l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 "Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015
Paul Thurrott
01/11/2014 - 12:07pm
Microsoft tries to put Windows 8 in the rear-view mirror
At the BUILD developer conference in April 2014, Microsoft will discuss its
vision for the future of Windows, including a year-off release codenamed "
Threshold" that will most likely be called Windows 9. Here's what I know
about the next major release of Windows.
As a kind of recap, we know that Microsoft will update Windows 8.1 in 2014,
first with a service pack/feature pack-type update called Update 1 (or GDR1
internally). I wrote a bit about this update recently in Windows 8.1 Update
1 (Very Early) Preview but the expectation is that it will ship in April
2014 alongside Windows Phone 8.1, the development of which Microsoft will
soon complete.
Also in April, of course, is BUILD 2014. That show will hit just weeks after
Microsoft completes its corporate reorganization and will surprisingly be
very much focused on Windows Phone and Xbox, according to my sources. But I
think Windows watchers will agree that the biggest news from the show will
be an announcement about Microsoft's plans for the next major Windows
version, codenamed "Threshold."
I previously wrote about Threshold in Microsoft to Take Windows to the "
Threshold", Further Changes Coming in Windows "Threshold" and Big Changes
Are Coming to Windows. This is the release my sources previously pegged as
being the one that will see the return of the Start menu and the ability to
run Metro-style apps on the desktop alongside desktop applications.
But Threshold is more important than any specific updates. Windows 8 is
tanking harder than Microsoft is comfortable discussing in public, and the
latest release, Windows 8.1, which is a substantial and free upgrade with
major improvements over the original release, is in use on less than 25
million PCs at the moment. That's a disaster, and Threshold needs to strike
a better balance between meeting the needs of over a billion traditional PC
users while enticing users to adopt this new Windows on new types of
personal computing devices. In short, it needs to be everything that Windows
8 is not.
Here's what I've learned about Threshold.
Windows 9. To distance itself from the Windows 8 debacle, Microsoft is
currently planning to drop the Windows 8 name and brand this next release as
Windows 9. That could change, but that's the current thinking.
BUILD vision announcement. In case it's not obvious that the Sinofsky era is
over, Microsoft will use BUILD to provide its first major "vision"
announcement for Windows since, yes, Longhorn in 2003. Don't expect anything
that grandiose, but the Windows team believes it needs to hit a happy
middle ground between the KGB-style secrecy of the Sinofsky camp and the
freewheeling "we can do it all" days that preceded that. As important, the
firm understands that customers need something to be excited about.
No bits at BUILD. Microsoft will not be providing developers with an early
alpha release of "Threshold" at BUILD, and for a good reason: The product
won't even begin development until later that month. Right now, Microsoft is
firming up which features it intends to deliver in this release.
Metro 2.0. Maturing and fixing the "Metro" design language used by Windows
will be a major focus area of Threshold. It's not clear what changes are
coming, but it's safe to assume that a windowed mode that works on the
desktop is part of that.
Three milestones. Microsoft expects to deliver three milestone releases of "
Threshold" before its final release. It's unclear what these releases will
be called (Beta, Release Candidate, etc.) or which if any will be provided
to the public.
April 2015 release.
Microsoft is currently targeting April 2015 for the release of Windows 9 "
Threshold."
In some ways, the most interesting thing about Threshold is how it recasts
Windows 8 as the next Vista. It's an acknowledgment that what came before
didn't work, and didn't resonate with customers. And though Microsoft will
always be able to claim that Windows 9 wouldn't have been possible without
the important foundational work they had done first with Windows 8—just as
was the case with Windows 7 and Windows Vista—there's no way to sugarcoat
this. Windows 8 has set back Microsoft, and Windows, by years, and possibly
for good.
These things don't happen in isolation—the big and slow Vista arrived
inauspiciously just as netbooks were taking off and Windows 8 arrived just
as media tablets changed everything—and it's fair to say that the
technology world of today barely resembles that of 2006, creating new
challenges for Windows. Threshold will target this new world. It could very
well be a make or break release.
I'll let you know when I've learned more. | t**t
发帖数: 27760 | 2 隔代升级
its
,
GDR1
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: "Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015
: Paul Thurrott
: 01/11/2014 - 12:07pm
: Microsoft tries to put Windows 8 in the rear-view mirror
: At the BUILD developer conference in April 2014, Microsoft will discuss its
: vision for the future of Windows, including a year-off release codenamed "
: Threshold" that will most likely be called Windows 9. Here's what I know
: about the next major release of Windows.
: As a kind of recap, we know that Microsoft will update Windows 8.1 in 2014,
: first with a service pack/feature pack-type update called Update 1 (or GDR1
| R*R
发帖数: 2661 | |
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