14 DAY TRIAL // Leaked screenshots reportedly from a Milestone 2 Build of Windows 8 seem to indicate that the Cloud will play a bigger role than it does today for Windows 7.
More specifically, the leaked info is focused on Windows Live, with Windows vNext reportedly being capable of enabling users to connect local and Cloud accounts seamlessly.
The information wasn’t confirmed by Microsoft officially, and customers are warned that it could turn up to be nothing more than speculation, with no actual results in the successor of Windows 7.
The Redmond company is already marketing the Windows client and Windows Live as a duo, pushing the two in tandem to users, per its Software plus Services strategy.
As far as I’m concerned, although Windows and Windows Live are indeed designed to work in tandem, they still manage to feel and act like two disparate offerings artificially joined at the hip.
To me, Windows 8 and Windows Live Essentials vNext would provide the software giant with a better chance to deepen integration, and why not, extend it to cover additional services and platforms.
Microsoft’s three screens and a Cloud vision is still embryonic in my perspective, which is a good thing, meaning that it can only grow.
I’d love to see services such as Windows Live SkyDrive and Windows Live Mesh come with options to integrate seamlessly in the fabric of Windows 8, as new features of Windows Explorer, for example.
Cloud storage and synchronization should work seamlessly not only between Windows 8 and Windows Live vNext, but also across Windows Phone vNext, and why not, your TV, both on Xbox and on Mediaroom-powered devices if their owners so require.
The possibilities are certainly endless, as future scenarios do not stop at synchronization of content or Cloud storage, nor are they limited to just computers, smartphones and TVs.
With the personal computer evolving into new form factors increasingly embraced by consumers which no longer identify their devices as PCs; collaboration, remote connectivity, anywhere access, synchronization, essentially, taking your device-agnostic Cloud life beyond the limitations of today’s machines and services, must become a top priority when designing and building next generation on-premise and Cloud platforms.
Provided that Microsoft plays its cards right, Windows 8 plus the company’s services could represent an excellent start for the company that set to put a Windows PC on every desk and is evolving to have the Windows platform everywhere.