Windows 8 Leaks on MVP Blog

Francisco Martín García, a Microsoft MVP, recently leaked supposedly confidential information about a new version of Microsoft's Windows OS on his blog. We take a closer look at exactly what he said about Windows 8.

First of all, some of you may well be wondering what MVP is. Well, MVP is a scheme run by Microsoft to recognise independent experts—or Most Valuable Professionals—which the firm qualifies as 'exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who voluntarily share their high quality, real world expertise with others'. In other words, an MVP is not necessarily someone who works for Microsoft directly. Therefore, even if the following information was stamped all over with 'Microsoft Confidential Released to [...]' and 'Under NDA' (non-disclosure agreement), it could still turn out to be totally bogus.

Here's exactly what Francisco Martín García said about Microsoft 8, together with our enlightened comments to help you make sense of it.

•  'Windows 8 will make it easier than ever before for users to setup, access, share, and use devices - in Windows, with third-party applications and across the web.' To be honest, we'd be worried if they weren't working in this field.

• 'Microsoft needs to enable next generation high speed connectivity solutions: USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0.' Drivers will come pre-installed for native compatibility then.

• 'Windows 8 could detect my presence and log me in automatically.' Facial recognition isn't really new, as Lenovo has been offering this function on its laptops for a while now. Nevertheless, it'll still be a nice new feature.

•  'Partners are able to customize Windows in alignment with specific hardware and software offerings to create unique, integrated and branded experiences.' It remains to be seen what tools will be made available by Windows and what restrictions will be imposed.

•  'Windows 8 PCs turn on fast, nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any long or unexpected delays.' Bring it on! Note that using an SSD with current versions of Windows already makes start-up much quicker. Plus, the Windows 7 Deep Sleep Mode hardly uses any power at all and allows you to wake up your computer very quickly.

•  'Understanding and Controlling my PC: With Windows 8, you feel confident about restoring the performance of your PC when you are experiencing problems or performance has degraded over time, without needing to call support.' Improved programme accessibility for user maintenance can only be a good thing.

•  'Easy Restore and Reset: Windows 8 can be restored to the factory default easily.' Which isn't always a good idea given that most laptops these days come stuffed full of useless programmes and applications.

•  'Windows 8 can adapt to changes in ambient light, so that the display is always easy to see.' Unless there's some kind of sensor I don't see how they could do that.

•  'Developers can build modern experiences around display devices by leveraging Windows 8 support for premium media experiences such as stereoscopic 3D and Wireless TVs.' Support directly integrated into Windows Media Player perhaps?

Even if the features listed above do turn out to be true, to be honest, they won't revolutionise Windows. They are however, a step in the right direction for the new Microsoft OS. For the moment though, we'll just have to wait and see whether Microsoft confirms the leaks.


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