Microsoft Windows’s next version, Windows 8, will not be out until 2012, according to a posting by one of the software giant’s subsidiaries.

As per Microsoft’s Dutch web site, Windows 8 will take around two years to hit store shelves.

The posting, which was made to celebrate the first birth anniversary of Windows 7, said that the software giant was working hard on Windows 8, but its release would around take two years.

The posting was quickly removed; however, it was grabbed by a number of vigilant bloggers.

Microsoft declined to comment on the news, but company’s Server team did say previous year that a big release of Windows Server was due in 2012.

It is worth-mentioning here that that Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has described Windows 8 as company’s "riskiest bet". It indicates that Ballmer believes that the next release of windows will be a heavy burden for the company to carry.