News - Windows 9 'Threshold' will ship in April 2015

[Willzzz]

So this is Win8 with a couple of third party additions built in?

If I wanted them I'd have downloaded them, perfectly happy with 8 out of the box.

[Praxis]

I dunno. I felt they should have did a windows 8 and windows 8 touch. Windows 8 made me feel the same way as I felt when I bought dungeon siege three... ("Wow really sucks buying something on my pc that was originally for pc's in the previous versions that is clearly geared towards something else"). Also, why would my pc company make something geared towards something else...
Would be like my wife making Supper for the guy across the street and not me.
Well Microsoft pick up your windows and get back in my kitchen!!!!

[Agent]

So this is Win8 with a couple of third party additions built in?

If I wanted them I'd have downloaded them, perfectly happy with 8 out of the box.

Well, yeah, I'd hope so.

But money speaks, and the sales from Windows 8 have not lived up to expectations and have fallen short of forecasts.

I've no intention of starting the 8 or hate stuff here, but Windows 8 does have an image problem. I've seen a lot of people state they specifically do not want W8 with their new machine, or to remove it when it's shipped with it. Windows 8 could come out with a start menu tomorrow in a Windows Update patch, and it would still be known as a 'bad OS' by people.

I suspect this is what MS want to change more than anything.

[Jonj1611]

I like Windows 8, but then I really cannot remember the last time I had anything to do with Metro, I boot straight to desktop and have Start Menu 8 installed.

[Willzzz]

So basically this is Windows 8.2 but they don't want to use "8" in the name?

[Agent]

No one will know until they announce / release it

[Willzzz]

There's no way this is a substantial rewrite if it's arriving in April 2015.
Like you said it's largely a re-branding exercise.

[Percy1983]

I will quite happily add 8.1 to my cheap but great OS list (currently vista sp2 if I want a cheap legit windows licence).

Always makes me laugh how everybody goes one about 7 being amazing when it is just vista.1.

In short 8 has an image problem which it will never recover from (much like vista), but rather than follow the crowd I will make my own choices.

[Agent]

Always makes me laugh how everybody goes one about 7 being amazing when it is just vista.1.

Even if that was the case, whys it funny? What's wrong with taking a product and iterating it to be better?

Windows 7 brought some massive increases in performance and the UI over Vista, which is why people considered it amazing.

We'll see the same with 8 -> 9 I suspect.

[Willzzz]

Massive increases in performance 8 -> 9?

They'll change the UI to make it more comforting, beyond that I don't expect much more than a few tweaks.

[zdn1042]

I hope 9 will follow 7's footstep and maybe pass on some interfaces they used on 8. I won't be upgrading mine to 8 so I just jump directly to 9. Really hoping it will be good.

[Agent]

Massive increases in performance 8 -> 9?

Who knows. There are still some big changes that can be done in DirectX to take advantage of newer hardware, which is only traditionally released with a new Windows revision now.

[kalniel]

There's loads of areas they could work on - streaming is becomeing a big thing these days: network/internet/to console/phone etc.

[crossy]

Even if that was the case, whys it funny? What's wrong with taking a product and iterating it to be better?
Windows 7 brought some massive increases in performance and the UI over Vista, which is why people considered it amazing.
We'll see the same with 8 -> 9 I suspect.

Agree totally. With one exception everyone I've spoken to has said "Vista=bad, Windows7=far better". And if all that is needed is an "iteration" to turn something less usable into something fine, then I'm not going to complain. It's down to frustration-factor - if your users moan "how do I do X" then you've failed.

Not that I'm necessarily denigrating your choices Percy1983, but I can't understand why you'd stick with an OS that's an unimproved version of a later release. Fine if there's functions that the old one does that the new one doesn't (like 8 v's 7 for me), but otherwise ... why? Oh, and if good-but-cheap is your yardstick then I've got you beat - I use Ubuntu 12.04LTS that cost me nothing.

[Percy1983]

I agree 7 is better than vista, buts the distance people put between them which amuses me.

I will say the last of my vista licenses made way for windows 8, I now have 2 machines with 8.1 pro, a 7 pro and a 7 home premium

As for ubuntu offering better value, yes and no, personally I have used it just fine but of course compatibility isn't the greatest and to get somethings working how I wanted the learning curve is much steeper than that of windows 8.

In short if I built a cheap machine or got an older cheap laptop with either no OS or XP I will put a £5 vista license on without blinking. Yes both 7 and 8 are better but I am not getting a license for less than £60 for either. And ubuntu may be fine depending on usage but one of those has to be the wife won't be using it and she kicked off when I last installed it on a machine.

So I guess I am not saying we should have all stuck with vista but it is a cheap and capable OS.

With that if they do another cheap upgrade deal on 9 I will just jump in.

[Saracen]

....
With that if they do another cheap upgrade deal on 9 I will just jump in.

And I may as well IF they solve the issues with MUI. I.e. let me avoid it.

But I nearly bought a number of Win8 upgrades in the pre-release period, and am I oh so glad I didn't. I bought one, and I have to be able to run W8 on occasion, so that sits on a drive I can put in a removable bay in moments, when I need it. But the rest? They'll either stay what they are (W7 or earlier), or migrate to Linux. Some already have, and those that have aren't migrating back.

For me, the damage is done with Win 8, my long-term loyalty has been list and they cannot unlose it. I will have a current MS OS available for as long as I need it for testing, but beyond that, I've rather lost interest in Windows. I stayed mainly with it because the inconvenience of moving was too high. But Win8 burst that bubble, permanently, for me.

So while I might upgrade one machine to Win9, depending on what it proves to be, I doubt it'll ever be more than the minimum I have to have that get upgraded.

For me, the boat sailed with Win8. That, finally, did it, and I moved everything that could be, and the rest can stay on legacy OS, including in some cases, XP.

Win 9? Well ..... whatever.