Windows 9 release date, news: Microsoft plans 2015 release and move away from Windows 8

Latest Microsoft OS looks to sever ties with tainted Windows 8 brand

3. Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet Nokia’s first tablet is a triumph. It feels great thanks to a warm-to-the-touch polycarbonate shell. It’s a Windows 8.1 RT tablet, augmented with Nokia’s ace apps. H

The latest version of Windows, code name “Threshold”, is rumoured to arrive by April 2015.

It’s been suggested that details regarding the successor to Windows 8.1 may be released at a company event in April 2014 by respected technology blogger Paul Thurrott.

According to Thurrott, Microsoft will announce the plans for the updated OS at the BUILD developer conference in April 2014. The conference is currently scheduled for April 2 in San Francisco. Registration for the event close on 14 January, with a ticket price of $2095.

The conference is rumoured to be “very much focused on” Xbox and Windows Phone with the operating system news centered on the ‘ vision’ of the product rather than specific details.

Thurrott suggests that updates to the operating system will focus on counteracting negative reactions to Windows 8 and 8.1. This even includes the possibility of naming the successor Windows 9 in order to sever association with the Windows 8 name.

Users might be expecting an update to Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. It is expected that the update will also modify the “ Metro” design feature of Windows desktop and that users will be able to run Metro apps, those downloaded from the Windows Store, on the classic Windows desktop.

None of the details have been confirmed by Microsoft but Thurrot said that Threshold “could very well be a make or break release “. A Microsoft spokesman told The Register that they had “nothing to share” about the update.