We wrote that it is very likely Windows 8 to appear on tablet firsts, and then on desktops and the like, maybe even in time for the holidays. After digging a bit around this, we found some clues that a developers' beta might appear as soon as September.
Windows 8 is slated to fulfill Microsoft's vision of "three screens and a cloud", and will rely heavily on cloud services. There is to be dual-interface overlay, depending on what is Win 8 running on, and the tablet UI, codenamed Mosh, is speculated to feature big live tiles, similar to what Windows Phone 7 offers.
The other interesting tidbit is that Windows 8 may have a dedicated gaming focus and feature a flexible 3D interface, as well as a Windows Marketplace app store. Microsoft is working with NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Intruments to tailor its "riskiest bet" as Steve Ballmer called Windows 8 for running on the frugal ARM-based chipsets. Given Dell's leaked roadmap for outing a Windows 8-based tablet in Q1 of 2012, Microsoft is already hard at work with manufacturers as well.
If Microsoft does it right, this could throw a wrench in the wheels of the racing cars that Apple and Google are riding towards mobile and cloud dominance. A "tiled" UI for devices like Nokia Windows Phone, plus Windows 8 running for long hours on a tablet that can support most ports and software you throw at it, plus Windows 8 with fancy 3D UI and gaming focus for desktops, all linked up to Microsoft's cloud - all really sounds like a sea of change and a risky bet, but it might very well pay off in 2012, which will be the 5th year since Apple disturbed the mobile universe with the iPhone. Enough time for major players to react and adapt. Provided that Apple sits still, of course, which is highly unlikely.
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