Windows 9 Public Preview Slated for Late Sept

Things must really be happening over at Microsoft. Every few days, we get a little bit more information about the operating system codenamed Windows Threshold, which is what many believe will become Windows 9. Today’s no exception: Microsoft guru Mary Jo Foley reports some more concrete details about when we might finally get the chance to use Threshold.

According to Foley’s post on ZDNet, multiple unnamed sources at Microsoft have confirmed that Threshold will make its way out into the wild for a public preview in “late September or early October.”

“And in a move that signals where Microsoft is heading on the ‘serviceability’ front, those who install the tech preview will need to agree to have subsequent monthly updates to it pushed to them automatically,” she adds.

Aside from that, expect Threshold – or Windows 9, or whatever Microsoft ends up calling it – in the spring of 2015. We’ve heard lots of details about what might end up in the new OS, including the long-awaited mini Start Menu, the addition of virtual desktops along with the removal of the relatively useless Charms Bar, and the implementation of personal digital assistant Cortana. It’s also said to re-emphasize the desktop environment for users not on a touch-capable device, while keeping the Modern interface more prominent for touch-capable users.

It’ll be interesting to find out what that means for Surface Pro users who clearly prefer the laptop-like qualities that device line brings to the tablet table. Will they be stuck with the bits from Windows 8 that people didn’t like, which has led to this OS revision? Or will Microsoft have found a way to really embrace the strengths of touch-based UI without dredging up all of their weaknesses?

[Source: ZDNet]