Earlier this month it was announced that Microsoft would hold a press conference September 30th, 2014. The company indicated they would be discussing “what’s next for Windows and Enterprise.”
Most speculated that Microsoft would revel more details regarding Windows 9, an one Microsoft Exec appears to have confirmed those suspicions.
Alain Crozier, head of Microsoft France, stated during a recent Livestream hosted on Microsoft’s Corporate French website, the new version of Microsoft’s desktop OS would be announce on September 30th. Crozier called the software “Windows 9”, which confirmed the naming we had heard.
Since then Microsoft France’s director of marketing, Nicolas Petit, downplayed the slip-up telling ZDNet.ft, Microsoft still has to yet Officially name the upcoming OS. “We look forward to seeing you in Late September, in San Francisco, for the future of Windows, which actually at this stage does not have a name as such,” he stated.
Clearly it appears Microsoft will announce Windows 9 next week, however it is possible they could have a different name for the new OS. For now everyone is referring to it as “Windows Technical Preview”. Certainly the complete story will being to emerge on September 30th, as well as what else Microsoft may have.
Other Microsoft news this week, included more fall out regarding the 14% layoffs. Microsoft’s William Kamela, a senior federal policy lead at Microsoft was in attendance at a two-day conference on high-skilled immigration policy. During this conference, Mr. Kamela expressed Microsoft’s frustration H-1B visas policies, the possibility of being denied some of the 1,000 foreign workers it intends to seek. Mr. Kamela went as far as to state, “If I need to move 400 people to Canada or Northern Ireland or Hyderabad or Shanghai, we can do that.”
Currently roughly 60% of Microsoft’s workforce is in the U.S., yet it makes 68% of its profits overseas.
During this conference Michael Teitelbaum, a senior research associate at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard , raised warnings about increases in foreign workers.
Teitelbaum said “contradictions” exist with policies that encourage students to obtain degrees in engineering, science and mathematics, yet at the same time saying “we want to import more scientists and engineers, particularly, on a temporary basis.”
“The message they (students) are getting is this is not an attractive long-term career path,” said Teitelbaum, he stated that the current U.S. policies have produced a boom and bust cycle in STEM employment.
“If we have mass layoffs at the same time that the employers are claiming they can’t hire enough people, which is what’s happening, seems to be happening, right now,” said Teitelbaum, “they are going to get the message that maybe I should do something else.”