At the moment, Microsoft is working on Windows 8, the next version of its long running PC operating system. Windows 8 should launch sometime in 2012 and plans are for it to be made available for PCs, tablets and other devices. But what about the next version of Microsoft's operating system beyond Windows 8? According to a story on This Is My Next, unnamed sources inside Microsoft claim that the company has a radical plan that could change pretty much everything about how Microsoft develops its operating system.
The story claims that Microsoft has a plan that will offer the same operating system for not just PCs, tablets and phones but also its Xbox operating system. The article claims that this change will happen sometime in 2015 or 2016 which would put the launch of this plan at the end of Windows 8's main run. It would also be around the end of the Xbox 360's projected 10 year development time period.
Linking all of these products under one operating system is a huge move for Microsoft if this story is accurate. But that's not all. The article also claims that Microsoft could do away with the name "Windows" for this next version of the operating system. Such a move would do away with one of the most well know brand names in not just the tech business but in the entire world. The article does offer a caveat, saying that getting rid of the Windows brand "could well change over the next few years as this plan takes shape."
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