14 DAY TRIAL // Additional details on Windows 8 are expected this week, and it appears that they won’t all come from the same source. Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division will take the stage at the All Things Digital D9 Conference, and he’ll reportedly demo Windows 8 for Tablet PCs.
Microsoft has yet to confirm the Windows 8 slate demonstration at D9, but according to third-party sources, this will be the gist of Sinofsky’s presentation.
At the same time, another big technology event will open its doors to visitors this week, namely Computex, Taipei.
Computex is scheduled to kick off tomorrow, May 31st, and will close on June 4th, 2011. Microsoft has a presence at the conference in Taipei, and there will also be a top executive at the event.
Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President, Original Equipment Manufacturer Division is reported to be attending Computex this year.
Since Computex is essentially focused on hardware, it only makes sense for Guggenheimer, who deals with Microsoft’s OEM partners to also be present at the conference.
I have received word that Microsoft has planned something quite interesting for an event at the Taipei conference later this week.
Personally, I expect more information on Windows 8, the next major version of Windows, to be offered at Computex – if not by the software giant, then by the company’s partners that are scheduled to unveil new product.
I haven’t been able to get details on what exactly Microsoft will talk about at Computex. Still, there are quite a few heavyweights who will deliver keynotes, including: Boyd Davis, Vice President, Intel Architecture Group, Intel; Ian Drew; Executive Vice President, Marketing, ARM and Manju Hegde, Corporate Vice President, AMD, among others.
It’s hard not to wonder whether there’s any connection between Sinofsky’s Windows vNext Tablet PC demo, Guggenheimer’s presence at Computex, and OEM announcements around next generation form factors.
One recent report pointed out that Windows 8 slates / Tablet PCs could be offered to consumers by the end of 2011 – although no confirmation of this was offered by Microsoft or its OEM partners.
ARM President Tudor Brown is also in Taipei and is already talking about the connection between Windows and ARM systems. According to TimesOfIndia, Brown expects Windows to be introduced on additional markets as of 2012, including being featured in cars (automotive technologies) and new TVs, due to ARM and System on a Chip (SoC) support.
While he didn’t mention Windows 8 per se, it’s not all that hard to infer that ARM’s President was in fact referring to the next iteration of Windows, and the first Windows client to play nice with ARM systems, the sole detail actually confirmed officially by Microsoft.