Windows 8 when it ships may have a radical new interface for higher-end users. An Italian leak on Wednesday has suggested that Aero will be replaced by Wind, a fully 3D interface. The UI would be entirely adaptive and change icons, shortcuts and possibly other elements to streamline day-to-day use, Windows 8 Italia heard.
The OS would be heavily demanding on memory and would not only need 170MB of video memory, ruling out most integrated video systems sold today, and would be limited to 64-bit versions of Windows 8.
Microsoft already uses some 3D acceleration techniques in Windows 7, but much of the interface is still designed around 2D concepts. .
The rumor came from a site that also divulged Windows 8 planning slides. NVIDIA has also recently released a Quadro graphics driver (version 265) that explicitly includes Windows 8 in the 64-bit code, indirectly supporting the Wind strategy. Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer alluded to Windows 8 being a major gamble on strategy, and an adaptive interface could fulfill that role.
The most credible claims so far for Windows 8’s release date have put it sometime in 2012 based on Microsoft Netherlands’ own assertions.
