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There’s been another leaked build of Windows 8, this time build 7989 and was first reported as being available in the private forums of a beta website with new virtual keyboard, references to SMS support, per-feature licensing, geo-location. New screenshots of Windows 8 build 7989 shows a new background and boot screen along with the return of the Microsoft betta fish and the betta fish was used back in Windows 7 beta as a wallpaper and soon turned into a mascot for Microsoft’s beta stages of Windows 7. The formal announcements about Windows 8 from Microsoft are expected to be made this autumn and Microsoft will unveil all the new features of the OS and also detail the timescale for closed and public beta programmes.  The final release of the OS is expected around October 2012…………

Microsoft’s Windows 8 may be nearing beta with new screenshots leaked and the  interface was first demoed at the D9 conference by Microsoft Windows chief Steven Sinofsky and even shown running on prototype tablet hardware at Computex 2011. This Windows 8 laek includes a new wallpaper and unlockable UI bits with the usual red pill trick. It’s not yet clear whether the build includes Microsoft’s new Start Screen interface. Microsoft has also updated the bootscreen to include a betta fish, similar to the one used in Windows 7 beta builds. Microsoft revealed its new Windows 8 user interface during the All Things Digital D9 conference recently. Windows chief Steven Sinofsky detailed the company’s future plans for Windows and revealed that the firm plans to speak more about Windows 8 at the BUILD conference in September. Windows 8 includes a new user interface which takes elements from the company’s Windows Phone 7 software. Microsoft will allow users to launch apps from a tile-based start screen, which replaces the traditional Windows Start menu. Applications include live tile notifications and fluid, natural switching between applications. Microsoft has also built in the ability to snap and resize an application to the side of the screen and multitask outside of the new touch UI. The new applications will be web powered apps built using HTML5 and JavaScript with full access to the power of the PC. Microsoft is positioning Internet Explorer 10 at the heart of the Windows 8 app experience.

Microsoft is currently working on various Windows 8 features and is expected to deliver an early copy to developers at its BUILD developer conference in September and in below you can find the previously unknown features :

New Virtual Keyboard: Windows has had a built-in virtual keyboard for a while, designed for people who might, for whatever reason, be unable to use a physical keyboard. Now, with tablets and touch-screen PCs, that feature has become more important than ever. Windows enthusiast Tom Warren has posted a video showcasing the new virtual keyboard, which ditches the previous Aero look for a new Windows Phone 7 style that’s been popping up all over Windows 8, which you will find on the end of post.

App Store And Per-Feature Licensing: Windows enthusiast Thomas Hounsell has posted on his Twitter account several details about Windows 8′s hidden features. By reverse-engineering certain files, Hounsell uncovered code that pointed to an App Store and more importantly, the ability to unlock certain individual features within the system. While it’s still no indication on what Microsoft plans to do with this, per-feature licensing could do away with Windows editions: instead, all users would start with a single, bare bones edition of Windows and purchase individual features as they saw fit. Microsoft’s server operating systems have allowed this for years, although all upgrades are free of charge. This proven feature has allowed IT managers to easily customize their servers installations to their needs anytime they see fit. Bringing this down to the client level would certainly benefit power users.

SMS and Geo-Location: Mac OS X Snow Leopard included API’s that allowed applications to detect the machine’s location. That’s used by the operating system to detect the user’s time zone, for example. That feature seems to have interested Microsoft, since they seem to be trying to implement it, if code found in the latest leaked build of Windows 8 is to be believed. SMS support is also being implemented, a feature that many wouldn’t associate with Windows devices. This is another piece of evidence that Microsoft is aiming the new system for more than just PCs. There’s no reason why 3G capable tablets or netbooks shouldn’t be able to send SMS, or even make calls. This could be the beginning of that. Both of these features were discovered by Thomas Hounsell as well. You can check out the full code dumps here and here for SMS and Geo-Location respectively.

You can download Windows 8 Build 7989 from here or here (the downloads are torrent download and i am not sure is it work or not!!) and you will find new screenshots and a video below :

Sources : (1), (2)

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