Microsoft, Windows 8 | featured news

Never has so much been at stake for Microsoft in a single product release. After the successful launch of Windows 7 in 2009, the company continues to rule the desktop, but has faltered in the emerging tablet space. The next version of its popular operating system, codenamed Windows 8, is designed to bridge the gap between PCs and slates, but will it be enough to help the world’s leading software company catch up to its competitors in the mobile space when it launches sometime in 2012?

Microsoft will soon take the wraps off the biggest update to its operating system in 16 years. The Windows software giant unveiled a new blog and Twitter feed for its upcoming Windows 8 operating system Monday -- a first tantalizing look at the development of its next-generation flagship product, the software that powers most of the computers on the planet.

Microsoft might have shown us its new operating system, but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Slides describing Microsoft's plans and ambitions for the Windows 8 hardware and software ecosystem have been leaked. In the documents, the company outlines its plans for performance improvements and a Windows Store for third-party software sales.

Microsoft should once again release its next mainstream version of Windows about three years after the last, a roadmap obtained this week reveals. The schedule has the major revision, tentatively titled "Windows 8," launching in 2012 or about three years after Windows 7.