Windows 8 by 2012 as Shown on Microsoft Slide

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Will Windows 8 be here before the end of the world?

Windows 7 is the fresh face of Microsoft right now (aside from Steve Ballmer, who also has quite the face), but it seems that the reign of the latest Windows won't last much longer than just a few years.

According to Windows Roadmap slides found by Msftkitchen at PDC 2009, the next major release of Windows is due in 2012.

As can be seen in the slide below, listed under "~2012" is "Major Release" for "Code Name 'Windows 8'".

Of course, the fact that there will be a version of Windows after the current one shouldn't be surprising, but this marks the first time that Microsoft has laid out an approximate time frame of when we might see it.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • holy
    the first time that Microsoft has laid out an approximate time frame
    About that:
    http://msftkitchen.com/2009/08/windows-8-server-due-2012.html
    Reply
  • chinesemafia69
    lol who actually thinks the worlds is coming to an end at 2012...seriosuly
    Reply
  • commandersozo
    Well, now we know how the world will end. Lol!
    Reply
  • coonday
    I always thought Apple would be the ones responsible for the end of the world.
    Reply
  • Impulse Fire911
    ^^^^^ yeah, the competition will be so fierce that mac will just bribe the governments with free itunes music and get nukes
    Reply
  • dro524
    windows 7 will be abandoned right as I install it, lol
    Reply
  • jarnail24
    Hey if you think the world will end I'll buy all your stuff for a dollar since you'll be dead anyway and you won't need it right?
    Reply
  • omnimodis78
    holyAbout that:http://msftkitchen.com/2009/08/win -2012.htmlHaha I was thinking that too right when I read that sentence! I remembered seeing this very same diagram a few months back, so I was a little surprised that Tom's would run this story like it was a big announcement made today by MS. Sheesh!
    Reply
  • Drag0nR1der
    So, a few months after Mr Ballmer says in an interview that they are looking at a 3 ywar period between windows 7 and 8, it appears on a slide, shockingly, scheduled for 2012, 3 years after the windows 7 release... sooo... no plans have changed, all is carrying on as we've been told... what's next? "Today we learnt that water is still wet, ice cream melts whilst you eat try and eat it, and that Adam Sandler is still annoying as hell." y Msftkitchen could have saved a lot of bother by, you know, just looking at the same news as we all do.
    Reply
  • Honis
    Read the first commentators article. This is a server edition not a desktop edition. Considering the last server edition was released in 2008 and they release a new one every 3-4 years this is right on par with the Standard Microsoft release schedule.
    Reply