For the past several weeks, there have been rumors that Windows Threshold, likely to be named Windows 9 upon release, will merge different operating systems into a single Windows. Well, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella confirmed it during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. Nadella said that the software giant is working to “unify” different parts of Windows OS.
Windows 9: one OS for all form factors
That means if your device, whether it’s desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile or Xbox, running Windows 9, everything would look and feel the same way. A single team at Microsoft is working on this project. There will be one Windows Store and commerce model across all form factors. And developers won’t have to create a different app for each type of Windows. They can develop just one app that will work across PCs, smartphones, tablets and Xbox consoles.
Nadella’s announcement didn’t come as a surprise as the software giant had announced “Universal Windows Apps” earlier this year. Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet says that the Windows 9 will still have different SKUs. But all of them will be based on a single Windows NT software core. An app that runs on a desktop can run equally well on touch-first devices.
Windows 9 to bring Cortana to PC
It will also make it easier for Microsoft to bring its voice assistant Cortana to PCs. A unified experience will make it easy to move files and documents between apps on different devices. You can start an email on your PC and finish it on your smartphone. Windows 9 is expected to be launched later this year. Recently leaked screenshots of Windows 9 show that the new OS will bring back the Start menu.
Reports suggest that Windows 9 will be a single OS, but it will have the capability to transform the user interface based on the device it’s running. For instance, if it’s running on a PC, it will have a desktop. Mobile and tablets will have a touch-first UI. Windows 9 will transform its UI depending on whether the keyboard is attached to the device.
