Microsoft is about open a new Window

Bloggers have uncovered what are claimed to be internal Microsoft slides detailing some of the features planned for the company's next computer operating system—Windows 8.

       The slides, which first popped over the weekend on the Italian blog Windowsette, are stamped "Microsoft Confidential" and "Under NDA".

Each slide contains a footnote that states, "Windows 8 Discussion, This Is Not A Plan of Record." They indicate Microsoft may be eyeing a Windows 8 release sometime in the 2012 timeframe.

Microsoft has not confirmed their authenticity.

If real, they would appear to show that Microsoft may be looking to mimic rival Apple's success in developing products that provides users with a more intuitive computing experience. For instance, one slide describes a scenario in which a gamer, armed with a tablet-style device, pauses to answer the doorbell.

"His game is interrupted by a knock on the door. He looks away, and the game pauses. Eric stands up and walks to the door," the document states. "Although the game is paused, the Lap PC adjusts for the change in light. Soon he's outside showing off his new Lapp to the neighbors."

The documents, if authentic, also indicate Microsoft is focusing on portability in Windows 8 from the ground up. They describe built-in support for motion-sensing accelerometers, ambient light sensors, GPS units, wireless networking, and cameras.

Microsoft also may be planning to mimic Apple in other ways, as another document supposedly reveals plans for a Windows "App Store."

With each new operating system release, Microsoft hopes to further erase memories of Windows Vista, which debuted in January 2007 and quickly thereafter was chided by many as the worst OS release in Microsoft's history.

Users complained about Vista's horsepower requirements, incompatibility with older apps, and intrusive security requirements.

The software maker appears well on the road to recovery with Windows 7, which launched last October to generally favorable reviews. Microsoft last week announced that it has sold more than 150 million Windows 7 licenses, making it the company's fastest selling OS ever.

The information about Windows 8 surfaced after Microsoft Kitchen blogger Stephen Chapman found them on a slide deck on the Italian Windows site Windowsette. Microsoft, by the way, has not confirmed whether the deck is real.

Among the more interesting details in the deck are these:

1. An apps store. Apple's App Store has been a raging success, as has Android's Market. So Windows 8 appears as if it will also have an app store called, not surprisingly, "Windows Store." But there are no indications how Microsoft will manage the countless thousands of apps available for Windows, or many other details about the store at this point.
2. Improved energy efficiency. The slides spend a good deal of time describing the many ways in which Windows 8 will be more energy efficient, including an update to the core kernel manager, reduced power use while idle, better sleep and resume, and more.
3. Faster startup. Windows 8, according to the slides, will feature faster startup through a new feature that combines the Logoff and Hibernate states.
4. Push-button reset. This will allow you to re-install Windows with the push of a button. Most important is that Windows will retain all of your files, settings, applications, and so on, without wiping them out.
5. Face recognition. This new safety feature will let you log on using face recognition.
6. Support for slates. Slates are one of the form factors Windows 8 will support. WindowsPad anyone?
7. Better help and support. Every time a new version of Windows comes out, this seems to be on the punch list. We'll have to see if this time it actually happens.
8. Better identity management. The decks lay out a vision in which user accounts don't just live on one PC --- you can carry them from computer to computer, and to other devices. Identities can live and be backed up in the cloud. As a slide puts it, "Identity evolves from machine centric to user centric."

Again, it's not yet confirmed that the slide deck is real, and Windows 8 is likely two years away, so a lot may change. But don't be surprised if most or all of these features are in Windows 8.