According to some newsgroup posts, Microsoft and its Windows Blue team are gunning hard to push Windows Blue out by the end of summer. They’re both hoping to get out a public preview for Windows Blue within the coming months. Windows Blue will bring a refresh to the current Windows 8 systems, improving upon things like user experience. It will also jump-start Microsoft’s new, annual and affordable upgrades to its operating system.
One of the major updates with Windows Blue will be the search function. According to Microsoft related USENET newsgroups, the Bing team and the Windows Blue team are working closely together to revamp the search feature in Windows 8. Search results will include more in-depth app integration. An example would be when you search for a movie, there will also be apps that show up in the search result that will allow you to play the movie, or watch a trailer of the movie. Another example would be for music search results, where you will see apps that will allow you to stream the music, download it, or buy it. The app integration feature is similar to the one featured in Firefox OS.
Windows Blue will also feature an upgrade to Internet Explorer. Just like how Internet Explorer was upgraded to version 10 on Windows 8, Windows Blue will be offering the new Internet Explorer 11. It will feature a similar design to Internet Explorer 10, but possibly include many fixes and performance boosts. Microsoft is very determined to make Internet Explorer, who is constantly ridiculed by users, into a usable and lovable browser.
Watch out in the next few months for the public preview of Windows Blue. The new upgrade will improve upon the many features users already love about Windows 8. Within this year as well, Microsoft plans on releasing a Windows Blue upgrade to the Windows Phone 8 devices that will offer improved aesthetics, as well as improved Metro UI apps.
Its still to be determined on how this will affect newsgroup readers and the compatibility they have with this new flavor of Windows. However, there has been no real reports of any issues with existing Windows 7 compatible newsreaders working on the Windows 8 OS currently.
