14 DAY TRIAL // There is no doubt that Windows 9 is a very exciting project for both users and Microsoft itself, and the past days brought us a plethora of rumors pointing to all kinds of changes that might be introduced by this new OS version.
While Microsoft has remained tight-lipped on the project, online media reported, obviously via sources that asked not be named, that Windows 9 will significantly improve the desktop in order to regain the lost trust of users who moved to Windows 8 and were disappointed with some features.
From what we've heard, Microsoft is planning to release several versions of Windows 9 that would be specifically aimed at different devices, hence the various desktop reports that came out lately.
Basically, Microsoft would indeed improve the desktop and would add a Start menu, but this is only expected to happen on PCs where the mouse and keyboard are still the main input method. A Start menu in this case would clearly make sense, thus restoring the pre-Windows 8 desktop functionality and help users get around the operating system faster and easier. Just like they did in Windows 7, that is.
This version of Windows 9 would obviously be offered to laptops and tablets powered by the full version of Windows 8 also running traditional desktop applications, and might also come with an option to disable the Metro interface completely, according to reports.
The no-desktop SKU of Windows 9, on the other hand, might be offered to RT devices such as Microsoft's very own Surface RT and Surface 2. At this point, it's not yet clear if the Surface RT will be upgradeable to Windows 9, but we're pretty sure that Surface 2 will be.
Without a desktop, tablet users would be stuck with the Modern UI and again, that does make much more sense. Metro was designed to be touch-responsive from the very beginning, so tablets are the right devices that shall be using it.
What's more, Microsoft wants to make Windows 9 available on many more tablets with various form factors, so working on the desktop on a 7-inch screen would clearly be a nightmare. Just imagine how hard it could be to edit a picture on the desktop when the display measures only 7 inches in size.
Microsoft, however, has its own plan to tackle this issue with a touch-optimized version of Office which would basically allow users to create and edit documents right in the Modern UI, thus making the most of the touch-optimized interface.
Windows 9 is expected to be released in early 2015, but information on the timing is still bogus, as Microsoft might delay the launch for a couple of months due to the arrival of Windows 8.1 Update 3.