14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 has RTM’d and is currently getting ready for the grand launch on October 26th this year, but it seems that Microsoft is already looking further away. In fact, it appears that the company has already started to work on the next flavor of Windows, and that it might feature the codename of Windows 9.
This info comes from a series of Microsoft employees who have been quick to update their online profiles recently, as Stephen Chapman from MSFTKitchen found out.
Some of them are listing Windows 9 as the current project they are involved in, while others are mentioning other names for what appears to be the future Windows release.
“Documenting all steps necessary to hand off ownership of the SDK to the Windows 9 release and future sustainment,” one LinkedIn profile reads.
“Windows.next (current). My focus is on all aspects of identity, for enterprise and consumer markets, both online and on the PC,” another states (it lists Windows 8 separately).
The list of Microsoft employees mentioning Windows 9 on their profiles includes a software development engineer (SDE), a release manager, one senior product manager, a senior product planner, and more.
What the platform refresh will be all about it remains to be seen, and might not come to surface for a few years more.
One thing that is certain, however, is that Microsoft is not resting. Three years from now (given the product release cycle for Windows 7 and Windows 8) we might be talking about the RTM flavor of Windows 9, while testing pre-release versions of the platform on our computers.
However, nothing is yet official. Of course, it does not come as a surprise that Microsoft is working on Windows 9 – it might have started the process a while back, in fact – although it is still caught up in the launch of Windows 8.
And if Windows 8 is Windows reimagined, with enhanced support for mobility and touch screens, we can’t help but wonder what the next Windows release would have in store for us.