Windows 9 and Windows 365 expected to See The Light Of Day

[FaiKee]

It wouldn't make any sense for Threshold to have these new features and the version after Threshold wouldn't have them! You're probably looking at either RT builds or builds from a different lab that on't have these new features yet. The differences between FBL's can be huge sometimes!

 

.......

Just wait for Brad, or until the win9 TP/DP release, it's not that far away. :)

[George P Global Moderator]

It's not hard to think that they have two different builds/branches in the works, one with UI changes that they're testing out and one that doesn't have any but just has under the hood changes to APIs and such which is what developers could get.   If we think of the current state of the OS, whatever they call it at the end, as being in the milestone stage, then we're not going to see much till around M3 or what ends up being the first beta.   We still have a month to go though, if the Sept 30th date is solid, that's lots of time for them to combine things from one to the other.

[Argi]

It's not hard to think that they have two different builds/branches in the works, one with UI changes that they're testing out and one that doesn't have any but just has under the hood changes to APIs and such which is what developers could get.   If we think of the current state of the OS, whatever they call it at the end, as being in the milestone stage, then we're not going to see much till around M3 or what ends up being the first beta.   We still have a month to go though, if the Sept 30th date is solid, that's lots of time for them to combine things from one to the other.

 

Hasn't that always been the case in the past?  I vaguely remember the UI changes in Win7 came late.

[George P Global Moderator]

Hasn't that always been the case in the past?  I vaguely remember the UI changes in Win7 came late.

 

Yeah, which is why I bring up the whole milestone bit.   In the past we wouldn't see any visual UI changes until the final milestone, usually M3, don't remember if they ever did a M4 in the past.   That's what always ends up leading into the betas, even with Windows 8, they were showing off early m1/m2 builds of it running on ARM, that was before any of the modern/start screen UI bits were added.  It just looked like Windows 7, even with the start menu the same at the time IIRC.

 

With this new faster cycle though, I could picture them taking two different builds/branches, one just for UI testing and the other, probably the main one, that gets the core/API/framework changes done to it.  Then when the UI bits are done they can fold those back into the main branch and build what will be the final version.   I think this could explain the talk about people seeing two different builds/OSs and one with UI changes and one without any at all.  

 

The other theory that comes to mind for me is that the one with the UI changes could be the build of the OS that ends up running on phone and tablet, the one we're expected to see early in 2015 with the new modern UI changes.    This could be the one that people have said looks very different from desktop Windows right now etc.  

 

Guess we'll know in time, I mean it's going to be a month, unless the date is wrong.  As we get closer to it though we're starting to get more and more tidbits.

[FaiKee]

Yeah, which is why I bring up the whole milestone bit.   ......

 

Start menu is part of explorer.exe, but I guess explorer.exe in win9 plays a important part in 3-screens-and-a-cloud, metro, OneCore things etc, so if MS does release a update to win8.1 adding start menu, then adding start menu to win9 would be their last worries.

 

Therefor, I believe we don't need to think too much about it even if the win9 TP/DP has no start menu, it may or may not come in a later release. Maybe MS even wishes to test if the users(mainly vol clients) would accept Metro2.0 to be a replacement to start menu.

 

It's just my guess, anyway I hardly use start menu in win7. :)

[tomwarren Veteran]

You guys are crazy :)

 

There are plenty of Threshold builds with the windowed apps and the Start Menu. For instance fbl_uip_dev builds have most of the recent changes and Metro 2.0 bits / icon changes. Microsoft has had builds of Threshold with the Start Menu in it for months and months. 

 

The way the Technology Preview will work is by blending in these additional changes from sub builds as per the engineering process of Windows. Think of the TP as a kind of winmain that will be updated less frequently, but around twice per month (every 2 weeks fingers crossed). 

[FaiKee]

 

You guys are crazy :)

 

There are plenty of Threshold builds with the windowed apps and the Start Menu. For instance fbl_uip_dev builds have most of the recent changes and Metro 2.0 bits / icon changes. Microsoft has had builds of Threshold with the Start Menu in it for months and months. 

 

The way the Technology Preview will work is by blending in these additional changes from sub builds as per the engineering process of Windows. Think of the TP as a kind of winmain that will be updated less frequently, but around twice per month (every 2 weeks fingers crossed). 

 

Just wait and see, Tom. :)

 

If start menu was in the current Win9 builds, Brad would have flamed me yesterday, guess he (or his friend) is still trying to figure out if it was really there.

[blerk]

....icon changes....

 

 

Will we really be getting an OS with completely new icons? No Windows 7/Vista/XP/etc holdouts?

 

I'll believe that when I see it  :laugh:

[George P Global Moderator]

Will we really be getting an OS with completely new icons? No Windows 7/Vista/XP/etc holdouts?

 

I'll believe that when I see it  :laugh:

 

It'll just be the top most layer of icons, once you go a bit into control panel  you'll see the old ones.  :P

[FaiKee]

(Slightly) Off-topic: From Statcounter : Jul/Aug: XP: 14.31%; Windows 8/8,1: 15.55% :)

[George P Global Moderator]

(Slightly) Off-topic: From Statcounter : Jul/Aug: XP: 14.31%; Windows 8/8,1: 15.55% :)

 

I saw that a few hours ago, I still don't get why statcounter wants to combine all versions of OSX into one yet they decide they want to keep 8 and 8.1 as two different things?   It's about time that all the different stat outlets just combine the two into one IMO.

[Stoffel]

So, they are saying now that we are getting a preview of the ARM version of Threshold in jan/feb. Will this be basically the new WP version too?

Can we install this version on our tablets and or phones?

[George P Global Moderator]

So, they are saying now that we are getting a preview of the ARM version of Threshold in jan/feb. Will this be basically the new WP version too?

Can we install this version on our tablets and or phones?

 

It would be great if you could do it on your phone, I think Jan/Feb, would match up well with when they'll start talking about WP9 or w/e the next major version is called, it matches pretty closely with what 8.1 had schedule wise.

[Stoffel]

It would be great if you could do it on your phone, I think Jan/Feb, would match up well with when they'll start talking about WP9 or w/e the next major version is called, it matches pretty closely with what 8.1 had schedule wise.

 

If this is true, I can't believe nobody is talking about this.

It means we get the WP Threshold preview in jan/feb

 

They say it's a merger from Windows RT and WP, I hope it's more WP then Windows

 

I also hope to see them implementing bits from the startscreen for WP into Windows, they easy placing of your tiles, folders,...

And maybe a notification center in which they can incorporate the charms, at least those for general OS stuff, like settings, WiFi,....

[George P Global Moderator]

If this is true, I can't believe nobody is talking about this.

It means we get the WP Threshold preview in jan/feb

 

They say it's a merger from Windows RT and WP, I hope it's more WP then Windows

 

I also hope to see them implementing bits from the startscreen for WP into Windows, they easy placing of your tiles, folders,...

And maybe a notification center in which they can incorporate the charms, at least those for general OS stuff, like settings, WiFi,....

 

 

Either way I think the odds are good, I mean it's August and we're already on GDR1/Update 1, that should go RTM/Final sometime in September I bet, and we could be looking at developer preview bits for update 2 in Oct/November, same schedule they had for the 8.0 GDRs, and then early next year there's a preview for 9.0 or 8.2 or w/e.  I remember a post saying that the newest WP build spotted out there is actually v8.15.xxxxx.

[Studio384]

Either way I think the odds are good, I mean it's August and we're already on GDR1/Update 1, that should go RTM/Final sometime in September I bet, and we could be looking at developer preview bits for update 2 in Oct/November, same schedule they had for the 8.0 GDRs, and then early next year there's a preview for 9.0 or 8.2 or w/e.  I remember a post saying that the newest WP build spotted out there is actually v8.15.xxxxx.

8.15.12375 to be exact. Again, I'm not sure why Microsoft would bump the minor version, there is no reason for it, other then indicating an update that is larger then the usual GDRs we have seen so far. Not to mention that an 8.15 build had shown up back in April already, somebody mentioned another build at WPCentral back then in an article about Windows Phone 8.1. I don't know which one it was, through. Anyway, again, I don't see any reason for Microsoft to bump the build number higher, except for a rather major update to 8.1. They didn't do it with NoDo, Tango, Refresh, 8.0 GDR 1/2/3 and 8.1 GDR. Even Windows Phone 7.8 still had the 7.10 version number, just like Windows Phone 7.5 was also version 7.10. And that update brought a whole refresh for the startscreen. It makes me doubt that we will get a GDR2 and that Microsoft left the "1" in the official name "Windows Phone 8.1 Update" for a real reason, just like they did with Windows 8.1 Update. On another note, the last known version in the 8.10 branch is 8.10.14160, however 8.10.14162 showed up a day prior to that build. We will probably get that build somewhere in September (or a slightly newer one).

[COKid]

Why not Windows 365? I've heard that or Windows One.

[FaiKee]

Why not Windows 365? I've heard that or Windows One.

The only thing I heard about Win365 ATM is "in top gear and going flat-out", no idea when would be announcement. :)

 

btw, it's day3, Brad & Co. still unable to find the start menu in 982x(9825??), but still not decided if he should nuke the rumor mill with this story? :laugh:

[Snowbooks1419]

I don't think there will be a Windows 365, unless it ends up being the final name of Threshold. Why? The point of Windows 365 is that you would get automatic updates for free. But now, people are saying that Threshold will have automatic updates. So why do we still need a subscription version of Windows?

[Ian W]

Haha, you're kinda right, that article is a serious hyperbole, but if you have studied all the court documents as closely as I have, you would understand what I meant. Leaking info/builds is fundamentally against the NDA, but the reason Kibkalo was taken to court really is the Activation Server SDK. My point was: keep the leaks coming, just don't be stupid like Kibkalo.

The point that I had tried to make in my previous post is that a non-disclosure agreement is based on trust; whether one is taken to court for violating that trust is largely irrelevant as a breach of contract has still taken place. The fact that you acknowledge that leaking builds/information is fundamentally against the NDA but have written that it is alright to do so shows an utter lack of regard for the stipulations set forth in the agreement.

[FaiKee]

From PCBeta guy after I posted about no start menu in current win9 builds(982x), Bing translation seems OK this time. :) 

 

 

[bdsams Veteran]

Are there builds of Windows vNext without a start menu: yes. Are they part of the main branch: no.

[Studio384]

Are there builds of Windows vNext without a start menu: yes. Are they part of the main branch: no.

What do you mean? Start menu isn't part of the main branch, or the builds without the startmenu aren't part of the main branch?

[Dot Matrix]

What do you mean? Start menu isn't part of the main branch, or the builds without the startmenu aren't part of the main branch?

Exactly what he means. The builds aren't part of the main branch.

[George P Global Moderator]

The builds without the start menu that aren't part of the main branch are probably the ones they are working on for tablet only I'd bet.  The start menu is something you'll see only on traditional desktops and laptops from what I've been hearing, the system will, or should, change depending on the hardware connected.

 

As interesting as the desktop side changes are, because I still mostly use my desktop compared to my tablet, i'm much more interested in what they do with WP and RT and making them one OS for phone and tablet.