Recent reports indicate that Microsoft may be planning an April 2015 release date for an upcoming operating system. The successor to Windows 8 is currently under development under the codename 'Threshold.' With Microsoft's current naming convention, the new operating system will probably be released under the name Windows 9.
The company will also be discussing the details of the new operating system at the upcoming BUILD developer conference this coming April. While the company is still currently working on a new update for Windows 8.1 called "Update 1," preparations are already underway for the development of the company's next big offering.
Well-known Windows watcher Paul Thurrott first published the news on his site on Jan. 11. Thurrott also broke the news about Microsoft's plans for the BUILD conference, which may herald a new era for Microsoft in terms of being more transparent about their Windows development activities.
With Windows 9, the company will have to address a number of critical points that tech pundits have pointed out in the current Windows 8 operating system. However, no clear details have been released as of yet. Thurrott reports that the new OS may come with a "Metro 2.0" user interface aimed at improving the current tile system on the UI as well as improving Microsoft's app world. There are also a number of rumors that indicate that Microsoft will be bringing back the classic Start button. The exclusion of the Start button on the Windows 8 desktop was a point of contention for many users. While some say that this will come about with the release of Windows 9, other sources indicate that the Start button may be brought back much earlier in a planned Windows 8.1 "Update 2" sometime this year.
Thurrot also reported that his sources hinted that Microsoft is going to work on three milestones to complete development on Windows 9. Details about these three milestone releases have not yet been released and it remains unclear whether any of the milestones will be released to third party developers and the public in general.
