MICROSOFT ON VERGE OF WINDOWS 8 MILESTONE 2 BUILD

Microsoft is on the verge of finishing its second Milestone build of Windows 8, WinRumorshas learned. The software giant has compiled a number of Milestone 2 builds recently ready for the final M2 build that will be distributed internally and externally to the company’s closest partners for testing.

The software giant finalized the M1 build in early December after four months of development. M2 builds began in early December and are expected to be finalized in the next two weeks. Milestone 3 development is expected to last until early June. The current schedule could mean we’ll see a Windows 8 beta in the Summer.

Microsoft has so far been extremely quiet on the Windows 8 front. Windows Chief, Steven Sinofsky, took to the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January to introduce a technology preview of Microsoft’s Windows ARM support and show off an early build of Windows 8. Microsoft is partnering with ARM-based manufactures NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to produce new Tablet devices. Rumors suggest that Microsoft will create a dual-UI for Windows 8. A tile-based user interface codenamed “Mosh” will reportedly be included.

Steve Ballmer has described the next release of Windows as the company’s “riskiest product bet”. It is understood that Microsoft will feature deep cloud integration into the future OS to realise its vision of “three screens and a cloud”.