Windows 8 rumors

Disclaimer: This poll is not conducted by Microsoft. At the time of this writing, there is no official announcement from Microsoft regarding the new features of Windows 8.

I want to be sure all features that have a fair chance of receiving a significant number of votes in this Windows 8 poll are included, so I created a brainstorming list with all possible enhancements I could think of. Some of you have already mentioned your wishes in previous posts in my Windows 8 series. I included them in a short version in this post. (Let me know if I missed something.)

If you have a blog, you can just copy my list here and ask your readers on your site. If there is enough interest, we could run the final poll on multiple blogs simultaneously by using an online poll service. I suppose this increases the chance that someone at Microsoft will take a look at the results. If you are interested in running this poll on your blog, please contact me.

If you have ideas for additional features that should be on this list, please post a comment below or send me message.

Please only make proposals for major changes. The list would get much too long if we include remedies for every tiny Windows annoyance.

Also note that this poll is only for the next client version of Windows. Although some of the enhancements mentioned here might involve changes for Windows Server, they are essentially client features.

If you think that some of the feature descriptions in the list below are unclear or could be expressed in a better way, please tell me. And if you think a feature shouldn’t appear in this list, for instance because it is too specific, please let me know that too.

I didn’t sort the feature list because the poll software will arrange the list automatically according to the number of votes. So the order in this list doesn’t express any preferences.

You have time to come up with your ideas until the final poll launches. (I will link to it from here.) This is your chance to express your wishes before Windows 8 is released. Complaining after the release is easy but is more or less useless. So please speak up now!

Windows 8 wish list poll

  • No changes (let’s stay with what we know)
  • Less bloat
  • Maximized number of new features
  • Better support for different form factors (touch, very small screen sizes, device orientation, etc.)
  • Radical new user interface (better than iOS or Android)
  • Users choose between different user interfaces
  • Fewer Windows editions
  • More Windows editions
  • Maximized hardware compatibility
  • Maximized software compatibility
  • Seamless upgrade from Vista and Windows 7
  • Security improvements
  • Stability improvements
  • Performance improvements
  • Improved energy efficiency (power consumption)
  • Better modularity (allow users to install only components they really need, like in Linux)
  • Third-party patch management through Microsoft Update
  • Integrated application virtualization
  • Windows Store (buy approved Windows apps in Microsoft’s online store)
  • Integrated application streaming (launch Windows apps from internal or external cloud)
  • Cloud APIs (third-party apps store data in the cloud through Windows APIs)
  • Kinect support (interact with apps using gestures without touching hardware)
  • Facial recognition for Windows logon
  • Instant-On (zero boot time)
  • Restore function (restore Windows to original state without losing personal data)
  • Integrated malware protection
  • Improved UAC (more configuration options, features like sudo in Linux, etc.)
  • BitLocker for all Windows 8 editions
  • Better backup software (tape support, select files, etc.)
  • Standby mode for hard disks (on demand, timer)
Series NavigationMy Windows 8 wish list – No more evolution please!The Windows 8 poll