Sinofsky starts Windows 8 blog, says beta coming soon

Windows boss Steven Sinofsky recently posted the first item in the "Building Windows 8" blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/), where his team will "begin an open dialog" with beta testers who will start using the software in the coming months.

Sinofsky said the new operating system "reimagines Windows for a new generation of computing devices, and will be the very best operating system for hundreds of millions of PCs, new and old, used by well over a billion people globally."

He didn't reveal much about the company's new flagship product but promised to share more details about its features "in the next few weeks."

The timing disclosed in the blog is the biggest news - the feature disclosures indicate the new operating system is nearly done, and the beta testing comment tracks with expectations that a test version will be released at or shortly after the Build Windows conference starting Sept. 13 in Anaheim.

The blog is an updated version of the one Sinofsky produced ahead of the Windows 7 release (it began on Aug. 17, 2008). This time there's also a companion Twitter feed - @BuildWindows8.

The new blog is apparently also intended to address frustration with the slow dribble of information about the software that will be the cornerstone of the PC industry for much of the next decade.

Sinofsky explained the approach to disclosure:

"We've heard people express frustration over how little we've communicated so far about Windows 8. We've certainly learned lessons over the years about the perils of talking about features before we have a solid understanding of our ability to execute.

"Our intent with this pre-release blog is to make sure that we have a reasonable degree of confidence in what we talk about, before we talk about it. Our top priority is the responsibility we feel to our customers and partners, to make sure we're not stressing priorities, churning resource allocations, or causing strategic confusion among the tens of thousands of you who care deeply and have much invested in the evolution of Windows. Rather than generating traffic or building excitement, this blog is here to provide a two-way dialog about the complexities and tradeoffs of product development."

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