14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 9 is quite a hot topic these days, with many people close to the development process pointing to features that might or might not be part of the operating system.
While probably the most important tidbit regarding Windows 9 is the possibility to get it free of charge, word is that Microsoft might also implement what the company called interactive live tiles on SKUs delivered with a Start screen, in an attempt to encourage adopters to use the Modern UI.
If you've been living under a rock for the last five days or so, some sources revealed that Windows 9 might be delivered in multiple versions, one of which might dump the desktop completely and put the focus on the Modern UI. This particular SKU could be offered to tablets with smaller displays were a desktop doesn't make much sense, source say.
On the other hand, PCs and laptops could get a Windows 9 version that doesn't have the Modern UI, but instead boasts a Start menu and traditional desktop functionality to let users get things done just like in Windows 7.
These Windows 9 builds coming with Start screen at the core of everything could feature interactive live tiles, which have been presented for the first time in February at the Microsoft Research TechFest 2014 event by company research Jiawei Gu.
Basically, an interactive live tile does a lot more than the basic concept that we all get to use right now in Windows 8, including opening emails without launching the mail app, view running program and open them, access detailed forecast for a user-defined location and control playing music straight from the Start screen.
The whole idea behind interactive tiles is to speed up working in the Modern UI, no matter if you access it with touch or a mouse.
“This project features an Interactive-Tile UI system that enables users to access and manipulate Live Tiles in an interactive way with touch gestures. Interactive Tile’s UI is responsive and flexible to an app’s content and function. Users can provide quick input to the Interactive Tile on the Start screen. With a perception of Start as an entrance page, Interactive Tiles were introduced to empower the start screen with an intermediate access level to applications,” Gu said at that time.
A future version of Windows Phone is also said to be featuring interactive live tiles, without my colleague Ionut Arghire reporting in April that such an option could be part of an update labeled as 8.1.1.
As usual, take all of these are pure speculation until Microsoft really decides to share more information on what's to come in the new Windows 9.