Microsoft's next version of Windows, known alternatively as Windows 9 and by the code name "Threshold", is reported to be set for a public unveiling on September 30th.
The report from The Verge's unnamed source adds that the date of the press event might change, but that the plan is to launch a preview version of the next version of Windows for developers on September 30 or shortly after the official reveal. Currently, rumors claim that Microsoft may launch the final version of Threshold, which may or may not get the official name of Windows 9, sometime in the spring of 2015.
Microsoft has already stated that the next version of Windows will bring back a version of the Start menu for the desktop UI that went missing with the launch of Windows 8. It will also have the ability to run Modern apps in windows on the desktop. Rumors about Threshold claim that Microsoft may do away with theCharms bar in Windows 8, along with adding support for virtual desktops and the Cortana digital assistant that's currently being used for Windows Phone 8.1.
A new report on the status of Cortana for the next version of Windows, code name "Threshold", has surfaced on Neowin, with the claim that development of the digital assistant for Microsoft's PC operating system is moving forward towards a possible final integration.
There have been major hints that Cortana would be added to the next version of Windows in the past,according to recent job listings at the company. Today's report points out that Microsoft could still pull Cortana from the final version Threshold but at the moment it claims, via unnamed sources, that Microsoft has put Cortana on the more stable release development schedule for the next version of Windows. It adds that at the moment, Cortana is an app on Threshold and takes up about 25 percent of a PC's display when it is in use. However, the app still has the same animations found in the Windows Phone 8.1 version and can be used by either voice or typed commands.
If Cortana development does gets the full treatment for Threshold, the report says that it will become integrated with the OS as it is currently with Windows Phone 8.1.A new rumor about the next version of Windows, code named "Threshold", claims that Microsoft's current internal builds of the operating system may offer users a faster way to update the software.
According to Neowin, using unnamed sources, users of the current version can upgrade to future builds with just one button click. The feature is built into the UI of the operating system and will not require a total re-installation of Threshold. which should make updating the OS much faster than the current Windows Update system that's used for Windows 7 and 8/8.1.
