Man, remind me never to entrust my deepest secrets with anyone in Silicon Valley. It seems like every day we get a new story about some kind of technology leaks. Today comes the news that a bunch of different blogs (including one that has suspiciously been taken off line) have received and posted different slides showing Microsoft’s plans for the (not even announced yet) Windows 7. The slides showcase all sorts of new features as well as the lessons the company is trying to take away from Apple’s success. We can only assume that one of those lessons involves how to get your leaked info plastered all over the Internet.
The slides are apparently a few months old and include new features like an app store, a computer design that looks like an Abu Dhabi hotel, 3D displays, and even facial recognition through webcams as the way to sign in (apparently typing your dog’s name and then your lucky number isn’t cool enough for some people).
CNET News has a rundown of all the different leaks. They also point out that we probably won’t be seeing Windows 8 hitting the shelves for a very, very long time:
“The software maker has not talked about its plans beyond Windows 7. Microsoft has said that it is working on a minor “service pack” update to Windows 7 and will start testing it next month. That update, however, consists largely of bug fixes and doesn’t add significant features. Much of the company’s plans for this year center around touting the popularity of Windows 7 and pitching updates being made to the free, downloadable Windows Live Essentials programs, including Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. The company issued a public beta version of the updated Essentials tools last week, also noting that Microsoft has now sold 150 million Windows 7 licenses.
Although the desktop team hasn’t commented on when to expect Windows 8, the Windows Server team showed slides at last year’s Professional Developers Conference saying that it expected to have a major release of that operating system around 2012. Earlier this month, Server and Tools unit president Bob Muglia confirmed to CNET that the next server operating system will be a major release and is being developed along with its desktop counterpart, although he did not give a release time frame.”
So, another day, another leak. Somewhere right now, a Microsoft employee is cowering in fear while awaiting his inevitable punishment. Meanwhile, the rest of us, cower in fear of an another ad campaign as annoying as that “Windows 7 was my idea” nonsense.
Seriously, I used to think a smug Justin Long was the worst thing these marketing companies could make me endure…
