Microsoft Prepping for a Crucial 2012: Five Things to Look for Next Year

By Rob Scott
December 30, 2011

Five important developments will take place next year for Microsoft, predicts CNET senior writer Jay Greene.
“The company posted record revenue for the fiscal year that ended June 30,” writes Greene about Microsoft’s 2011. “And its 2-year-old PC operating system, Windows 7, hit 500 million copies sold… But 2011 had few big product launches at the company, Office 365 and Internet Explorer 9 notwithstanding.”
“Next year will be altogether different,” he suggests. “Microsoft is prepping the big kahuna of its product arsenal, Windows 8. The company hasn’t set a date, though most analysts expect the flagship operating system to debut before the end of the year… From that product, much else from Redmond flows.”
Worth watching in 2012: 1) The emergence of Windows 8-based tablet computers (“As the core of computing moves beyond the PC, Microsoft needs Windows 8 tablets to succeed”); 2) Increased live TV viewing on the Xbox 360 (“The company is moving toward the goal of getting consumers to fire up their Xbox whenever they flip on their TVs, not just when they want to play a game”); 3) A higher profile for the Windows Phone 7 OS; 4) Microsoft will become more aggressive with patent litigation (including suits against Barnes & Noble and Motorola); and 5) Integration of the Bing search engine with Facebook and other social platforms.

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