It is not news that I am a fan of all things Microsoft. From Windows 3.1 to Windows 8, from Xbox to Xbox 360 and from Windows Phone 6 to Windows Phone 7.
Xbox 360: As some are aware I have been doing Xbox 360 dashboard beta testing for the past few years now and I enjoy it. The dashboard update is coming along nicely and I think should be released sometime around November 2012. I can't give out specifics as I am bound to keep it secret, but you can always check out the Microsoft E3 media briefing etc.
Windows 8: Released to Manufacturing later today, Windows 8 is the latest in Microsoft popular Operating System. Despite some peoples reactions to the OS I think it will be a popular Operating System. Faster than Windows 7 in benchmarks and even boot up time is quicker, Windows 8 is more about apps, like its Windows Phone and Xbox 360 counterparts. Apps are available through a app store and are installed along with a shortcut on the new Modern UI (previously named Metro UI) startup interface.
I have had the pleasure of using Windows 8 for a while now and must say that its a good stable Operating System, that has built in SkyDrive support to store documents, pictures etc to the cloud. Windows 8 also has a people's hub similar to Windows Phone 7, where all your contacts are stored, you are able to view contacts from various social networks inc Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter even Google+.
I also have to point out although this is optimised for touch screen devices, it also works well with a keyboard and mouse, which is what I am using to post this post on my blog.
Windows Phone 7.8/8: News is here that Nokia has something planned for 6th September which would indicate that they are announcing release of their Lumia Windows 8 handsets. Windows Phone 8 is the next in line of Microsofts Windows Phones, in this version of Phone we see:-
A Shared core with Windows 8.
New Star Screen Interface.
NFC Support.
Multicore support.
To name a few. Windows Phone 7.5 users will be getting a update to Windows Phone 7.8 which network carriers won't have a choice weather or not they want to hand this update out to handsets on their network. This will give some update features, although all update features have not been released to public, one of those features is the new Start Screen which the Windows 8 Phones will have.
