Microsoft discussed several facets of its upcoming Windows 8 platform this week. Some of the revelations were surprising, with others decidedly more pedestrian. App store support, while expected, was officially confirmed for the company's next big OS release.
Stephen Sinofsky, President of Windows Live, updated the recently-launched Building Windows 8 blog with an introduction to the project's "feature teams." Comprised of developers, engineers and management staff, Sinofsky explained that these groups work both independently and with each other on smaller aspects within the greater plan.
"When we started building Windows 8 we had a clear sense of the direction we were heading and so we built a team structure to support that direction," he wrote. "We have about 35 feature teams in the Windows 8 organization. Each feature team has anywhere from 25-40 developers, plus test and program management, all working together."
Sinofsky revealed that teams were indeed working on an App Store for Windows 8, as well as general compatibility for apps. Other teams contributing to the platform include Ecosystem Fundamentals, Human Interaction Platform and Media Platform.
The executive also addressed criticism that the Windows team had grown too big for its britches. "When we started Windows 7 some people told us that the Windows team was too big and had reached a size that caused more engineering problems than it solved," Sinofsky explained. "At the same time, you can look at all the comments and see the incredible demand for new features across a very wide range of scenarios."
More demands require more manpower, he reasoned: "Our job is to get as much done in as short a time as possible, at a very significant scale. That's all a pretty significant engineering effort."
While Sinofsky didn't say much about a release date, Computer World predicts Windows 8 might be released next (2012) October. Earlier this week, Sinofsky announced that some people could be fiddling with it "over the coming months."
