Rumors are bubbling about the next version of Windows, and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer fanned the flames last week when he called the upcoming OS the company's "riskiest product bet." Spoken during a research analyst conference, Ballmer's pronouncement instantly sparked larger questions about the future of computing platforms and devices.

Recalling last spring's allegedly leaked set of slides that supposedly revealed initial ideas for Windows 8, Microsoftologist Mary Jo Foley notes that the features all appeared good, but not necessarily risky. The features included facial recognition as one option for security, fast start-up and enhanced support for slates. Some sources have told Foley that the next OS would also include a file system that works very differently.

"So why did Ballmer characterize Windows 8 as 'risky'?" she asks. "I'm left scratching my head. Could he have meant risky because of the way it will or won't compete with other coming PC operating systems like ChromeOS, Mac OS X Lion? Or risky because of the adoption by more customers of the cloud? Could Windows 8 and Windows vNext actually be two different things?"

The soaring popularity of mobile devices and applications is forcing a major shift in computing platforms, and Windows will have to evolve considerably if it is to keep up, experts say. To illustrate the point, Robert Scoble, in a blog post, relays a discussion he recently had with the CIO of Starbucks, Stephen Gillett. Starbucks recently launched its Digital Network, which customers connect to via Wi-Fi in the company's U.S.-based stores. According to Gillett, customers increasingly are using mobile devices rather than laptops at the stores. Within a few years, if people have largely replaced laptops with smartphones or iPads, will anyone care about operating systems designed for laptop or desktop computers?

"[W]e are losing interest in the platforms that Microsoft is dominant in and that makes the next version of Windows very risky," Scoble writes. Unless Windows 8 offers some astounding feature, people could be satisfied sticking with Windows 7. What's more, operating systems from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), optimized for mobility, are increasingly alluring to users.

For more:
- see Mary Jo Foley's post at ZDNet
- see Robert Scoble's post

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