Microsoft might not breathe a single word on the next iteration of the Windows client and server platforms for the general public, but the company’s silence should not be mistaken for inactivity. While the software giant is keeping down to a minimum leaks on the development of Windows 8 client and Windows 8 Server, the company is indeed hard at work on the successors of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. And while the company is keeping mum on Windows 8, it is already developing technical documentation for the US Department of Justice.
Robert Muglia, the president for Microsoft's Server and Tools Business, is still at the helm of the documentation effort that the Redmond company needs to perform per the settlement it reached with DOJ in 2001. The software giant has continued to make available technical content through the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (“MCPPâ€) to third-parties that want to leverage the protocols in order to build interoperability with Microsoft’s solution and their products. Part of the technical content is related to Windows 8 and Windows 8 Server, although in all fairness, the DOJ doesn’t refer to the operating systems under these monikers.
“Approximately 500 Microsoft employees and contingent staff are involved in work on the MCPP technical documentation. Given the substantial overlap between the MCPP and the European Work Group Server Protocol Program, all of these individuals' work relates to both programs or is exclusive to the MCPP. Of these, approximately 232 product team engineers and program managers are actively involved in the creation and review of the technical content of the documentation, including periodic work on TDI resolution as well as developing new content for the next version of Windows Client and Windows Server,†an excerpt from the “Joint Status Report on Microsoft's Compliance With The Final Judgments†available here reads. (emphasis added)
“Because of varying areas of expertise, not all of these product team employees are working on the documentation at any given time. For example, many of the MCPP documents currently do not have any associated TDIs. In other months, these same product teams may have multiple TDIs to resolve and/or additional content to draft and spend most or all of their time on projects relating to the protocol documentation,†the report adds.
On March 22nd, it will be just five months since Windows 7 hit store shelves, and, in this regard, Microsoft’s silence is understandable. The company would gain absolutely no advantage by beginning to dish out details on Windows 8, as it would only draw attention away from Windows 7.
