Windows 8 Tablet Demos May Arrive in June

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

As Windows 8 Milestone 3 begins, there are reports that Microsoft may demo the OS on tablets this June.

Previous reports have indicated that Windows 8 will be modular in nature, allowing Microsoft to remove portions of the OS that's not required for mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. Now there's talk that Microsoft plans to show its tablet version of Windows 8 by the end of its fiscal year in June.

The news arrived by way of an unnamed source claiming that Microsoft plans to take a more Apple-like approach to interface design. It will also borrow from Windows Phone 7 by incorporating various concepts from the "Metro" interface.

But as Business Insider points out, Metro is based on the old Media Center UI that was shipped with Windows XP back in 2004. Unlike the Metro interface which is meant to be used with small touchscreens, the Media Center interface was developed to be viewed from ten feet away and navigated by using a remote control.

Unfortunately, no other information was provided. However the news falls in line with Microsoft's current development schedule, as the Redmond-based company just completed Milestone 2 on Monday. The next Milestone is expected to be reached by the end of July, just after Microsoft’s 2012 fiscal year kicks off.

Last month Dell supposedly leaked plans of a Windows 8 tablet called "Peju" scheduled to arrive in January 2012, just eight months after the release of its Windows 7-based tablet. It's speculated that this may not be a consumer-based product, but rather a demo machine created specifically for developers.

Kevin Parrish
15 Comments Comment from the forums
  • visa
    Sounds good to me.

    Anyone out there actually using a Windows 7 phone out there?
    Reply
  • kilo_17
    It seems a little early for MS to push Windows 8
    Reply
  • randomstar
    "Anyone out there actually using a Windows 7 phone out there?
    .."

    Would be if they had been available for Verizon..
    Reply
  • Usersname
    Oh, Boy! Are they really running scared of iOS 4.3 and the iPad2...
    Reply
  • Nothing says, "Buy a WP7 unit today" like announcing the successor before the first round gets traction, amirite? And I'm SURE that 8 will run on today's hardware, just like the way WP7 could be installed on all the WP6 devices...
    Reply
  • robochump
    randomstar"Anyone out there actually using a Windows 7 phone out there?.."Would be if they had been available for Verizon..
    Exactly. Geniuses at MS thought it was a good idea to just go with one provider AT&T like the iPhone did and hoping to get the same stellar sales numbers. Of course that didnt happen and Win7 Phone overall has failed even though it is a decent OS but was too lil too late when it came outas well as poor track record. Luckily MS has deep pockets and will continue to push it. As for Windows tablet, it better be stellar because again Windows is coming to the tablet market VERY late!
    Reply
  • I've had a WinPhone 7 for 4 months now and love it. It happily replaced my iPhone 3G.
    Reply
  • pur3_purpl3
    You guys don't understand the premise of Windows 8, do you? It's not a phone OS. It's not a tablet OS. It's Windows 8, but it has been optimized to potentially run on mobile devices, since that's where the market is heading. Comparing iOS 4.3 to Windows is like saying lab rats are more intelligent than humans... Believe me "prematureannouncementftl", releasing the next version of Windows goes waaayyy past Win Phone7, because PC's are, and always will be, faster, better, and cost more money - hence, releasing a new, popular, version of Windows, at the expense of stunting the growth of a mobile phone OS, is completely valid, and not weird at all.
    Reply
  • Usersname
    pur3_purpl3You guys don't understand the premise of Windows 8, do you? It's not a phone OS. It's not a tablet OS. It's Windows 8, but it has been optimized to potentially run on mobile devices, since that's where the market is heading. Comparing iOS 4.3 to Windows is like saying lab rats are more intelligent than humans... Believe me "prematureannouncementftl", releasing the next version of Windows goes waaayyy past Win Phone7, because PC's are, and always will be, faster, better, and cost more money - hence, releasing a new, popular, version of Windows, at the expense of stunting the growth of a mobile phone OS, is completely valid, and not weird at all.
    You're clueless where popular computing is heading, aren't you? 95+% of the computer using population (and that includes most businesses) have no need of a desktop OS. They may not realise it yet, but it will dawn. My doctor's surgery was full of Dell's a year ago. Now they all have iPad's
    Reply
  • caeden
    usersnameYou're clueless where popular computing is heading, aren't you? 95+% of the computer using population (and that includes most businesses) have no need of a desktop OS. They may not realise it yet, but it will dawn. My doctor's surgery was full of Dell's a year ago. Now they all have iPad'sSounds like someone is paying too much for their doctor...
    But our purple friend is right; win8 is going to be an OS that is not exactly limited to a specific market. It will be the same core OS with a different face depending on what the device has capability for. This is of great importance because Windows wants to move away from the PC market, but keep everything with a specific and standard set of protocols and workflow. The idea being that in theory (depending on how exactly they implement it) you should be able to use your phone, or other similar device, and use it as your 'portable C drive'. This could then be 'plugged' into a surface device, a PC, or perhaps even a game console, and you would have access to all of your programs and files anywhere. But in order to do this proper and on the fly, they need to have every device have a similar OS behind it which will support this functionality. It's so much more than the idea of some cute 'iPad' or 'iPhone' like device, it is about having a portable user profile that will run on anything. I really hope they pull it off!
    Reply