Windows 8 will be launched in 2012, said Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer in Tokyo on Monday. Noting that the company's programmers are hard at work on the next iteration of the Windows operating system, Ballmer promised that there will be a "whole lot more coming." Windows 7, the current version of Windows, was released in July 2009. While he offered no clues as to the features that will make it into the new version, Ballmer did confirm the Windows 8 name when he said: "As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."

Not much is known about Windows 8 at this point, beyond the fact that it will be available on the ARM processor, as well as reports that it could be bootable from a USB flash drive. Microsoft must certainly be feeling the heat from the emergence and runaway popularity of tablet and smartphone platforms such as the iOS and the BlackBerry Tablet OS. According to PCWorld, more details about the next version of Windows could be shared at the D: All Things Digital conference by Microsoft's Windows division president, Steven Sinofsky--who is scheduled to speak at the event.

For more:
- check out this article at International Business Times
- check out this article at PCWorld

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