Ballmer: Next Generation of Windows is Coming 2012; Microsoft Confusingly Says It's Not Windows 8
Windows 8 next year? Ballmer says...
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was speaking at a developer forum event in Japan and made an open mention about "Windows 8," marking perhaps the first time he's publically referred to the next OS with that name.
Microsoft's own transcript that's published on its PressPass site quoted Ballmer saying:
“We’re obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We’ve done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We’ve added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”
At first glance, it appears that Ballmer just confirmed that Windows 8 will be coming out in 2012, but a representative from the company later issued a correction to ZDNet. It read:
“It appears there was a misstatement. We are eagerly awaiting the next generation of Windows 7 hardware that will be available in the coming fiscal year. To date, we have yet to formally announce any timing or naming for the next version of Windows.”
Essentially, a Microsoft spokesperson just nullified any interesting "Windows 8" news from what Ballmer said. Still, it's hard to believe that Ballmer would misstate what the next version of Windows will be called, seeing that he is the CEO.

It's loading screen is the blue screen of death.
just like I skipped the silly vista.
now as for Windows "9" or "10" it will depend a lot to me if they go the "cloud way", then Windows 7 would be my LAST M$ operating system then.
But if they make up their minds and produce a "normal _ on my hard drive" of my choice OS then I might upgrade when is time.
Simply put I will never use a "cloud" based OS, I rather have my files on MY own PC.
It's loading screen is the blue screen of death.
it's all games and propaganda.
greedy MS bastards.
he's probably speaking on the mobile department and/or the on-going battle about ARM.
still I refuse to pay for MS if I can..
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1843924
With the title: Proof GlaDOS is a Microsoft Product
Which brings the question of what is called the next next MS product, since it's not windows 8 the title says.
BTW, what is it that he does best? Oh yes, enjoying the taste of his foot.
This dude has done nothing original/positive for MS since he took charge. I think he does not understand the company he's running. Maybe Gates could look into replacing him. Miss the good old days.
Windows ARMageddon
Windows Octagon
Windows Octopussy
Windows 008
Windows Pane
I think it will be: Windows 8: The "Ocho"!
I'm cool with Win8 as the official name. I would hate for Microsoft to try to be like so many car manufacturers and come out with more and more ridiculous names year after year lol
just like I skipped the silly vista.
now as for Windows "9" or "10" it will depend a lot to me if they go the "cloud way", then Windows 7 would be my LAST M$ operating system then.
But if they make up their minds and produce a "normal _ on my hard drive" of my choice OS then I might upgrade when is time.
Simply put I will never use a "cloud" based OS, I rather have my files on MY own PC.
Get serious. W7 is nothing but a re-shuffle of XP to the user. I still use XP Pro along with most of the world and will continue to use it until it until it no longer does what I need an OS to do. I hope W8 has something useful and worth the money it costs but I seriously doubt it. The truth is software innovation has plateaued. The days of revolutionary leaps have been replaced by evolutionary creeps and it's difficult to justify the expense of a "new" OS when all you get is a few minor tweaks. Yearly subscriptions are just around the corner.
So sick of hearing this from people who's formative years were during the Windows XP period and have a distorted view of the Windows release schedule. Windows 7 came out in 2009, "Windows 8" is going to most likely be released in 2012, that's 3 years apart, whilst Ubuntu for example is updated every 6 months, OS X every 2 years on average, etc.
Every Windows version besides Vista has been released after its predecessor in less than 4 years (e.g. Windows 2.0 through to 3.1, Windows 95 and 98, Windows Me, Windows XP and Windows 7). Windows Vista wasn't the norm, it was the final result of the Longhorn project that was meant to be originally released in 2003 (2 years after XP) but became inundated with setbacks.
Which are the infomercials!!! Seriously, this guy gets just as animated today as he did in those pathetic sell-bits he used to star in selling Windows.
I too feel Windows releases come a bit too fast. Like someone else said, we're at the peak for OS capability. We're past, input, GUI, mouse control, networking, video/graphics and gaming, touchscreen, and so on. There aren't many revolutionary things that can be done with an OS, possibly within it though like code rework or file structure. To me it's like CPU's, there's a reason core speed has been around 3 GHz for years (where are the OEM 4+ GHZ chips already?) - they've simply hit the proverbial wall. Like with Windows 8, I won't upgrade until I see something revolutionary or until Ballmer tells me I'm SOL on my update/security subscription.
I agree, what does this guy REALLY contribute to Microsoft?
The biggest mystery is WHY do these companies insist on hiring such buffoons, they do it over and over and over again, gaining nothing in the process. I think US companies should start outsourcing executive management and bring the truly productive jobs back to the US again.
Terrible analogy, no such wall has been hit. A Pentium 4 Extreme Edition at 3.2ghz performed 9,726 MIPSm whilst an i7 Extreme Edition performs 147,600 MIPS at 3.3 GHz, the Ghz wars were a marketing gimmick, not a true indicator of performance or progress.