14 DAY TRIAL // A new day, a new set of details on Windows 9 coming from inside the company. While Microsoft prefers to wait for the September 30 event to break the news on the next Windows operating system, more information reaches the web on a regular basis, confirming some of the things that have already been rumored in the past.
Twitter user @h0x0d came across a couple of new LinkedIn profiles belonging to Microsoft employees which confirm that internally Windows 9 is referred to as “Threshold.”
While this isn’t quite a new thing, there’s some talk online on the Windows 9 and Threshold designations, with some people claiming that these might actually not be related to each other.
As the two LinkedIn profiles reveal, Threshold is the internal name of Windows 9, even though sources from within the company have claimed that Microsoft is yet to decide the final designation of the stable product expected to launch in early 2015.
Threshold unlikely to be used for the final product
Windows 9, which is still a work in progress at Microsoft right now, could help create a completely new brand at Microsoft, sources familiar with the matter said without offering any new specifics.
Details on the final name of Windows 9 are very vague right now, but these LinkedIn profiles (which you can view here and here) confirm that Threshold is just a codename and is very unlikely to be used for the stable product.
In the meantime, there’s more information regarding a possible dropping of the traditional numbering naming scheme for the operating system, so instead of calling it Windows 9, Microsoft might rename the software to just Windows.
This change of strategy could be part of a much broader plan that would include not only the desktop version of the operating system, but also the smartphone and the tablet platforms, both of which are based on the same Windows, but use different designations.
It turns out that Microsoft is planning to use the Windows name for all its operating systems, no matter what device they are aimed at, in an effort to capitalize on the popularity of its desktop platform which could obviously bring in more buyers.
Nothing is decided so far and a lot could change until Windows 9 comes out, but the upcoming testing build of the operating system will be called Windows Technical Preview, which could indeed be a sign that such a renaming is indeed possible.
Microsoft will break the news on Windows 9 on September 30, but the final product won’t be here before spring 2015.