New screenshots of Microsoft's next OS appear online - but are they the real deal?
The blurry and possibly completely made-up screens have appeared at http://wepokers.blogspot.com/, along with more claims the OS will be released in 2010.
Invented or not, the screens certainly got us thinking about what Microsoft should do to reverse the PR disaster that's befallen Vista (though it hasn't affected sales).
The latest screens don't show any radical changes, though there are a few interesting snippets. Here's what we can make out (and take this with a grain of salt):
- More Windows Live - if you're not using it now, Microsoft is sure hoping you will be come 2010. Visible in the latest screenshots is Windows Live icons on the desktop, including Mail and IM.
- Windows Media Player 12 - given it doesn't exist yet, we can only speculate. Actually there is a screen, showing a colourful fish. No help there.
- Sidebar doesn't look like it's going away - though it could look slightly different. Incredibly blurry screenshots show it's looking less blocky, and more part of the wallpaper.
- Carousels are the new black - Apple's iTunes coverflow menu must be the flavour of the month, because it's cropping up yet again, this time in a product that's two years away. Oh look, there it is again in the supposed Windows 7 picture gallery.
- The taskbar becomes Mac-esque - Try as we might, we can't help thinking that cramming more info, and fancier icons into the taskbar reminds us of Leopard.
If you're curious you can read more in our 5 minute guide to Windows 7. Rumoured features include a new Explorer core, pie-style menu and more virtualisation.
Yet another Windows 7 video is also circulating the web, this time popping up on Youtube. We had a look at the Windows 7 video including some of the supposed new features in the new OS including:
- Built in screen capture software
- Disk space analyser
- Dual plane explorer window.
- Blog creation software.
- Virtual drive
- FTP access through explorer
At this stage, it’s too early to say whether this video is fake or real.
(image source: http://wepokers.blogspot.com/)