14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is already working on Windows 9 and everyone knows that, especially because the company has already provided several hints that a new Windows version is coming.
The company’s CEO Satya Nadella confirmed once again at the quarterly earnings call that Microsoft is working to “streamline the next version of Windows from three operating system into one single converge operating system,” which “means one operating system that covers all screen sizes.”
This announcement isn’t quite new and several Microsoft executives said the same thing on multiple occasions, but it’s another confirmation that Redmond is trying to merge its platforms to offer a unified experience across all devices.
Until now, Microsoft had a dedicated team for every single Windows version, including Windows RT and Windows Phone, but Nadella is trying to change that by creating a single operating systems group working under the same umbrella.
“Now we have one team with a common architecture,” Nadella said.
Satya Nadella also confirmed that multiple editions of the next Windows versions will still be offered, but both users and developers will benefit from the concept of universal apps, which basically enables them to create, download, and install the same apps on multiple devices running Windows.
According to previous reports on the matter, Windows 9 is expected to debut in early 2015, with some people saying that April is very likely to witness the debut of the next Windows operating system.
At the same time, Windows 9 is expected to bring some pretty big feature improvements and novelties, including the addition of a Start menu that would bring back the original desktop functionality in modern Windows. The Start menu return has already been confirmed by Microsoft at the BUILD 2014 developer conference earlier this year and Microsoft said that it could be brought back to users in a future Windows update.
It turns out, however, that the company decided to delay the release of the Start menu until Windows 9, so users might have to wait a little bit longer until they get this feature.
Two different beta versions of Windows 9 are expected to be released to developers, one of which could see daylight in late 2014 and come with a preview build of Cortana, the personal assistant that’s scheduled to reach the desktop in the next few months.
Satya Nadella also promised to share more information on Windows 9 in the coming months, so we’ll keep you posted on what’s very likely to be the most important Windows makeover in the last years.