Thanks to some rather controversial press coverage, Microsoft rushed 8.1 out only year after its previous operating system release. While the new OS isn’t really a completely new version, it is much more than a Service Pack, and the company generally taken at least a year to prepare one of those. Now the next flagship software is in the works, and we have a bit of a wait for this one.
Mary Jo Foley, of the All About Microsoft blog, is reporting that what we have been terming Windows 9, has an official codename, being called “Threshold”. The word, for non-gamers out there, is derived from the original Halo game, where it was the name of the planet enveloped by the first Halo ring.
Foley points out that, from what she has managed to discover, this name refers to a wave of releases, not just the operating system. “From what I’ve heard, Threshold doesn’t refer to a single Windows OS — not even the expected, converged hybrid comprised of the Windows Phone OS and Windows RT. Instead, the codename refers to the wave of operating systems across Windows-based phones, devices and gaming consoles,” Foley states.
As had been previously been rumored, the big refresh is expected to arrive in the first half of 2015. However, before you despair, she does point out that an update to Windows 8.1 will arrive, simply being known as “Update 1.” This is expected in Spring 2014, set to coincide with Windows Phone 8.1 Blue. It is unknown, at this point, what that update will entail and, so far Microsoft is not saying, nor has it confirmed Threshold.
More on this as details emerge.
