New information on the next version of Windows emerges

Jan 12, 2014 08:38 GMT  ·  By

Even though Windows 8.1 is quite a new product and it’s very close to receiving a new update, people are already talking about the next full version of Windows that’s expected to be launched sometime next year.

Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott writes, via internal sources, that Redmond is planning to release the new Windows 9 in April 2015, approximately one year after the debut of Windows 8.1 Update 1.

The so-called Windows Threshold that was originally believed to be a Windows 8.1 update will actually represent the next full Windows release, so chances are that this is the upcoming Windows 9.

The source writes that Windows 9’s development cycle will be divided into three different milestone releases before it hits the shelves, but it’s yet unclear whether Microsoft is pondering new names beside the traditional beta and release candidate designations.

Windows 9 is very likely to stick to the current desktop – Metro mix, but the touch-optimized interface would get a major revamp which Thurrott calls “Metro 2.0.” One of the improvements that could be part of Windows 9 concerns the Metro apps which might be supported on the desktop, so users would be allowed to launch them in their very own windows.

Microsoft is expected to share some news about Windows 9 in April this year, when the company might also debut the new Windows 8.1 Update 1.

Redmond thus wants to get closer to users and eliminate the secrecy surrounding its products, the source notes, which is actually one of the things that former Windows boss Steven Sinofsky has insisted on ever since the debut of Longhorn.

Of course, Windows 9 would have a pretty tough job, pretty much because it’s supposed to help Microsoft boost sales after the Windows 8 disaster, so expect many more significant improvements to be part of this release.