Microsoft Slips a Hint of Windows 8

Windows 8, the theoretical next version of Microsoft's ubiquitous OS, will be different from what has been expected of the platform, according to a cached version of a Microsoft blog post.

The Google-cached version of a January 31 blog on MSDN, entitled, "What's in store for the next Windows?" provided a limited glimpse of what to expect. The OS also was referred to as Windows.next.

"The minimum that folks can take for granted is that the next version will be something completely different from what folks usually expect of Windows -- I am simply impressed with the process that Steven [Sinofsky, president of the Microsoft Windows and Windows Live Division] has set up to listen to our customers needs and wants and get a team together than can make it happen," the post, from a member of the Windows update team, said.

"To actually bring together dozens and dozens of teams across Microsoft to come up with a vision for Windows.next is a process that is surreal! The themes that have been floated truly reflect what people have been looking for years and it will change the way people think about PCs and the way they use them. It is the future of PCs," the blogger said.

A Microsoft executive questioned at the Microsoft Global High-Tech Summit 2010 meeting in Santa Clara, Calif. last week was unfamiliar with the blog. "I don't know what the blog entails, but I am certain we're continuously innovating [with] with Windows," said Drew Gude, Director of US High Tech & Electronics industry team at Microsoft.