This isn’t the first time around that the technology media stumbled upon intriguing job postings regarding Microsoft’s future OS. While Windows 7 only hit the store shelves on October 22nd, it’s clear that Microsoft is already thinking ahead to “Windows 8” as it is currently referred to. While poking around the Microsoft Careers website, it appears that Ars Technica stumbled upon some more Windows 8-related job postings published recently:

In the first job posting published on October 8th, Microsoft is looking for a Senior Program Manager:

The Internet Information Services (IIS) team is redefining how the web technology stack is delivered to the customers. We are simplifying how developers, IT pros, and hosters consume our technology by managing the end-to-end experience from development to deployment. We build both technologies and solutions—whatever it takes to do the right thing for customers and Win The Web. Customer empathy is a deep core value at IIS. We are also an extremely agile team that frequently ships projects out-of-band to adapt to ever changing Internet environment.

IIS team is looking for an experienced PM to join our core platform team. Your role will span across driving key features into Windows 8 as well as owning several out-of-band modules, including web analytics that will bring business intelligence for the customers that host applications and contents on IIS. Your work will help differentiate IIS and Smooth Streaming from Apache and Flash. You should also be ready to work in a fast-paced environment and have a strong desire for quality, security, and performance. Your feature will be used by millions of customers.

The second job posting shows that Microsoft is looking for a Principal Lead Program Manager, while also revealing that we may expect closer synergy between the Windows Live applications and Windows itself in future editions:

The Windows Live Mail team is looking for a seasoned Lead Program Manager to drive our next generation Mail client, and manage five stellar PMs. Our client has over 40M users world-wide, and serves as a key component of our Windows Live "light up Windows" strategy. Our current release is centered on hot new consumer features & better synergies with Hotmail & Windows 7, and our future releases will likely be tightly designed to work best with new Windows 8 platform technologies. We will also work closely with the Outlook team on ways to bring Windows Live to Outlook. Mail is part of the WL Desktop Communications team, which also includes Messenger. Our team values user-centered design, technical and engineering excellence, and attention to detail. The successful candidate should have several years [of] experience as PM lead. In addition to being deeply technical, you will need to enjoy being part of a fast moving, energetic team.

The third job posting, dated October 18th, is for a Software Engineering: Test, where people are to weed out bugs during the product’s development to ensure a smoother product launch:

The TAG team provides the foundation services and infrastructure to support a unified test and dev workflow. This team's charter includes—developing and running a unified test submission and execution system for Windows 8, Automating Test pass scheduling & execution, results analysis & automated triage, Windows code coverage services, Developing and running the eBVT quality gate, supporting WinSE's Windows 7 sustained engineering test needs.

This is an exciting time to join the Test Automation and Gates team and lead the next wave of foundation services and infrastructure to ensure delivery of a high quality product. With openings across the team, there's sure to be the perfect opportunity suited to your specific passion and enthusiasm.

You'll lead a team of highly talented SDETs and partner closely with members of both the development and program management teams to design and test new features, develop tools & automation, and enhance the overall test infrastructure. Your team will be responsible for writing test plans & test cases, performing ad hoc, manual, and automated testing, filing bug reports, and interacting with internal partners.

The last job posting, dated October 19th, is also for a Software Engineering: Test, but for a different team:

The Application Experience Bug Investigation Team, AEBit, is looking for passionate SDETs that want to make an impact on Windows 8. On the AEBit team you will get the unique opportunity to challenge and grow your debugging skills on issues that span the entire OS. You will have the opportunity to engage with software vendors, OEMs, as well as internal component teams. You will also be applying and enhancing your knowledge of system internals. As part of the AEBit team you will be responsible for driving and ensuring compatibility in Windows by engaging with component teams, root causing application bugs, and authoring mitigations. If you are a strong SDET looking for a challenge we would like to hear from you.

This is interesting stuff indeed—without Windows 7 news, leaks, and secrets to keep us on our toes, it’s definitely interesting to look ahead to Windows 8 to see what Microsoft has in store for us.