Maples, who oversaw the development of the Windows 95 operating system at Microsoft, is now an adviser.

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For Microsoft, encouraging the development of Windows 8-style apps has a broader imperative than just propping up the Surface RT (or Windows RT in general).

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Microsoft is reportedly working on development of Windows 8, which will be better suited for touch screen tablet devices.

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He is responsible for the marketing, sales and business development of Microsoft's online services, including MSN.com and Windows Live.

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Now that Microsoft has freed Windows Vista from the shackles of a five year development process, the company is attempting to the wow starts now us by revealing that it plans to have its next major operating system ready within the next two-and-a-half years, giving Vista's successor an expected release date of late 2009.

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While Microsoft designed Windows Phone 8 to be compatible with standard Windows 8 development, the power of the average smartphone cannot compare to that of a high-end PC.

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There's much more at the source link, although Microsoft and designers may just be happy that any Windows Phone web development is a question of finding those few things that won't work, rather than reinventing the wheel.

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Microsoft was able to use the cash it made from the sale of Windows to finance the development of Explorer.

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This was in the summer of 2009, when Microsoft was putting the finishing touches on Windows 7 and just starting to shift its development efforts to Win 8.

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