Redmond is preparing users for the launch of Windows 9

Jul 3, 2014 07:20 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is already working on some pretty big projects for the Windows product family, including a completely new OS version which could hit the market as Windows 9, but also several updates for the existing Windows 8.1 build that's already being used by people worldwide.

As far as Windows 8 is concerned, Microsoft seems ready to give up on it, with many of the improvements that it plans to make actually paving the road for the upcoming Windows 9 launch.

Windows 8.1 was scheduled to get a second update this year, with Microsoft itself revealing some pretty changes that could be part of the new release. However, it turns out that Redmond has actually changed its mind and Windows 8.1 Update 2 would only bring simple improvements and performance updates supposed to correct bugs and make the operating system run smoother.

At the same time, people close to the matter hinted that Microsoft is planning to offer Windows 9 free as a free upgrade for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1 Update users, which is clearly an attempt to move more of you to a modern operating system.

Most of these efforts seem to be supposed to boost the adoption of Windows 9 from the first months of availability, even though the company has spent millions on trying to bring Windows 8 on every computer out there.

Unfortunately for the software giant, Windows 8 more or less failed to excite, mostly due to the number of changes it made to the interface, focusing too much on touch-optimized features and removing some traditional desktop options that made the operating system itself less appropriate for the PC.

All of these could change in Windows 9, source said, as Microsoft is planning to reintroduce the Start menu, but also to offer options to hide the Metro UI completely on PCs with a mouse and keyboard.

On the other hand, word is that the Modern UI would remain the only environment for tablets where the desktop doesn't make much sense, so Microsoft would separate its future SKUs much better than it did on Windows 8.

At this point, Windows 8 has a market share of 5.93 percent and dropping, partially due to the fact that more users actually upgrade to Windows 8.1. And still, there's no doubt that Windows 8 suffered from slow adoption and given the Windows 9 rumors, many people actually expect to see what Windows 9 brings new and only then choose to switch to a newer OS release.