Microsoft is already hard at work on Windows 8. While it's still only in the development stage, we already have some details about what new features it could have from inside sources and leaked development builds. In this article, we look at some more features we are likely to see when it is released.

New Features Added :

• Hybrid Booting : According to the Windows 8 Italia Website - new version of Windows will most likely include a "hybrid boot" using "advanced hibernation functionality". Hybrid Boot is a cross between hibernation and sleep mode. Computers would shut down and start up faster, perhaps in as little as 20 seconds.
• Simple System Reset : It will allow a user or system administrator to ‘reset’ the operating system back to the default settings. It appears to be a quick and easy process, with user accounts and personal files kept in backup space, before the default Windows settings are restored.
• Tablet Strategy : Sounds like Microsoft is taking a cue from the tablet market. 'Push notifications' will allow content to be displayed on screen similar to that of Windows Phone 7. Windows 8 will also likely offer 3D support and facial recognition, and have built-in access to the Microsoft app store. Users will be able to login using an Android-like pattern match, presumably for those who are using tablets or slate devices lack a keyboard.
• Cloud Based Roaming Profile : Personalization settings (Aero and colour settings) all the way through to language settings and wireless credentials will be stored in the cloud, so you can take your ‘computer’ on the go with you. Whether files and folders will be synced also, should be subject to extreme caution, however.
• Other features : Include updated User Interface, Black Screen of Death instead of the blue one, improved disk cleanup facility, ‘Modern Reader’ the PDF reading application, slimmed down version of the browser etc to be known.

The ARM controversy :

Windows 8 will have ARM support, a low-power processor which allows devices to run longer on batteries - move away from the traditional Windows with Intel processor computers. The ARM microchip architecture is already being used in many tablets. This switch from the traditional x86 platform says clearly that  Microsoft is seeing tablets as the future.

So, what's the controversy? Intel said that due to ARM processors, versions of Windows 8 would not be compatible with older Windows programs written for Windows 7, Vista and XP. "Intel's statements for the next version of Windows were factually inaccurate and unfortunately misleading" - were Microsoft's remarks.

While many technologist believe that Intel might be saying the truth, claiming that legacy apps wouldn't run on an ARM processor. Traditional versions of Windows, and the subsequent programs built to run on the OS, were made for chips based on Intel's x86 architecture, not ARM. For the things to be clear, we will have to wait till any conclusive fact is tossed.

Different versions ?

It's too early to know how Microsoft will package Windows 8, but it's unlikely the company will give up on offering six different of its trademark OS as it has with both Windows 7 and Vista. According to an Intel executive Renee James, Microsoft will make at least four different versions of Windows 8. She added that Windows 8 Traditional will be  very different from the ARM version of Windows 8 targeted at mobile devices.

So early ?

Windows 7 has yet to see a mass adoption and  Windows 8 will be releasing somewhere in next year. According to Consumer Reports, 54 percent of Windows computers are still running 10 years old Windows XP, while 11 percent are Windows Vista.  Microsoft is tired of being standing behind in the tablet business and so may have desperately hurried up with Windows 8 to take chances to stand against the very fast growth of Apple and Android's.

Steve Ballmer, on Monday, announced in Tokyo

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  lot about Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.

Lets wait for the further revealings about Windows 8. Microsoft will surely have to come up with something very exciting.

Screen Shots : (Hybrid Boot, Task Manager, Black Screen of Death, Cloud Roaming, User Interface)