You Did What?!? Windows 8 On the Horizon

The record for laptops at Dr. Dobb's belongs to ... well, I won't embarass him by sharing his name (and no, it's not me). But this particular editor did go through three laptops in a scant two weeks. How? By walking out the door at the end of the day, putting his laptop on top of his car as he fumbled for his keys, unlocking the car, starting the motor, and driving away. Which probably leads you to ask -- "but what about the laptop on top of the car?" Yeah, what about it.

I could understand that happening once and maybe even twice over the long haul. But three times in two weeks? That's a bit much even for those of us who appreciate a good punch line and a little irony from time to time.

Then there was the mobile phone executive who put the prototype of a new phone in his pocket just before getting on a crowded subway in Barcelona. When he got off the train, his pocket was empty, not to mention his future with the company.

What all this is leading up to is the news about the possibility of 128-bit support for Windows 8 and Windows 9 -- news inadvertantly posted in a LinkedIn profile by a Microsoft engineer. What makes this interesting isn't the fact that future versions of Windows will have 128-bit support (rumor has it that Windows 9 will also have support for kitchen sinks), but how that news became public. For the life of me, I can't understand why would someone post something of a confidential nature on a public site. But then it happens all the time. I could just as easily ask how someone could put their laptop on top of a car and driving away.

In all likelihood, this is interesting, but not Earth shattering since Windows 7 is just now rolling out, and Windows 8 won't be real until 2011 at the earliest. Your guess is as good as anyone's for Windows 9. Windows 7 will probably be the last 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, as Windows 8 will likely come in 64-bit and 128-bit versions. If not Windows 8, then surely Windows 9. In the meantime, I'd just ike to see Windows 7 get out the door.

-- Jonathan Erickson
jerickson@ddj.com

Posted by Jon Erickson at 12:25 PM  Permalink