Windows 9 Preview Actually in October

Microsoft will be holding a press event on September 30, at which many believe we’ll get our first real look at the newest version of Windows – alternately called Windows Threshold or Windows 9. A new post on Paul Thurrott’s WinSuperSite reports a few details…and that the technical preview of the new Windows won’t begin until October.

Of course, that could simply mean that it’ll start on October 1, a day after the September 30 event. Either way, it’s right around the corner, and it sounds as though the new Windows will be pretty swell. The Start Menu, for instance, will make its return to Windows, and will bring some added features like the ability to resize it and pin Modern-style app icons to it.

The post also includes some more information about the Charms Bar – namely, it’ll remain in place for touch-based platforms like tablets, but won’t be there for keyboard-and-mouse users. In its place, the new “Options” button will show up at the top of app windows, which looks like an ellipsis, also known as the “dot dot dot” that people are so fond of adding to emails and text messages. A new “Share” button will also make its way to many app windows, giving users the option to send files and webpages around just like they can on mobile platforms.

Is any of this going to revolutionize Windows? Probably not, but it does sound like a functional, usable, elegant solution to many of the conflicting trends found in Windows 8 and 8.1. Overall, Windows 9 (if that is indeed what Microsoft ends up calling it) should find a pretty decent user base when it finally launches in early 2015. Don’t be surprised to see all the people who avoided Windows 8 leapfrogging into this baby.

[Source: WinSuperSite]