Windows 8 is supposed to be the next major release from Microsoft. Well, of course there are a lot of rumors running around. Even there are rumors regarding the release date. But in comparison to the release date what windows 8 will have is the main question. For any type of operating system support, you can talk to a PC expert.
Words are around that windows 8 will be a 128 bit OS. So questions arise that will windows 8 become user friendly for home users or will be a business only OS? E.g. when win2k was launched it was widely and immediately accepted by millions of corporates. Windows 8 seems to be walking on the same lines and this time talks are around that windows 8 will have a lot of focus on virtualization.
If virtualization is indeed a specialty in windows 8 then millions of IT departments and developers will have a lot of news to be happy coz they are going to get a number of benefits. Word is around that the latest architecture hypervisor will be used in windows 8. In this operating system, the OS will reside in the local whereas the applications would be delivered virtually. This is possible with this new hypervisor architecture which makes virtualization possible.
With virtualization set to become the core of windows 8, it would enable users to run other OS like Linux and Macintosh along with windows 8 by sharing hardware resources.
For business users, if windows 8 have a feature where virtual machines could be updated even when the VMs are turned off, would be an added advantage for these people.
Moreover if virtualization is the new age demand then developers and software personnel should be able to try out applications without having to install and uninstall them.
When we speak about virtualization the first thing which comes to mind is cloud computing as this cloud computing is the cutting edge technology these days and by the time windows 8 is released cloud computing will reach to higher levels.
There are some more features which could be a part of windows 8 according to Microsoft.
Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) service: This is a multi-master replication engine which is set up for folder synchronization across multiple servers. This may be something we will be seeing in Windows 8 Server.
Major improvements in BranchCache: BranchCache was a new feature in Windows 7. We hope, there will be significant improvements for BranchCache in Windows 8.
