suspects, Linux and OSX all have upgrades/iterations within the same time periods. Although MS tend to charge a little more for it, however if they manage to cotton on that people will buy the upgrades every 3 - 4 years if they sell it at a decent price. With Windows 7 flying out the door at the early pre-order prices MS know they are going to make a killing if they rinse and repeat.

[GheeTsar]

I skipped Vista and went from XP to 7 and would only consider Windows 8 in 2012 if it is cheap and offers me something I need that 7 can't provide. I doubt I'm alone. I reckon 5 years is a good interval between major OS releases if you expect your customers to buy for more than a token sum of money.

[Grey M@a]

I skipped Vista and went from XP to 7 and would only consider Windows 8 in 2012 if it is cheap and offers me something I need that 7 can't provide. I doubt I'm alone. I reckon 5 years is a good interval between major OS releases if you expect your customers to buy for more than a token sum of money.

Same reason why I am sticking with Vista as Windows 7 offers nothing worthy of an upgrade from Vista. There aren't many of us but Vista does actually work if you run it on decent kit.

[lodore]

windows 7 worked well from day one.
i only got windows 7 for two reasons, cheap and helping my customers.
alot less changes than vista thou.
vista needed sp1 before it worked properly.
windows 8 will be major changes again so i will expect sp1 will be needed before working properly.
by 2012 we would of had alot of other os's having major upgrades such as ubuntu|(insert name here),fedora (insert number here),osx (something),rhel6,solaris 11,FreeBSD9 etc.

[Tidus]

I purchased Windows 7 on a £45 pre-order, If Microsoft offer a similar deal on future OS's they may have good uptake even if theres only a 3 year cycle (assuming that the new OS actually delivers something new).

[kingpotnoodle]

I think it's good to bring our regular new versions, refresh built in drivers, add new technologies out of the box rather than through heavy patching...

Nobody forces you to upgrade, MS continue to support older versions of Windows for several years after a new version is released - so if you're happy with your current OS then don't upgrade... those people who think it's worth it can and those people buying a new PC can make the most of it rather than using some older OS that perhaps doesn't fully support all their new machine can do (I'm thinking things like 64bit for more RAM etc).

[12GaugeShotty]

I purchased Windows 7 on a £45 pre-order, If Microsoft offer a similar deal on future OS's they may have good uptake even if theres only a 3 year cycle (assuming that the new OS actually delivers something new).

People pay hundreds of dollars, even sometimes thousands, for their computers. The OS is a rather cheap piece of the puzzle to buy but without it you only have an expensive paperweight.

I paid $109 USD for my Windows 7 Home Premium OEM license and it was probably the best $109 USD ever spent. Well worth it.

[badass]

Already?

Yeah I know. It's silly isn't it. MS should just ride the wave of WIndows 7 based popularity for the next 3 years and then when they suddenly realise the competition has them licked react in a panic and throw together a newer version in the next couple of months.

FYI, Windows 7 was planned not long after Windows XP was released. Winsows XP was released less than 2 years after Windows 2000 and Windows ME. Why do people keep saying this just because VIsta took so long? Vista is the odd one out, not all of the other versions of Windows.

[peackshelb]

I purchased Windows 7 on a £45 pre-order, If Microsoft offer a similar deal on future OS's they may have good uptake even if theres only a 3 year cycle (assuming that the new OS actually delivers something new).

Same here, but part of the reason for the pre-order price for the full retail version being so much cheaper in Europe than the US and elsewhere was because of the EU cracking down on MS pre-installing IE (without giving users the option to choose an alternate browser). MS didn't want to create a separate upgrade version for Europe, so we were offered the full version for what would have otherwise been the upgrade price. We are unlikely to see such a price reduction for future versions of Windows, nor are we likely to be offered it at a discount to rest of the world again.

[Syllopsium]

Nothing new there. It's been known for ages that Windows is back on a three year cycle.

I'm quite enjoying Windows 7, after a couple of driver related niggles.

PK

[12GaugeShotty]

Already?

Windows Vista launched in 2006. Windows 7 Launched in 2009. Why wouldn't you expect Windows 8 in 2-3 years? That's normal product cycle right there.

[dangel]

MS forked off the build for Windows 8 ages ago - baffles me as to why this isn't obvious - any software company plans past the next version and very often way beyond that..