April is going to be a really busy month for Microsoft

Mar 26, 2014 10:05 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft might not reveal the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview at the BUILD 2014 conference, but the company still has quite a lot of great news prepared for the event, including the debut of Windows 8.1 Update and news concerning Windows 9.

First of all, Microsoft will unveil the Windows 8.1 Update, a major pack of improvements for Windows 8.1 that’s expected to revamp the Start screen and bring options to pin Metro apps to the taskbar for enhanced usability on desktop computers.

At the same time, the new update will also implement context menu-like options on the Start screen and a new title bar for Metro apps, which basically means that consumers would be able to access the Modern UI with a mouse and keyboard much easier than before.

At the same time, the BUILD 2014 developer conference is also likely to witness the revealing of the first Windows 9 details, as Microsoft is reportedly ready to start work on the project, so it wants to share some news with users and developers alike.

Windows 9 is also expected to bring some major changes to the modern operating system, including a new Start menu and options that would allow users to launch Metro apps right on the desktop entirely. Windows 8.1 Update is thus just the beginning of a much more important change that would conclude in Windows 9 and would basically merge the desktop and the Metro environments.

The Start menu, on the other hand, would come back in order to make Windows 9 more friendly environment, with people close to the matter hinting that a simple design with basic options is very likely to be offered.

Last but not least, Microsoft is also set to retire Windows XP next month, the operating system launch in 2001 which still remains the world’s number two most-used platform these days. Windows XP currently has a market share of 29 percent, which makes it one of the top operating systems on the desktop.

Of course, plenty of computers are expected to become vulnerable after end of support arrives, so Microsoft continues efforts to move users from Windows XP to a newer operating system, such as Windows 8.1.

The transition is going very well right now, but Microsoft is very keen on showing the risks of staying on Windows XP with every single occasion, so expect more such campaigns in the coming weeks.