The world of geeks is abuzz at the moment with the news that Windows 8 is likely to be released in late 2011 or early 2012. The first question is why would Microsort release it less than 2 years after Windows 7?. The answer seems to be that Microsoft is scrambling to keep up with the changes in technology.

Microsoft wants to get into the tablet age properly. It is believed that Windows 8 will be built on the ARM microchip architecture. This is the architecture a majority of the smartphones and tablets run on.  It is clear that many manufacturers like Dell and HP are soon to release competing products to the very popular iPad 2 from Apple. Microsoft wants all these products to run a fast and custom version of Windows 8.

Some of the new features that have so far been leaked to the media include:

- built-in PDF support

- facial recognition support

-  “instant on” feature

- 3D support

-     further enhancements to the Aero user interface. The new interface will borrow much of the look and feel from the tiled Metro user interface found in Windows Phone.

-  An “immersive interface” in a new version of Internet Explorer. This in non-geek-speak is a version of IE that is optimized for tablet laptops and phones.

-   A Windows App download capability, along the lines of the hugely popular Apple “Appstore”.

 Watchers of Microsoft on the Internet  also believe the early release of a new operating system by Microsoft is an attempt by them to get users to upgrade from their outdated versions of Windows. Statistics suggest  that over 54% of Windows operating systems in use are Windows XP (released around 2001- 10 years old) and 11% are Windows Vista.

The uptake by business to Vista has been a major disappointment for Microsoft and its common for companies will skip one version of release operating system. This means that many companies that did not upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista and may well be lured to upgrade to Windows 8. Microsoft will also be hoping to entice XP users to also upgrade to the newer Windows 8.

So we’ll soon have a new version of Windows to wow us and entice us to upgrade. I’ll keep readers of this NEWS column posted on the news as it comes to light.