's Active Directory, which is part of Windows 2000 (the next version of Windows NT, due to ship this year).
Windows RT is a specifically designed version of Windows 8 OS for ARM devices such as tablets.
Take away the context-switching torture feature, and Windows 8 is probably the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced.
FORBES: Apparently The Top Windows 8 App Is The One That Makes It Look Like Windows 7
Up until then, Windows 8 felt like an improved version of Windows 7, bringing new features to the table, and a reorganization of the layout of programs such as Windows Explorer.
FORBES: Why Windows 8 Is The First Windows Release I Absolutely Hate
Microsoft has countered by importing Windows CE, a stripped-down version of Windows that can run anything from cellular telephones to videogame consoles, to palm-size computers.
Most Windows users view the arrival of Windows RT (WinRT), the version of Windows 8 that runs on ARM processors, with something bordering on contempt.
Microsoft recently launched the Consumer Preview version of Windows 8 and will presumably launch the final version by mid 2012.
FORBES: Nokia Not Dead, Working on a Windows 8 Tablet with Microsoft
Every version of Windows will run software that was written for the previous version.
WP8 was announced over the summer and in an effort to keep everyone with the existing hardware (that would not support Windows Phone 8), Microsoft talked about an intermediate version of Windows Phone, running between the upcoming WP8 and the then current WP7.5.
Also, in my view, it is always better, especially with Windows computers, to buy a new machine if you want a new version of Windows.
He expects the beta to be unveiled this summer, with a version for Windows on ARM to be ready in the Fall, and an x86 version shortly after.
FORBES: Microsoft: Morgan Stanley Bullish On Office 15; Target $37
It's worth pointing out that the ARM-based WinRT (psst -- you can catch up on what exactly Windows RT is here ) model is both thinner and lighter than the version with Windows 8 Pro.
ENGADGET: Microsoft Surface tablets: the differences between Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro models
All of three run on the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition operating system and come with the new mobile version of Windows Media Player 10 pre-installed (but you can use it to listen to stuff besides Joss Stone).
We expect to see a similar decline in Windows revenues during this quarter because customers, who are aware that a new version of Windows will be released soon, may have decided to postpone their OS upgrades.
FORBES: Office Will Need To Prop Up Microsoft's Earnings Ahead Of Windows 8
By the time Microsoft's impressive looking upgrade to windows - Vista - comes along in the Autumn, along with the next version of Windows Media Player, it may have got the wireless exchange of high definition video around the home working.
When we asked him about Windows Phone 7 scaling up into the larger-screened devices or even a tablet version of Windows 7, he was quite firm in saying that the current PC offering is the platform of choice.
ENGADGET: Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 not planned to hit tablets, Courier was always a concept
We'd already gotten the official word that H.264 support was included in Windows 7, but a tipster has lead us to believe that the pre-beta version of Windows 7 also includes native support for DivX.
ENGADGET: Windows 7 to natively support DivX and transcoding? HD
Unfortunately Microsoft have also announced that Windows Phone 8 apps will be different yet again, so any Windows Phone 7 app we make would have to be rebuilt from the ground up for the next version of Windows Phone.
ENGADGET: BBC not bringing iPlayer or live streaming to Windows Phone, blames Microsoft
Many expect the two to come together as Windows 8, which will handle multi-touch interfaces, a feature poorly supported in the current version of Windows but which is key for slates and tablets where the chips are likely to find a use.
The firm said Microsoft's latest version of Windows had failed to revitalise the industry.
There will probably be a sneak peak at the next version of Windows, Windows 8.
Software giant Microsoft has built support for touch-screen interfaces into the latest version of Windows.
To do that, it made a beta version of Windows 7 available to the public.
His plan was therefore to introduce new metaphors in the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn.
And the release of a new version of Windows is not news, should not be news.
It is a faster version of windows 7, with a full touch mode available.
Yes, it costs a lot of money to armor-plate software, as Microsoft discovers with each new version of Windows.
Will they understand that the Surface RT is a limited version of Windows 8?
FORBES: Microsoft Has A Problem With The Public's Expectation Of The Surface
Most importantly, it keeps a lower cost version of Windows Phone alive for the manufacturers.
Other details: the operating system will be a version of Windows Phone OS, not Windows Phone 7.
FORBES: Microsoft Targets Social Teens With New 'Kin' Phones
应用推荐