Microsoft is a giant in software and this makes the buzz around a release to start appearing long before the official announcement. The works on Windows 8 are closing in, and the Microsoft team has supposedly reached Milestone 2. Reports show that there are multiple builds created and this could ease the release to a wider audience, especially being given the escrow branch for Milestone 2.
This tells us that we should expecting a final build, in the next two weeks as a significant evolution has been made for finishing Milestone 2.
One of the biggest improvements in the next Windows is that it will contain two different versions of user interface, one being adapted for top hardware configurations and another one for less performing platforms, such as netbooks. Milestone 3 is estimated to last until the beginning of June. Chances are that, if the actual development pace is kept constant, the first Windows 8 Beta version could arrive in this summer.
There is a strong competition these day which seems to boost technology and innovate even more. Microsoft is in this race, as well. The company’s strategy for the tablets market is oriented towards competitiveness; therefore the efforts are focused on finalizing the platform in the shortest time possible. Given the interest showed by Microsoft to the tablets market (the company even tried to come up with own tablet – Courier, but later has quit the project), we could see a Windows 8 edition for ARM tablets, maybe even before the final version for desktop. Besides, Dell plans to have a Windows 8 tablet ready for the first quarter of 2012. The tablet, codenamed Peju, has been penciled in for the first three months of next year.
The information Microsoft has released is pretty scarce, most of the details we know have been shared at CES 2011 (Consumer Electronics Show) and others are either valid rumors or just logical assumptions. However, at CES 2011, the broad audience had the chance to see an early Windows 8 Beta build and some previews of the technology that Microsoft intends to use on ARM tablets. Also, there are chance that manufacturer NVIDIA could join forces with Microsoft on this project.
