With Windows 9, Microsoft may finally forget the past and embrace the future

[dgstorm]

Microsoft is expected to reveal the first details of its next major Windows release this week at Build 2014, ZDNet reports. Windows 9 – codenamed “Threshold” – will supposedly launch in the spring of 2015, but the company is already eager to share its vision of the future of its desktop operating system.

While Microsoft will not actually reveal the full feature list of Windows 9 or mention a target launch date for the new OS, officials are expected to “discuss at a high level the company’s goal to create a new Windows 9 SKU that would run on Windows Phones, ARM-based Windows tablets/PCs, phablets and other kinds of devices.”

Interestingly, Windows 9 might not include a “Desktop for running legacy Win32 apps,” according to “previous tips,” and will be updated “frequently and regularly” via the Windows Store.

Continue Reading @: Windows 9 features and release date news expected at Build 2014 | BGR

 

[stranger4all]

Sounds like a Recipie for Disaster

If they are thinking of killing the desktop environment that will be recipe for disaster as there is a huge number users that are Business, Engineering , Home etc which are highly dependent on the legacy apps , and is the only reason that they have been sticking with Windows , if they kill the desktop feature then it will be like an RTM version of windows 8.1, and will force these people to stick back with windows8.1 or win 7. or mabe go for some other operating system that will offer the option of working of these 32bit apps.

And mostly these Users are the ones that really pay for the Windows purchases rather than the home user which in the end downloads a crack copy !

 

[stanhertz]

Exactly. If they break compatibility with previous desktop apps, I'm going to stay with Win 8.1 or move in to another OS.

 

[leeshor]

Breaking legacy 32-bit apps, IMO would be a bigger mistake than the original 8.0, maybe even worse than Vista, just in a different way.

 

[jnjroach]

BGR isn't a great source of reliable info...

MJR and PT's sources say Threshold will have 3 SKUs

Enterprise - Modern UI/Desktop updated every 3 years (Available through Volume License Programs)
Pro - Modern UI Desktop Updated Yearly (Available through OEM and Retail) cost substantially more (x86 only)
Standard - Modern UI Updated Yearly (Available through OEM and Retail) low cost available for Phones, Tablets (ARM or x86)

All of this is rumor and we should know more this week during Build....

 

[machistmo]

BGR isn't a great source of reliable info...

MJR and PT's sources say Threshold will have 3 SKUs

Enterprise - Modern UI/Desktop updated every 3 years (Available through Volume License Programs)
Pro - Modern UI Desktop Updated Yearly (Available through OEM and Retail) cost substantially more (x86 only)
Standard - Modern UI Updated Yearly (Available through OEM and Retail) low cost available for Phones, Tablets (ARM or x86)

All of this is rumor and we should know more this week during Build....

Agreed, but this is the same company that brought us 8,8.1 and Update1 and that is finally bringing back the start button after refusing to do so even as sales tanked into the toilet. I still have to use compatibility mode to form paragraphs using IE 11 on Windows 8.1 update 1 on a Surface Pro 2 to post on this site dedicated to the product and OS I am using to author the post. I mean.... MS left a MS shaped hole in the wall where they went chasing after Apple leaving their Enterprise customers scratching their heads and consumers uninterested and buying iPads for the most part. So when I read stuff like this I get a little nervous as I can no longer just discard it as rumor. This company is capable of major blunders and hanging tough to them until its too late or close..

I am hoping that 9 is to 8 what 7 was to Vista... Isn't everyone?

 

[macmee]

lol at the people thinking they will break away from legacy app support.

Considering built in software in Windows 8 doesn't even support high DPI properly due to backwards compatibility, Windows Phone will become the leading OS in the smartphone market before Microsoft drops legacy app support.

 

[wharncliffeowl]

Why are so many people reluctant to embrace change?

 

[leeshor]

It's not so much not embracing change as it is a software compatibility issue. I have customer as I write this who are using specialized software that will not, for whatever reason, run on Windows 8. It's the software companies not keeping up that's a big problem.

As for embracing change for the sake of embracing it. Did you embrace Vista, or Windows ME? I didn't.

 

[Arizona Willie]

I resent your last sentence.

I have NEVER used a crack copy of Windows and never will.

Your claim that home users use crack copies says a whole lot about you though, I believe.

If they are thinking of killing the desktop environment that will be recipe for disaster as there is a huge number users that are Business, Engineering , Home etc which are highly dependent on the legacy apps , and is the only reason that they have been sticking with Windows , if they kill the desktop feature then it will be like an RTM version of windows 8.1, and will force these people to stick back with windows8.1 or win 7. or mabe go for some other operating system that will offer the option of working of these 32bit apps.

And mostly these Users are the ones that really pay for the Windows purchases rather than the home user which in the end downloads a crack copy !