A few weeks ago I mentioned that the next version of Windows was expected to be called Windows 8.2 and would probably arrive in October – exactly a year after Windows 8.1 and two years after the original Windows 8. That all seems sensible and logical, but it now also seems to be wrong.
A new version of Windows is indeed on the way, but it’s due to arrive in April. And rather than being called Windows 8.2, it will apparently go by the exotic name of ‘Windows 8.1 Update 1’. From that name and the speed of its arrival, we can surmise that there won’t be a great deal that’s new or notable about it.
For something new (and hopefully notable), we have to wait until April 2015 and the release of what really should be the next version of Windows. Although Microsoft isn’t commenting publicly about it, there’s no doubt that some private commenting has been going on, and the rumours have a ring of truth.
The first rumour is that 2015’s version will be named ‘Windows 9’. The change of name obviously helps to emphasise that this version really is new, but there’s little doubt that Microsoft is keen to shed the name ‘Windows 8’ and its negative associations.
The second rumour is that the Start menu is coming back, and the third is that the new-fangled ‘Modern UI’ apps which currently fill your whole screen will be able to run in ordinary windows on the desktop, just like all the other programs we’ve been using for decades. In essence, then, the rumours hint that Windows 9 will herald a return to a more-familiar Windows.
More generally, they suggest that Microsoft is back-peddling furiously on its earlier plans for Windows. The whole point of Windows 8 was to expand Windows’ reach to encompass tablet computers and other touch-screen PCs, but the plan has misfired badly: most tablet users are choosing an Apple iPad or one of the many Google Android devices, while ordinary PC users have decided that Windows 8 is designed for tablets so it’s no use to them.
This perception of Windows 8 isn’t likely to change between now and April 2015 and that means three wasted years for Microsoft. In that time, Apple and Google have sewn up the market for tablets and smartphones between them, leaving Microsoft with just the dwindling PC market – the same market it had before, but now feeling rather ignored and let-down.
The one ray of hope on Microsoft’s horizon is that no-one is yet competing with Windows on ordinary PCs. Millions of PC users are drumming their fingers and waiting for a version of Windows they feel is designed for them. Windows 9 really has to be that version; the big question is whether Microsoft is willing and able to deliver it.
From PC Tips for Seniors www.pcforseniors.co.uk.
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