SlashGear

Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system has only just hit the market, but the software giant is looking down the road to its next big release already. With the years it takes to develop complicated software the replacements are in the works before the current version debuts typically.

A new roadmap has tipped up that shows Windows 8 is set to hit in 2012. That would put the OS at a launch date of about three years from the debut of Windows 7. Also, it is interesting to note that according to the slide from the roadmap both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are considered release updates not major releases.

Windows 8 on the other hand is listed as a major release. I wonder if we can assume then that Windows 8 will be all new code wise. The 2012 release date is certainly far from set in store, Microsoft is known to delay software for long periods to get things right. Sometimes things never get right as many saw with Vista.