There’s certainly been no shortage of leaks surrounding Microsoft’s Windows Blue in recent weeks, but now the company has confirmed that the long-rumored Windows 8 update is underway.
Microsoft confirmed to The Verge on Wednesday that the public preview version of Windows Blue will debut at its Build developer conference in late June. Sources familiar with the company’s plans revealed that Microsoft began working on a “milestone” preview of the software update earlier this month.
Some of the features that have been
exposed in the new build include a new File Manager app, improved
multi-monitor support, more customisation options for the Start
screen and a Windows Phone-style”slide-to-shut-down” feature.
Microsoft is also said to be working on
various new first-party apps for Windows Blue, in addition to some
of those already revealed in the leaked build. Further, it’s said that
Blue will indeed introduce optimisations that will bring Windows 8 to
smaller 7- and 8-inch tablets. The leak has already revealed that the
minimum resolution that will support the side-by-side Snap View for apps has been lowered to 1024x768px.
Frank X. Shaw, Corporate Vice President
of Corporate Communications at Microsoft states that customers have
already experienced the “ongoing rhythm of updates and innovations” –
aka new devices, services and apps — that have rolled out over the last
six months. This continuous development cycle is the new normal across Microsoft.
What’s more, Microsoft is very likely to
choose a different name for Blue, as this is only the internal codename
for the company’s new “set of plans.”
The BUILD 2013 conference is happening in June this year at San Francisco.
