The rumors are coming in fast but, as with any unreleased software, it’s hard to be certain which of the rumored features will make it into the final product, which will wind up on the cutting room floor, and which never existed in the first place. We’ve taken a look at all the rumors, all the leaked screenshots, and a few screens we’re pretty sure were flat-out faked, and we’re ready to make a few prognostications about what to expect in Windows 8. We’ll approach this category-by-category.
Storage Features
In part because of its massive installed base in the business world, Microsoft has been slow to move on storage trends over the years. While power users have grown accustomed to relying on third-party tools for handling disc images and drive maintenance tasks, the company has been sitting on a new file system for years.
ISO Mounting
While other desktop OSes (Mac OS X, Linux) include the ability to handle disc images as a matter of basic functionality, Windows has lagged lamentably in this area. As recently as Windows Vista, users needed third-party tools to burn a disc image to a CD. And while Windows 7 can now write a disc image, it can’t mount and read one. According to a variety of rumor forums, however, this feature will finally come baked into Windows 8.
ISO mounting won’t mean much to the average user, but power users and system administrators will be able to use it to standardize installations across multiple systems, preserve reliable system images for posterity, and quickly deploy virtual machines. Given the gradual pace of change in recent Windows versions’ support for disc images, this feature seems very likely to see the light of day in the final release.
Probability of actually appearing in Windows 8: 70%
Tweaked Disk Cleanup
To help users manage disk space, Microsoft appears to have revamped the Disk Cleanup utility for Windows 8. Unlike the relatively simplistic tool in Windows 7, the enhanced utility showing up in Windows 8 pre-release builds includes options that let you sort files by size and type. This should make it much easier to reclaim disk space quickly by targeting temporary files and quickly spotting the biggest space hogs on your hard drive.
Probability: 70%
Portable Workspaces
In a move that usurps the role of third-party portable workspace utilities, Microsoft looks to be integrating a new feature called Portable Workspaces into Windows 8. Based on screenshots and videos leaked from an April build of Windows 8, Portable Workspaces will let users create a portable image of their system on any USB drive with at least 16GB of available capacity (16GB drives with 15.7GB of available space don’t appear to work).
From what we’ve seen, it appears Portable Workspaces will create a streamlined clone of your desktop, user settings, and essential apps, so you can plug your USB drive into any PC and boot quickly into a familiar Windows experience. The leaked demos look surprisingly good, and we’d be surprised if this feature doesn’t make it into the final product.
Probability: 70%
History Vault
Image Credit: WinRumors
While Windows XP SP2 introduced a useful file-versioning feature called Shadow Copy, relatively few end users ever realized this feature existed. Even now, in Windows 7, it remains obscure and mostly inaccessible to ordinary users. A leaked Windows 8 feature called History Vault appears poised to bring Shadow Copy into the light of day.
Early screenshots of History Vault look eerily similar to Apple’s Time Machine feature in OS X. We’re not knocking the knock-off. If History Vault’s timed, incremental backups of changed files prove half as usable as Time Machine, it might finally make backup a part of everyday life for users in the real world.
Probability: 70%
WinFS
Since 2003, Microsoft has been working on a new Windows file system capable of detecting and using relationships between various chunks of data on a PC. WinFS (the “FS” stands for Future Storage) incorporates features of SQL relational database servers to intelligently find connections between files and surface them to applications. A common example of this might be a version of Windows Explorer capable of automatically discovering photos of a specific person and displaying them in chronological order.
WinFS was expected to launch as part of Windows Vista in 2006, but never made the final cut due to technical difficulties. Microsoft has made no announcements about the filesystem’s chances of appearing in Windows 8, and we’ve yet to see credible evidence that it’s coming. If WinFS does actually surface in the next Windows, we’ll be surprised and delighted.
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