There has been a deluge of Windows 8 ^[1] related information over the past few hours. We have already covered various aspects of the successor to Windows 7 ^[2] including online app store, tablet optimizations ^[3], facial recognition ^[4] and more ^[5]. It appears that the source of all the leaked information was Win7Vista.com ^[6], which published a huge stockpile of confidential documents. Of course, as you can imagine, Microsoft is not bemused. Francisco Martin’s blog ^[7], which was hosted on Microsoft Live Spaces, has already been pulled down (possibly by Microsoft). Worse still, in their eagerness to share the confidential documents, Win7Vista might have exposed their source. One of the slides clearly identifies ^[8] one Mr. Derek Goode from HP as the legitimate owner of the documents.

Anyway, the documents are still available for download from the aforementioned forum. If you are excited about Windows 8, then you should really check them out. In this post, I will highlight some of the stuff (other than that has already been mentioned) that caught my fancy.

Fascinated by Apple

Really! Microsoft openly acknowledges Apple’s cool cred and discusses Apple in at least three of the slides. No wonder, Apple keeps mocking Windows for stealing ideas.

Optimized for Variety of Platforms

Microsoft will continue with its philosophy of using the same operating system on different form factors. Windows 8 will be optimized for tablet PCs, laptops and normal desktops.

Instant On

I briefly discussed this earlier, but going through the slides I found a lot more information. With Windows 8, Microsoft is aiming for “Instant On”. The documents also suggest that Microsoft might be weighing Logoff + Hibernate as an alternative to conventional shutdown.

Energy Efficiency

Given that Windows 8 will run on both laptops and tablet devices, power efficiency is a critical aspect.

Improved Help and Support

Microsoft wants to broaden the Windows Help and Support by integrating more resources including custom resources provided by the OEMs.

Improved Recovery Option

Windows 8 will provide an option called “Factory Reset”, which will reset your system to its original condition, while retaining your data and configurations. Microsoft also wants to provide a pre-boot recovery environment, which will be simple enough to be useful to everyone, but will also house advanced diagnostic tools for power users.

3D

There are a lot of people who believe that 3D is a passing fad. However, Microsoft is not one of them. As suggested by the following slides, Windows 8 ecosystem will be capable of providing a rich 3D experience.

Improved Identity and Authentication

Windows 8 might include a system level key ring to manage all your login information, thus freeing you from the burden of remembering hundreds of passwords. It also means independence from web browsers and other 3rd party tools for managing passwords.

With Windows 8, user accounts will finally become user centric. Your cloud based user account will follow you, from machine to machine.

As a part of its enhanced focus on simplified user authentication, Microsoft wishes to integrate facial recognition in Windows 8. Check our previous post ^[4] for more on the Kinect ^[9]-like features Microsoft is currently contemplating for Windows 8.