Windows 8 has just been released and we’re already hearing rumours about Windows 9, codenamed Windows Blue. While not a whole lot is known about the next OS from the House of Redmond, but rumours would suggest that the familiar Tile based user interface, familiar to most as the Metro UI, will be staying put.
Windows Blue will keep the Metro UI, but if the words of a forum poster at PCBeta, a Taiwanese forum for PC nerds, are to be believed, the UI will be customizable. The poster, claiming to be an Alpha Tester for the next version of Windows, said that the familiar desktop will also be retained, although Microsoft might alter the way the Metro UI and the traditional desktop work together.
The Metro UI has been receiving a lot of flak from users, many claiming blasphemy that after establishing a user interface for over a decade and a half, Microsoft has decided to change it up completely. We on the other hand love the simple tile-based interface where we’ve pinned all our frequently used programs, eliminating any need to have shortcuts on the desktop.
We had earlier reported that work on the next version of Windows, codenamed Windows Blue had already begun. Rumours around it suggest that while it may not vary wildly from Windows 8, it will be a lighter OS and the key approach would probably be the fact that Microsoft might make it free for all those who bought a copy of Windows 8. Of course, there is no word from Microsoft on Windows Blue, but if it is indeed real, the release could be sometime next year.
Source: PCBeta