A glimpse of Windows 8 leaked in Microsoft Presentation Slides !

Product plan leaks are synonymous with Microsoft's documents these days. Italian Windows blog Windowsette hasmanaged to grab Microsoft Confidential Presentation Slides stating Windows 8 future plans. The future development strategy of other products like Internet Explorer 9 and Windows Live Wave 5 have also been mentioned. Apart from that, one of those slides discusses Apple's consumer strategy: A high-quality, easy-to-use user interface that feeds brand loyalty.

We already knew that Microsoft is working on Windows 8 which is scheduled to release in 2012. Now these new slides which were watermarked MS Confidential share more details about the Windows 8 Product Cycle.

The slides suggest that Microsoft is also planning to launch Windows Store which would be just like Apple's App Store. One can purchase and download programs without worrying about installations and flexible licensing policies that would make them transferable from one computer to another.

On Windows 8 front, Microsoft plans to implement presence sensors that will detect the user's presence with facial recognition and thereby put the PC in appropriate mode - sleep or stand by. Also, the boot up time of Windows 8 would be shorter than that of Windows 7 due to Action Center that will help identify the applications slowing down the boot up.

Paul Thurrott, author and blogger of WinSupersite, also gave a  sneak peek into the features of Windows 8. According to him, for faster computing and compatibility, the operating system will have built-in support for USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0 in next generation devices. Windows 8 will provide sensors platform for location capabilities and will use "in-box" location service codenamed Orion. This service will use Wi-Fi triangulation with accuracy down to 50 meters to 100 meters. 

Apparently, the leaked slides also hinted Kinect for Xbox 360 like features for Windows 8 machines. One of the slides mentioned that "Windows 8 can adapt to changes in ambient light, so that the display is always easy to see". Apart from that, Windows 8 will also have stereoscopic 3D and graphics improvements with 3D-ready version of DirectX. The backup and restore function would be improved too. Windows 8 public beta might be released sometime late 2011 while the final version would arrive in mid-2012.

Again, as the slides suggest, the details are a part of Windows 8 discussion and not a well-laid accurate plan. We wait to see if Windows 8 leap-frogs Windows 7 only, or manages to overtake the ever increasing Apple Mac OS X market too.

The new MeeGo OS for Nokia phones!

Nokia's N-Series is known for its line-up of feature packed phones that Nokia calls "mobile computers". These phones are powerful devices that cram in a lot of features ranging from multimedia abilities to office applications. In short, the N-Series are adept at handling anything you throw at it. The series did give us path breaking and revolutionary handsets like the N91, N73 and the N95 - which were amazing devices of their time. All these phones had one thing in common - their Symbian Operating System. In fact, the N-Series and Symbian had become synonymous. That is about to change now.

A Nokia official has reaffirmed that the N8 is going to be the last N-Series device with Symbian. The device runs Symbian^3 has a 12 megapixel camera and like its predecessors - is a multimedia powerhouse complete with an HDMI port. However, the phone is crippled by the OS which even after being an updated version continues to be outshined by more contemporary OSes like Android and the iOS4.
Nokia, however, has an ace up its sleeve in the form of its upcoming MeeGo OS that would be used in the future N Series phones. MeeGo is being developed by Intel in collaboration with chip giant Intel and is expected to land on main stream devices by the end of 2010.
Of course, this doesn't mean Symbian will die a slow agonizing death. Symbian will continue to be used on its X, E and C series devices. Symbian^4 too is in the making as of now and is expected to be a decent upgrade over the current versions of Symbian when it arrives later this year or by early 2011.
The first Nokia MeeGo N-Series devices are expected to be launched by early 2011.