14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 has already received two different updates, as Microsoft already introduced Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update, but it’s also projected to receive another major pack of improvements sometime this year under the Windows 8.1 Update 2 designation.
People close to the matter hinted in the past that a third update for Windows 8.1, which could be simply called Windows 8.1 Update 3, might also get to see daylight, with some sources saying that early 2015 could witness the debut of this new version.
Russian leaker WZor, on the other hand, believes that this isn’t the case, as the software giant is no longer planning to release a potential Windows 8.1 Update 3.
The end will come for Windows 8 in mid-August when Microsoft is scheduled to unveil Windows 8.1 Update 2, with the company then planning to focus exclusively on smaller updates and move the hard work to Windows 9.
WZor claims that Windows 8.1 Update 2 won’t bring any major changes, but only minor performance and stability improvements, which pretty much means that the Start menu won’t be included in this release.
Instead, Microsoft is working to bring the majority of promised features, including the Start menu and options to run Metro apps in separate windows on the desktop, in Windows 9, the next full version of the operating system that should see daylight in early 2015.
Windows 8.1 Update 2 is mostly expected to be shipped via Windows Update in August, so users already running Windows 8.1 could get it on August 12 when Microsoft is scheduled to release the other Patch Tuesday improvements.
The fact that WZor claims that “Windows 8.1 Update 2 is the final rebuild of all SKUs” shouldn’t be too surprising, as many of the moves that Microsoft came down to lately seem to indicate that the company itself wants to get over Windows 8 as soon as possible and focus on what’s to come, including the Windows 9 release.
Windows 8 has until now failed to excite, with stats still pointing to low adoption figures, somewhere in the region of 12 percent for both Windows 8 and 8.1, so Microsoft is working at full speed to bring Windows 9 to the market as soon as possible.
Of course, users hope that Windows 9 would completely change the face of Microsoft’s modern operating system, but it remains to be seen if Redmond is ready for another significant makeover of its desktop platform or not.