14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is set to unveil a new Windows 8.1 update sometime next month, most likely during the next Patch Tuesday rollout, but the company has remained completely tight-lipped on this new release.
While we’ve already discussed the reasons why the company might decide to keep everything secret before the actual launch of Windows 8.1 Update 2 (mostly because the OS update might not bring anything else besides performance and security improvements), new rumors are pointing to some possible release dates of the new product.
Basically, Microsoft is planning to roll out Windows 8.1 Update on August 12, the same day when the company is set to introduce next month’s Patch Tuesday fixes, and rumors that have reached the web lately are suggesting that Redmond is also preparing for a MSDN launch on August 15.
This pretty much means that everyone would get the update via Windows Update on August 12, while three days later, MSDN subscribers could be allowed to download dedicated ISOs as well.
Of course, Microsoft is yet to confirm this, but such rumors are making sense at some level, although you would expect the company to roll out the MSDN version before the public launch actually takes place.
Windows 8.1 Update 2 was announced by Microsoft at the BUILD 2014 developer conference in April, but the company didn’t actually provide a release date for this new OS update.
In fact, Terry Myerson, head of the OS division at Microsoft, said at BUILD that the Start menu and options to run Metro apps in dedicated windows right on the desktop would arrive in a second Windows 8.1 update, but according to people familiar with the matter, these plans have changed in the meantime.
Microsoft is now planning to keep Windows 8.1 Update 2 more like a performance update, so no new features or major improvements are likely to be part of this release.
Instead, the company is focusing on Windows 9, the next full version of Windows that’s expected to bring many more new features, including the aforementioned Start menu and options to run Metro apps on the desktop.
At the same time, Windows 9 could also come with a preview version of Cortana for desktop, sources said. Windows 9 could be launched in April 2015, if rumors are true.
As for Windows 8.1 Update 2, expect an announcement in the coming weeks, as we’re getting closer to the rumored August 12 launch date.