More Microsoft Windows Blue details leak via job ad

Microsoft has inadvertently confirmed the existence of Windows Blue, the successor to Windows 8 that the company hopes will unify its desktop and mobile platforms, through an online job ad.

The job ad, which has since been removed from the official Microsoft Careers website, asked for a development lead to work on a version of Excel for Windows Blue that is optimised for smartphones.

“The Excel Office Mobile team is looking for a seasoned development lead who is willing to re-imagine the Excel experiences for the next version of Windows Phone. Our Vision is to make Excel Mobile on Windows Phone the undisputed leader for visualizing and working with spreadsheets on a phone,” the job ad reads.

“The Excel Mobile team will deliver a compelling new Windows Phone version of Excel that is touch-optimized and targeted for the phone form factor.”

The yet-to-be announced product is explicitly mentioned in the ad.

“As a development lead you will hire and manage a team of top-notch developers, be personally involved in designing and coding features, and work closely with PM and Test counterparts across multiple orgs to help realize the vision of building high quality excel app for Windows Phone Blue” (emphasis added), the ad states.

Last week, SmartCompany reported the company had posted a similar ad asking for an employee to work on unifying the app marketplace for the desktop and mobile versions of Windows.