Windows 8 adoption has been very low (less than 20%) of the PC market. This is because Windows 8 was a big shift in the user experience that a lot of people felt uncomfortable with. Windows 7 was such a successful release because the user experience was familiar, but Microsoft fixed all of the bugs from Vista making Windows 7 very stable.
Now, rumors have been floating around that the next version of Windows will be revealed at the end of this month (September) and will be released sometime in 2015. Today, screenshots have been leaked.
Thanks to the German Windows blog, WinFuture, screenshots of the upcoming Windows 9 have been leaked onto the Internet giving us all a peak into what’s next.
One thing to keep in mind: There is a lot of speculation that Microsoft may actually remove the price tag from it’s operating system, offering it for free. This would help reduce cost of producing and selling PC with Windows in order to compete with Apple’s Mac OSX which is now free. If this proves true, this could lead to adoption rates as good as (if not better than) Windows 7.
So let’s take a look at the screenshots to know what we can expect.
The Old Start Menu is Back!
For a lot of people, this was their #1 complaint about Windows 8. They liked their Start Menu and didn’t like that Windows 8 was missing it. In my option, Windows 8’s Start Screen was fine and could do anything the Start Menu did, but regardless a lot of people didn’t like that change.
Microsoft heard that complaint, and in Windows 8.1, they brought back the Start Button, but not the Menu. The Start Button just went to the Start Screen.
Keep in mind, the Start Screen has not gone away, but somehow the Screen and the Menu co-exist in Windows 9.
You Can Open Metro Apps in Windowed Mode
Another complaint that a lot of people had with Windows 8 is that “metro apps” that you would download from the Windows Store could only open in full screen or split screen. They could not open in windowed mode like traditional applications would.
That caused a strange segregation between normal apps and metro apps. It has always seems so meaningless. I’m glad to see Microsoft is finally fixing that so we will be able to run all apps in windows over our desktop.
New Virtual Desktop Switching
One nice feature that both Linux and Mac have had for a while was a virtual desktop switching feature. That’s where you can have a set of windows open in one desktop, while you have another set of windows open in another.
This is especially useful for users with only one screen, but have a lot of windows open. It allows users to do better context switching instead of having absolute chaos due to the number of windows open at any given time. At that point, Alt+Tab just doesn’t cut it.
What Do You Think?
- Are these the features Windows 8 was missing?
- Is Microsoft on the right track?
- Will you get Windows 9 when it comes out? What if it will be free?
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