Microsoft's April 2015 "Threshold" Release May Be Windows 9

[exfileme]

Microsoft is reportedly trying to distance itself from Windows 8.

Microsoft's April 2015 "Threshold" Release May Be Windows 9 : Read more

 

[red77star]

If they try to do same thing as they did with Windows 8, it will also fail.

 

[carnage9270]

"We will reportedly hear about Microsoft returning the Start Menu back to the desktop, and the ability to run Modern UI-style apps in Windows."Was really Win8's only failing. If they bring it back in full functionality, they have a winner.

 

[Osmin]

I hope Microsoft improves Windows by adding the ability of multiple desktops in order to organize the workspace. It also would be nice to be able to scroll a non-active window without making it active and popping it to the foreground. These are nice options that I got used to while using Linux and the Apple OS X. I would also like the Widgets to come back since I preferred the Calendar and Weather widgets in Windows 7 over the Metro apps. If Microsoft was worried about security then have the same vetting policy on widgets like they do for Metro apps.

 

[pariahdox]

@red77starHence, bringing back the Start button and a traditional desktop for traditional laptops and desktops. :-D

 

[DBGT_87]

Bring Start Menu Back

 

[hyperanthripoid]

"but now there are reports that this release will be labeled Windows 9 instead due to Microsoft wanting to distance the platform from the Windows 8 "debacle.""Or they just want upgrade money to fix their "debacle". They probably realized they could not charge for the 8.2 update.

 

[hannibal]

This is Modern UI2 (aka metro 2) so no traditional desktop. But if they can make Modern UI better for desktop usage it will be just fine. The MS economy is build to Modern UI aps store. What I am waiting is the new and improves disk operation system... Maybe if they can get it working we will get win9 and prize tag. If it is not ready this will be win8.2 and maybe cheaper to upgrade? Who knows. This is very early "leak", and not directly from MS.

 

[danwat1234]

What I would really like to see with Windows 8.2 is an update to explorer.exe so that it will finally have full support for file paths longer than 255 characters in length. This is a very annoying limitation that occurs frequently in deeply nested folders on my computer. I have to use Totalcommander to do the operation I ought to do with Explorer. NTFS itself has support for file paths longer than 10,000 characters I believe.Also, start using "MiB" and "GiB' instead of "MB" and "GB" where applicable. When you are stating a capacity in the base 2 system, use "MiB" or "GiB" and when stating a capacity in the base 10 system, use "MB" or "GB" please! It confuses a lot of users into thinking that their hard drive isn't as big as it should be.Also make the task manager more code efficient, take longer to load than the Windows 7 task manager.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

What I would really like to see with Windows 8.2 is an update to explorer.exe so that it will finally have full support for file paths longer than 255 characters in length. This is a very annoying limitation that occurs frequently in deeply nested folders on my computer. I have to use Totalcommander to do the operation I ought to do with Explorer. NTFS itself has support for file paths longer than 10,000 characters I believe.Also, start using "MiB" and "GiB' instead of "MB" and "GB" where applicable. When you are stating a capacity in the base 2 system, use "MiB" or "GiB" and when stating a capacity in the base 10 system, use "MB" or "GB" please! It confuses a lot of users into thinking that their hard drive isn't as big as it should be.Also make the task manager more code efficient, take longer to load than the Windows 7 task manager.

... wrong article?

 

[dragonsqrrl]

$700 for a 4K TN monitor would've been a great deal, if not for the 30Hz refresh rate. It's apparent from the images I've seem of the monitor and from the first hand accounts of tech editors, that this monitor uses a very good TN panel. Unfortunate really, I'm willing to bet a lot of gamers and enthusiastes would've been all over a $700 4K monitor with a 60Hz refresh rate.

 

[dragonsqrrl]

wow, that's interesting. My previous comment mysteriously disappeared after I submitted it. Tom's really needs to work on their web page in general, especially the commenting system. It's slow and buggy.

 

[XGrabMyY]

I doubt they will be releasing a Windows 9. They are already so close to finishing "Project Singularity" on M#. Chances are Windows 8 will keep getting decimal revisions and exist alongside the open-source Midori OS. Windows 8.x will be for enterprise and people who need legacy support. Midori will be the new open-source OS (Not Windows) for users wanting cutting edge features and a new environment to work in/build on. I'd imagine for enterprise Midori will be very similar to Red Hat.

 

[ross_mitchell]

The start button isn't the only thing windows 8 is missing it is also missing shadowcopy.

 

[Deleted member 1353997]

@red77starHence, bringing back the Start button and a traditional desktop for traditional laptops and desktops. :-D

Microsoft never removed the traditional desktop from Windows 8.

They probably realized they could not charge for the 8.2 update.

They never charged for the 8 > 8.1 upgrade either, so it's not a matter of realizing or not realizing.

 

[bochica]

The start menu isn't the only issue. They are still having driver problems for most enthusiast users.

 

[Cryio]

I'm more curious what Threshold will mean for WP users than for the Windows platform itself.

 

[glitch177k]

I love how the media works. First off, it's nothing to do with Windows 8. Stop spinning it like "Microsoft has realized they've made a colossal mistake". They aren't "fixing" anything by "rushing" anything to market. Natural....Product......Life cycle. Vista: 2006Win 7: 2009Win 8: 2012Win 9: 2015!!!

 

[JD88]

They aren't actually going to expect people to pay for the upgrade are they? If so, what an absolute joke. Make an unpopular product then make people pay for the fix? What will their justification for the cost be? Scare tactics about security? Faster boot times? When will they learn that this business model is outdated? There are better, free operating systems out there now. The only thing keeping them floating is the perceived need need for legacy apps like Office, Exchange, and Skype. Most people don't need Windows, they just think they do.

If they really want to make a good operating system, dump the old desktop entirely and make a brand new UI. Don't give us Frankenstein crap. The basic foundations of Windows from a UI perspective haven't changed since Vista. All they did was tack the awful metro screen on top with 8. Give us something that is totally new and modern without trying to be 3 different things at once and appeal to everyone on every platform at the same time. If they have to break compatibility with a few programs that were made back in 1999, then so be it.

 

[10tacle]

MS apparently learned a hard lesson on what consumers want. When general consumers want a tablet or phone interface (touch screens, tiles, etc.) they'll go to those devices. When they want a traditional mouse/keyboard PC/laptop for more power-oriented use (real games, office applications, video editing, etc.), they'll go to those, and expect an easy interface they are used to - not something mirrored after their tablets and phones. Win 8 was technically the most efficient OS to date, bettering Win 7 in memory usage for example, but the average PC consumer would not notice the difference. The will notice the more frustrating, less-user-friendly interface however. And they did, and they reacted accordingly.

 

[Martell1977]

I like Windows Phone 8 on my Nokia, one improvement I'd like it to be able to customize it more, i.e. change the icon to whatever picture I want. It sounds like Windows 9 will be to Windows 8, what Windows 7 was to Vista. I do not like Windows 8 on desktops and laptops for various reasons, the lack of the start menu is only one of them. I'll hold off and see what Windows 9 turns out to be before even considering changing from 7. So far, there is just no compelling reason to change. One thing Windows 8 taught me: I never realized how much I used the start menu until it was gone.

 

[bochica]

I love how the media works. First off, it's nothing to do with Windows 8. Stop spinning it like "Microsoft has realized they've made a colossal mistake". They aren't "fixing" anything by "rushing" anything to market. Natural....Product......Life cycle. Vista: 2006Win 7: 2009Win 8: 2012Win 9: 2015!!!

You do realize that even Ballmer stated that they had to act quickly with Windows 7. He admitted himself that Vista was a mistake. If anything, look at it like this "tryout OS's" ME (2000) -> Vista (2007) - > 8 (2012) vs. "accepted OS's" 98 (1998) -> XP (2001) -> 7 (2009). I'll wait until 9 has its chance before categorizing that one.

 

[annym]

I love how the media works. First off, it's nothing to do with Windows 8. Stop spinning it like "Microsoft has realized they've made a colossal mistake". They aren't "fixing" anything by "rushing" anything to market. Natural....Product......Life cycle. Vista: 2006Win 7: 2009Win 8: 2012Win 9: 2015!!![\quote] That is the same principal as Intel follows with their Tic Toc release model.Only MSFT calls it Flop flip.

 

[cozmium]

What I would really like to see with Windows 8.2 is an update to explorer.exe so that it will finally have full support for file paths longer than 255 characters in length. This is a very annoying limitation that occurs frequently in deeply nested folders on my computer. I have to use Totalcommander to do the operation I ought to do with Explorer. NTFS itself has support for file paths longer than 10,000 characters I believe.Also, start using "MiB" and "GiB' instead of "MB" and "GB" where applicable. When you are stating a capacity in the base 2 system, use "MiB" or "GiB" and when stating a capacity in the base 10 system, use "MB" or "GB" please! It confuses a lot of users into thinking that their hard drive isn't as big as it should be.Also make the task manager more code efficient, take longer to load than the Windows 7 task manager.

Whilst I agree with you on file path length; I suffer the same at times, I couldn't disagree more with using KiB etc.1KB has ALWAYS historically meant 1024 bytes. The only reason anything changed is because Microsoft decided it would represent 1000 bytes in '95, since they probably thought it would be easier for people to understand - because we're all too thick to use numbers that are not rounded for us.Following that, the mighty SI decided to make a new standard which someone thought would be a good idea to make it sound like a 2 year old child created it (kibi/mebi/etc). Slowly linux started adopting it, thankfully it can be changed there, but i'm guessing it wouldn't be so easy to modify Windows.But here we come to the real problem - it's not this stupid adoptation of XiB - it's the fact that microsoft still insist on using base10/decimal in windows when computers don't work like that. So long story short, you can keep your XiB which i'm sure all the kids are jumping on since it's new and trendy - leave it out for those of us who have been using computers for a bit longer though.

 

[Chuckie32]

Sure would be nice if Windows would recognize all previous hardware, that is, if MS wants to distance itself from Win8, would be nice if they would fix in Win9 what they did not do in Win8. My USB floppy, which worked on one version of Win7, no longer works, due, I imagine to so-called updates. In order to see all the partitions of an old hard drive, I had to go to a WIN 2000 machine. My Win8 and Win7 machines saw only one partition.