The news about Windows 8 has been pretty sparse. Windows Chief Steve Sinofsky is known for keeping things quiet about big launches.

But it looks like that’s going to change. Sinofsky wrote the first post today in a pre-Windows 8 blog, one month ahead of the Build conference where it plans to launch the beta for the latest Windows incarnation.

The idea is to start building a conversation with beta testers who will be using the service over the next several months.

The blog is called Building Windows 8 or as Microsoft calls it “B8.” Sinofsky writes:

So in the next weeks we will just start talking specifics of features, since there is no obvious place to start given the varying perspectives. From fundamentals, to user interface, to hardware support, and more, if something is important to you, we promise we’ll get to it in some form or another.

Services Angle

This is a smart approach. Sinofsky has already admitted there has been some frustration about what little has been released about Windows 8. B8, he says, is intended to fix that. The first post is light on detail but it allows for Sinofsky to set the tone for the conversation. We already know from reading the blog that there will be a lot of focus on the engineering of Windows 8. We know there will be ways to get in touch with the Microsoft team, including Sinofsky.

Services providers can take note of this. The communication does not start at the launch of a product. It starts well before, whether you like or not.