14 DAY TRIAL // While Windows 8 is still years away, users can already get a taste of the next major iteration of the Windows client.
In all fairness, Microsoft already offered a sneak peek of Windows vNext at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas at the start of January.
However, the Redmond company focused on just one example of the capabilities sported by the next version of Windows, namely support for System-on-a-Chip Architectures. A third-party source is a tad more generous offering screenshots of the actual operating system.
The images included with this article, courtesy of Zukona, reveal two steps from the installation process of Windows 8.
In fact, it appears that the software giant is using the Windows 8 moniker for the successor of Windows 7, although, at least publicly it steers clear of the label altogether, preferring the “next version of Windows” reference instead.
The screenshots offer only a glimpse of the Windows 8 deployment, but they are a clear indication that Microsoft has broadened access to the early pre-Beta development milestones of Windows 7’s successor.
Third-party sources close to the Redmond company claim that Windows 8 has already passed Milestone 1 stage, with the M2 Build now in the works.
Microsoft is said to be on track to finalizing Windows 8 M3 sometime around March 2011, and make its way to the first Beta by the end of this year.
Rumors indicate that the Beta Build of Windows 8 will be offered to the public, and that it will be followed by a Beta 2 milestone and then a Release Candidate (RC) Build.
Microsoft is reportedly working to release Windows 8 to manufacturing by the end of 2012, but apparently the company is also considering an early 2013 general availability deadline for the platform.
Of course, none of this information was confirmed by Microsoft in any way, so it must all be taken with a grain of salt.
