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Windows 9 logo may have been outed on Weibo

Microsoft's China branch may have jumped the gun on a bit of Windows 9 information - with a number logo

sneaking onto its Weibo feed.

Of course, it may not be the finished article - or even the beginning one for that matter - but it's an official source and we're only 28 days away from the official launch of the next generation of Windows that still hasn't been named by Microsoft.

Windows 9 is a big deal for Microsoft after a difficult Windows 8 launch, and will bring a slew of changes aimed at winning back both consumers and manufacturers.

Big changes

September 30 will see the debut of the software for developers and manufacturers, with talk already suggesting that Microsoft will be offering out the upgrade for free to its Win 8 users when it launches to the public next year.

Other headline features include the ability to boot straight to desktop - rather than the Modern touch interface - the return of shutdown and, of course, the inclusion of Microsoft's answer to Siri - Cortana.

But obviously the logo's the biggest deal. Obviously. And it's Windows in the shape of a 9.

From CNbeta

Windows 9 is coming: Feels like Windows Phone all over again

It seems only a few months have passed since Windows 8.1 was released, probably because it was,

and we're already hearing about 'Threshold'. This is the next big update for Windows that is going to solve all of Microsoft's problems with adoption of its OS.

Windows 9, as the next version is reported to be called, is no doubt a push to get more people to make the switch to the new Windows that Microsoft has so much riding on. The adoption to the current phase of Windows hasn't been great, according to Paul Thurrott of WinSuperSite.

"But Threshold is more important than any specific updates. Windows 8 is tanking harder than Microsoft is comfortable discussing in public, and the latest release, Windows 8.1, which is a substantial and free upgrade with major improvements over the original release, is in use on less than 25 million PCs at the moment. That's a disaster, and Threshold needs to strike a better balance between meeting the needs of over a billion traditional PC users while enticing users to adopt this new Windows on new types of personal computing devices. In short, it needs to be everything that Windows 8 is not."

Microsoft isn't sharing information about Windows 9, but Thurrott speculates that a windowed version of Metro will run on the desktop. I'm not sure what to make of that if it becomes a reality. Many call for the elimination of the desktop to avoid the bipolar nature of Windows 8. Moving windowed Metro to the desktop seems backwards to me.

To be fair, Microsoft has done a great job with Windows 8.1. I even named it the most significant tech of 2013 and I stand by that. I find it a good laptop OS and a decent tablet OS. The latter is probably most important. Make no mistake, Windows is now a play for the mobile market for Microsoft. In spite of competition in the enterprise from the iPad and Android, Windows is still the favored platform there. The push thus needs to be in the mobile space which is why Microsoft has invested so much effort in the touch aspects of Windows.

What Microsoft doesn't need with Windows is to become known as the OS where the 'next version will be the big one'. That smacks of each version not being good enough, probably due to lack of big enough sales numbers.

That's what Windows is now seeming like. First Windows 8, the biggest shakeup in Windows ever, was to be Microsoft's big entry into the mobile space. Sales didn't happen in numbers, and then WIndows 8.1 was to make an even bigger splash.

Even Microsoft's own hardware, the Surface tablet line, couldn't reverse the drop in PC sales in 2013. That's OK, as Window 9 is now the next big thing expected to turn things around for Microsoft.

If it seems like you've seen this play out before, that's because you have. Windows Phone was the radically new phone OS when it hit the scene not that long ago. In spite of the totally new design, it didn't win the hearts of buyers. The lack of apps for Windows Phone didn't help, and lack of features was widely criticized.

It didn't take long after Windows Phone hit the market before we started hearing how the next version would turn things around. It didn't, so we heard the same thing about the version after that.

Finally the merits of the current Windows Phone OS were extolled as the one to beat them all. It is a good OS but still not booting the big guys off the medal podium. But hey, the next version, whatever it will be called, will knock everyone's socks off. Sure it will.

When you compare the life of Windows Phone to that of Windows 8, the similarities are hard to ignore. Windows 8 is now looking like the evolution of Windows Phone, and that no doubt concerns Microsoft. Outside of its admittedly large base of enthusiasts, Windows is only slowly catching on, much like Windows Phone.

Taking on the mobile space with Windows 8 has forced Microsoft to speed up its rate of participation. Mobile tech moves very fast and Microsoft must keep up. It came to the party late and it can't keep falling behind the competition.

The competition has the luxury of not also having to compete for desktop sales, it only has to evolve in mobile. Microsoft may have bitten off more than it can chew by going after both desktop and mobile with Windows 8.

Windows 8.1 is a great OS, the greatest version of Windows ever. So far that doesn't seem to be enough, and that's got to be a big worry for the folks in Redmond. The more the competition keeps growing in the mobile space, the greater the uphill struggle will be with Windows. It's not the post-PC era that Microsoft needs to be concerned with, it's the post-Windows era.

It's clear the next CEO of Microsoft has his/her hands full, no matter who it might be. We're not hearing firm rumors so far about who it might be, just who it won't. It's going to be tough no matter who gets the nod.

zdnzt.com

Windows 9 is set to be unveiled on September 30

Microsoft is planning to release a preview build of Windows 9 at a special press event on September 30,consumer preview of Windows 9 before you get to play with your new Cortana digital assistant, however.
according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans. The date could still change, but September 30 lines up neatly with previous leaks that suggested a late-September or early-October release date for the Windows 9 technology preview. It’s still unclear exactly how many of Windows 9′s hotly anticipated features will actually make it into the September 30 release — but hopefully we’ll at least see the resurrected Start menu and Metro apps running on the Desktop. We wouldn’t be surprised if you have to wait a little longer for the
A few days ago, news leaked that Microsoft was planning to release the first public build of Windows 9 at the end of September or beginning of October. Now, sources are telling The Verge that Microsoft is planning a Windows 9 press briefing on September 30. The tech preview build of Windows 9 will likely be released at the event or shortly after. Hopefully everyone will be able to download the Windows 9 preview — just like the early public builds of Windows 8 — but there’s a chance that Microsoft will only release it to developers and professionals via TechNet and MSDN.

Windows 9, build 9788, leaked screenshot showing PC Settings Metro app running in a window on the Desktop. Microsoft’s current Windows 9 builds are around the 9820 mark.

This technology preview of Windows 9 will contain a lot of new features, but it won’t be feature-complete. In much the same way that the first Windows 8 preview still looked a lot like Windows 7, expect the Windows 9 preview to be a Frankensteinian hodgepodge of new and old features. We would expect the new Start menu to make it into the tech preview build, and the ability to run Metro apps in a window on the Desktop, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. One of Windows 9′s larger new features — integration of Cortana — might not make the cut. You should also expect a lot of smaller changes — UI tweaks, new stock Metro apps, etc. — to pop up a couple of months later in the first Windows 9 consumer preview.
Microsoft might also use the September 30 press event to tell us about the fate of Windows RT, too, which is being integrated into Windows Phone as part of the grand unified theory of Windows.

 

Microsoft, with its accelerated release schedule and exciting features like Cortana and virtual desktops, is clearly trying to prove that it still cares about normal (laptop/desktop) PC users. While Cortana is useful on a smartphone, I think it might be surprisingly powerful on a laptop or tablet as well. I might be getting a bit ahead of myself here, but it would be really cool if you could say “Cortana, show me all of my photos from 2012″ rather than fiddling with various filters and search boxes in Explorer. Using Cortana on a PC could be just like the voice-activated computer in Star Trek — if Microsoft does it properly, anyway, and doesn’t just half-assedly drop the Windows Phone version into Windows 9.

<<Source>>

Windows 9 technical preview, the first step towards fixing Windows, may appear next month

Windows 8 was supposed to finally unify the computing experience, bringing tablets and PCs together with Microsoft’s modern UI at its core. To say that hasn’t worked out would be a grotesque understatement. Consumers by and large have either avoided Windows 8 or managed to put up with its tablet-oriented feature set while grumbling to anyone who will listen. In response, Microsoft is accelerating its release cycle, and sources now say the first technical preview of Windows 9 (codenamed Threshold) will be out in late September or early October.
Threshold is going to be the logical continuation of changes the company started to make in Windows 8.1. Microsoft is rolling back the clear tablet focus for desktop users while maintaining usability on tablets in hopes Windows slates will finally catch on. One of the most complained about features in Windows 8 is the full screen start menu with big finger-friendly tiles. It matches Windows Phone and Xbox, but it makes no sense on a PC. Threshold will likely signal the return of the desktop start menu, but it will have a metro flair with smaller live tiles and smarter search. The 8.1 update added the visible start button back to the taskbar, so Windows 9 is just finishing the job.
Microsoft’s updated design aesthetic was carried through into apps built to work on Windows 8. These full screen apps were originally called “Metro,” and that will probably always be the most common name for the design style no matter how much Microsoft tries to distance itself from the term. Windows 8.1 added the ability to run metro apps in split screen mode with a maximum of three of four (depending on screen resolution), but Threshold will make metro apps fully resizable in traditional floating windows. The OS is still called Windows, after all.

Whether or not you use Metro-style apps on Windows 8, there’s always that strange Charms bar hiding on the side of the screen. You access it on tablets with an edge gesture, or by mousing to the corner on a regular PC. Threshold will allegedly kill that UI element, which really only served to hide common features in an unusual and not very discoverable place. That’s a lot of do-overs, but what about new stuff? Based on the information so far, Microsoft’s big new feature will be integration with Cortana, the voice assistant from Windows Phone. Windows 9 could also sport multiple virtual desktops. What do you do when desktop users aren’t happy? Give them more desktops.

The first technical preview might not show off all these changes, especially the much anticipated interface stuff. As a technical preview, it’s mainly intended to give developers a head start in ensuring software compatibility, so don’t expect a huge departure from Windows 8 just yet. Remember, the first developer builds of Windows 8 still had the translucent Aero UI. Despite the developer slant, Microsoft might still allow anyone to grab the first version of Threshold and take it for a spin.

You’ll probably want to wait at least until the consumer preview of Windows 9 to leave Windows 8 in the dust. Judging from Microsoft’s quicker update cycle, a consumer preview should be out around the end of 2014 with most of the final feature set in place. Windows 9 is expected to ship in Spring 2015, and only then will we see how successfully Microsoft has responded to customer complaints.

Source: http://www.extremetech.com