Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows takes a first peek at Windows 8 based on the mistakenly leaked set of documents Microsoft shared with its PC maker partners

Make no mistake about it: If you were to parse through my email and try and figure out what the single most frequently asked question is these days, it's pretty obvious. "What can you tell me about Windows 8?" And to date, there hasn't been much to say. As a dedicated Windows watcher, I am of course deeply interested in what Microsoft is doing, and if you've been following along with my various other writings, you already know what the Windows 8 release schedule looks like. But ask about the features and technologies that Microsoft planned to include in Windows 8? For the most part, I didn't have a clue.

Until now. Thanks to a mistakenly leaked set of documents Microsoft shared with its PC maker partners--I won't reveal the source like some other unprofessional bloggers did with this year's iPhone 4 leak--we now have our first inside look at what Microsoft is currently thinking about including in Windows 8. These plans, of course, are bound to change and much is still up in the air. But for those tech enthusiasts who have been simply pining away for information, this is the mother lode, especially given how far ahead of the release we are.

Here's what we found out this week.

  Windows 8: A First Peek