When the leaked early build of Windows Blue made its way on Internet torrent services a few weeks ago, it was clear that this update to Windows 8 would not be a mere service pack with some fixes and performance improvements. The build revealed it would also have a number of new features along with some new in-house Windows 8 apps.
Microsoft later admitted it is working on what it calls "a set of plans" for its products and services which it calls Blue internally. However, it won't likely be calling this upcoming Windows 8 update "Windows Blue" when it is officially released later this summer.
Recently, some Internet reports claim that Microsoft will call the update Windows 8.1, which certainly sounds logical. But what about the update after that? In a new article on ZDNet, Mary Jo Foley points out the naming of any Windows product is basically a marketing decision. She states:
If Windows 8 ends up perceived by the general public more positively than it is currently, Blue's successor may end up as an 8.X release; if it doesn't, Microsoft could end up going with Windows 9 just to distance itself from Windows 8.
So far, the market share for Windows 8 in the entire PC ecosystem has only increased to 3.31 percent since its launch over five months ago. Microsoft should announce what they plan to call the Windows 8/Blue update at its BUILD conference in June.
Update: We originally stated that Foley said the next version of Windows 8 might be called either Windows 8.1 or Windows 9 when in fact she was referring to its successor. We apologize for the confusion.
Source: ZDNet.com | Image via AngleWZR
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