A Windows expert has tipped off the technology industry with news that Microsoft will be releasing Windows 9, codenamed Threshold, in April 2015.
Paul Thurrott, who runs Winsupersite.com, said that Microsoft will discuss Windows 9 at its BUILD developer conference in April but won’t be providing developers with an early alpha release.
Thurrott said: "Maturing and fixing the "Metro" design language used by Windows will be a major focus area of Threshold. It’s not clear what changes are coming, but it’s safe to assume that a windowed mode that works on the desktop is part of that.
"Microsoft expects to deliver three milestone releases of "Threshold" before its final release. It’s unclear what these releases will be called (Beta, Release Candidate, etc.) or which if any will be provided to the public."
Microsoft will be updating Windows 8.1 in April of this year, alongside Windows Phone 8.1. The updates come as more and more users are becoming unsatisfied with the current reliability of the Windows 8 platform.
Gartner analyst Michael Silver spoke to CBR about the release of Windows 9.
"Windows 8(.0) was obviously a major "plumbing" release with lots of changes. Windows 8.1 was a polishing release that didn’t change the underpinnings, but improved a lot of the experience and smoothed many rough edges," said Silver.
"Now there’s talk of a new release around BUILD in April that allegedly will be called "Windows 8.1 Spring Update". How is that different from what might be expected in a version 8.2? The same question can be asked of a version 9 for spring 2015 – what will be in it to make to warrant the name? Perhaps a lot, perhaps nothing.
"Names/version numbers are largely a marketing exercise. Apple has been on OS 10.x for more than a decade. Microsoft has to eventually put Windows 8 behind it and probably the sooner the better for it. Whether it will really be worthy of a new version number remains to be seen."
