prediction

Ya, I know. Windows 8? Didn’t they just release Windows 7?

Well yes they did and if you aren’t using it yet then you need to get with the program.

So why am I willing to go out on a limb and face all kinds of ridicule for predicting something that is probably only in the early planning stages?

The simple answer is because of Microsoft’s announcement this morning in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress convention about the new Windows Phone 7 Series. I have already written over at The Inquisitr about that announcement itself and how it shows you can never count Microsoft out of the game.

Writing that post I spent some time looking over all the images and videos posted to the various blogs covering the conference and Microsoft’s announcement as well as reading a whole bunch of them. As I was reading I was reminded of a recent post over at Microsoft Kitchen by Stephen Chapman about some rumors starting to make the rounds about how Windows 8 would be completely different and mind-blowing.

As I was reading I took a second to change my music selection in the Zune 4.0 Desktop client I am using and then is when the pieces started to fall together. By the way, if you aren’t using Zune for the Desktop you are missing out on a really sweet piece of media player software.

Anyway, back to the prediction.

First we have to look at the announcement in Barcelona today. In one fell swoop Microsoft told the world that it was back in the mobile game and it was serious about it. More importantly though they also told us something else almost equally important.

The company was more than willing to start fresh. Not a reboot type fresh but rather a say good-bye to the past and let’s start from scratch type of fresh.

Now I’m not crazy enough to suggest that with Windows 8 Microsoft is going to say good-bye to the Windows metaphor or brand. What I do think, and this is the first part of the prediction, is that they will be saying good-bye to the 32bit world for good.

The main reason they’ll be able to do this is because of their advances in virtualization – Windows XP Mode to be specific. Because of this virtualization companies, and individuals, won’t have to worry about not being able to run legacy 32bit applications.

The other big thing that virtualization allows Microsoft to do is to concentrate on the 64bit platform and as a result do a real spring cleaning of the Windows codebase to great rid of a lot of legacy crap that is giving all of us as users and Microsoft as a company nothing but grief.

In effect it will almost be like starting with a fresh new codebase.

Now one of the major features of the Windows Phone 7 Series is a totally new user interface, as long as you haven’t been a Zune HD user that is. I think we are going to see that same user interface make its way into Windows 8. I have a feeling that days of “windowed” interface applications as we have come to know them maybe numbers.

We’ll still have the “window” metaphor but how the information is presented within that window and how the user interface is structured will be changing. If you want a good example of that look no further than Zune for the Desktop. I know that if I was still developing I’d seriously be looking at how the Zune media player was designed and be using it as a UI guidepost.

I think we’ll also see more of a move away from the old file and folder concept of accessing information and move to something similar to the activity hubs that is found in the new Windows Phone 7 Series user interface. An already available idea like this is Stardock’s Fences desktop app.

Fences lets you group your current desktop icons and shortcuts in a way that resembles this idea of activity hubs. I would imagine though that in Windows 8 this will be taken even further but within the operating system and user interface itself. In fact we can already see the beginnings of this idea with the Libraries in Explorer.

Just as I believed that Microsoft would come back with guns a-blazing in the mobile world I have a gut feeling that Window 8 will see a whole new look and feel to Windows.

When Stephen Chapmen said this in a new post

Things to Love about Windows Phone 7 – 07: Microsoft basically told everyone to take their mobile user experience paradigms and shove them.

I think the same thing may be said about Windows 8 when it finally breaks cover. If the excitement of Windows 7 itself and now Windows Phone 7 Series is any indication I think Microsoft might just have its mojo back and that folks bodes well for Windows 8.

Here’s hoping anyway.


Related posts:

  1. Bye bye Windows Mobile, Hello Windows Phone
  2. Let’s look at Windows 7 as a fresh start
  3. Moving up in the world – migrating from XP to Windows 7
  4. Windows 7 On Track For Late 2009
  5. Upgrading to Windows 7 from XP – a help guide