Microsoft offers first look at new Windows - and gives it a name [Reuters]

Next week will mark a major Microsoft milestone, with the unveiling of what many people will simply think of as "Not Windows 8"

""Microsoft is changing from a company that was Windows-centric to one that is services-centric," said Silver at Gartner. "It has to be that way. Windows revenue is likely going to decline, and Microsoft's task is to replace that Windows revenue with revenue from services on all sorts of platforms."

The challenge is to come up with killer apps and services users can't live without.

"Microsoft built their business on being very good at delivering what people needed in the moment, for example Excel in the 1990s," said Johnson at Forrester. "That's what Microsoft has to get back to, innovating and creating things that people find indispensable.""

Microsoft offers first look at new Windows - and gives it a name