Windows 9 rumors

The screenshots are said to depict the Technical Preview build of Windows 9, which we'll likely see Tuesday. In one screenshot, we can see how one may be able to set location-based reminders through Cortana in Windows 9. Another possibility for Windows 9 is a subscription-based format, according to Ars Technica's Peter Bright. The base operating system would be free, but certain features could cost extra. Hypothetically, if this correlates with Foley's report about Windows changing depending on your device, a user would be able to pay extra to get the tiled interface as an extra feature on a non-touch laptop or desktop.

But this is just a hypothetical example based on piecing together the rumors. Microsoft is reportedly planning to connect its various platforms such as Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Xbox more tightly. Part of this closer integration could involve releasing a single app store for all of its platforms, according to Foley. Right now, Microsoft has separate app stores for Windows Phone apps and Windows 8.

Windows 9 will probably be released in the second half of A reportedly leaked document published by tech blog Myce indicates the release preview for both Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9 will launch between Q2 and Q3 A release preview is exactly what it sounds like — it's a near-finished version of the software the public gets to play with before the official release arrives.

Myce's leak corroborates with Thurrott's previous reports, too, which also suggested we'll see Windows 9 in spring Windows 9 will represent a second chance, as Microsoft makes a greater push for Windows Store apps on the desktop. And unlike legacy desktop software, Windows Store apps can take advantage of new features such as the Share charm, Snap view, easier high-definition display support, and rich notifications.

The store also provides a safe, centralized location where users can download and update their software. Bringing Windows Store apps to the desktop introduces some challenges.

Laptop and desktop users have different needs than phone and tablet users, and Microsoft may need to change the way it curates the store for each group. But if the huge base of traditional PC users takes a liking to these apps, it could make the store more vibrant for everyone, and finally help Windows software move into the modern era.

According to recent leaks, virtual desktops will be a major addition in Windows 9. Similar to the Workspaces feature in Ubuntu Linux, users will be able to spread their work across multiple desktops, freeing them from clutter when moving between tasks.

Virtual desktops should be controlled through a window icon on the left side of the taskbar, so users can switch between workspaces with a couple of clicks. There's also talk of support for multiple "virtual desktops" that allow users to create different desktops and juggle among them. Few people seem to realize that Microsoft built virtual desktops into Windows XP and improved on the implementation in Windows 7. Nobody seems to use the desktops nowadays, but they could become one of the key new features in Windows 9 or Windows vNext or Windows Threshold.

We must stress that we're talking about the Charms for the desktop only. We haven't heard too much about the Charms bar for tablets, however we believe the way they are accessed won't be changing from its current form. My sources say the Charms Bar will be going away completely for all desktop, laptop, and tablet users with Threshold. That's a big step for the pointy crowd, but it eliminates the conceptual hurdles of running Metro apps in Desktop windows.

Consider: How could you implement charms in a Desktop window? Looks messy, doesn't it? Tom Warren, at The Verge , trumped them both:. The Verge can confirm current builds of Windows Threshold, which is expected to be named Windows 9, do not include the Charms Bar.

The Charms Bar has always been an anachronism. Aside from the cutesy name reminds me of a magically delicious breakfast cereal , the functions embodied in the hidden bar are basically lame. Search never did much -- even less now that Windows 8.

Yes, some Metro apps rely on the Search charm -- lousy, undiscoverable design. Share was tied up in the well-intentioned but rarely understood concept of contracts, and it was never as simple and clean as Copy.

I know a number of individuals and companies that have perfectly fine working systems, from manufacturing to book keeping, that will not run on anything above XP for whatever reason. Perhaps that app they need is not available, perhaps the hardware they use is not supported any more. Swapping out their perfectly working XP systems and apps and hardware would be a very expensive operation.

However going into the future this just not tenable. PC's break down. Peripherals break down. Support is unavailable. Eventually it becomes unsustainable. Great stuff. In watching Bill's career, the one skill that he was able to use to create an empire was his ability to see an opportunity and make the most of it. It wasn't programming smarts that created this empire In all honesty, Apple didn't do much different. I remember that in there was a huge buzz in the air about these new fangled micro-processor things.

My peers, just starting their Comp Sci or EE studies at uni were desperate to get hold of some. Some of them even managed to order and get chips. They were busy building those chips into boards and figuring out how to program them. Even I got involved in one such project. There is a reason why there was a proliferation of 8 bit computers in the UK shortly after. The Sinclair, the Acorn and a bunch of others I guess nobody has heard of.

How they laughed at how crude the hardware was. Massively disappointing. These guys were qualified to laugh though, they were on teams that had designed the 16 bit CPU the company was using and written the real-time multi-tasking OS it used.

A dark age that went on for, well, ages. Killing off a whole ecosystems of development. Stamping out variety and innovation. As my young Comp Sci friend said at the time "IBM has always held up the progress of computing by at least 10 years. With this PC thing they have just done it again". And so it was. Luckily the young Linus Torvalds tentatively dropped Linux into the world in and then somebody remembered those crazy young English guys had a long lost ARM 32 bit CPU design hanging around.

David Betz Posts: 14, OBC, Don't you find it amazing? They have been written by guys for fun and their own personal use and presented here free for use by anyone. We also have a pile of other useful languages provided by enthusiasts from Forth many versions upwards.

This kind of thing has been going on since the first micro-processors or even any other computer was around.