Original story
"Alain Crozier, the President of Microsoft France, today became the first executive in the company to use the term "Windows 9" publicly to describe the next version of Windows.
Crozier made the statement as part of a company press event today that was live-streamed and is now available to watch on the Microsoft France website. During his presentation, he said, "Last year we had Windows 8. In the next few minutes, the next few days, we'll be releasing Windows 9." Crozier is likely referring to the press event scheduled to be held September 30, a week from today, in San Francisco, where the company is supposed to offer the first details on the next version of Windows and how it will help its enterprise customers.
It's possible that Crozier misspoke on the actual release date of Windows 9, which has the internal code name Threshold. Recent Internet rumors claim that Microsoft will wait until sometime in early October to release a public preview of Windows. It's also possible that Microsoft may end up calling the next version of Windows something other than Windows 9 when it is finally released. However, the fact that Crozier did say "Windows 9" today shows that the branding has at least been discussed at the company."
"Microsoft is preparing to detail its next major version of Windows. We had been expecting the company to hold a press event later this month, and now it’s official. Microsoft will hold a "Windows event" in San Francisco on September 30th. The software maker started emailing out invites to the event today, and Joe Belfiore and Terry Myerson will be leading a discussion around the future of Windows. The event will focus on enterprise and power users of Windows.
Microsoft is expected to deliver a "Windows Technical Preview" at the event or soon after so that developers and enterprise customers can evaluate a number of changes the company is making. Screenshots and videos of the Windows Technical Preview have leaked over the past week, revealing the addition of a new Start menu, a virtual desktops feature, and a Notification Center. Microsoft also appears to be tweaking its desktop user interface to improve and flatten the traditional icons, alongside some taskbar changes for future Cortana integration and virtual desktops.
Additional changes are expected to be pushed regularly to Windows Technical Preview users until the operating system is complete and ready for release next year. We understand Microsoft is planning more UI changes to the desktop, and a number of those improvements aren’t ready for the preview just yet. We’ll be live from San Francisco on September 30th, so stay tuned for much more information about the future of Windows."
Windows9Update
"CORTANA FOR WINDOWS 9 DEVELOPMENT REACHES ALPHA"
"Redmond has not talked all that much about the integration of it digital voice assistant, Cortana, in Windows 9, but a number of unofficial reports have set the matter straight.
According to the latest hearsay, development of this feature is coming along fine.
Unnamed sources close to the matter have revealed that the desktop version of Cortana is in its alpha development stage, but Microsoft is pleased with how things have shaped up until now. Which is good, because the release of the new operating system is not all that far away.
And it also means that the digital voice assistant could be part of the preview version of Windows 9 that is said to be on track for launch towards the end of this year.
Anyway, Cortana for Windows 9 currently runs as a separate app — this will, of course, change by the time the new operating system is publicly available.
The voice assistant will be completely integrated with Windows 9, as is the case with the Windows Phone version. But the current functionality of the service is the same. You launch the Cortana app, type in your question or talk into the microphone.
The report says that the app does not run in full screen mode for the time being, but it is still centered in the main window. More importantly, the famous circle shape and animation is there. Whew!
Expect plenty of improvement to the service by the time Cortana for Windows 9 launches"
Neowin
"Over the past few weeks, Neowin has been slowly uncovering Windows Threshold with tidbits about its distinctive new interface, virtual desktops, Charms bar overhaul and now we are learning a little bit more about Cortana.According to the latest hearsay, development of this feature is coming along fine.
Unnamed sources close to the matter have revealed that the desktop version of Cortana is in its alpha development stage, but Microsoft is pleased with how things have shaped up until now. Which is good, because the release of the new operating system is not all that far away.
And it also means that the digital voice assistant could be part of the preview version of Windows 9 that is said to be on track for launch towards the end of this year.
Anyway, Cortana for Windows 9 currently runs as a separate app — this will, of course, change by the time the new operating system is publicly available.
The voice assistant will be completely integrated with Windows 9, as is the case with the Windows Phone version. But the current functionality of the service is the same. You launch the Cortana app, type in your question or talk into the microphone.
The report says that the app does not run in full screen mode for the time being, but it is still centered in the main window. More importantly, the famous circle shape and animation is there. Whew!
Expect plenty of improvement to the service by the time Cortana for Windows 9 launches"
Previously, we had mentioned that Cortana was up and running inside of Windows Threshold, and that was true, but the good news here is that Cortana has ‘graduated’, if you want to call it that, from engineering builds to a more stable release cycle. What this means is that Cortana is no longer in the phase where it is ‘let us see if this works’ to a ‘let us push this forward and see if we can ship it’ stage. While it is still early in development, Cortana’s performance on the desktop is improving and looks to be targeted for inclusion of the final release. Obviously at this point, it could still be cut, but the first big hurdle has been overcome.
But how does Cortana work? As of right now, Cortana is an app; it’s a simple app that opens up the personal digital assistant where you can then either type in your question or ask verbally inside a smallish window. It's not a full screen experience like you see on Windows Phone.
The app itself currently looks similar to that of Windows Phone, but takes up roughly 25% of your display with Cortana being in the center; Cortana maintains her circle shape and is animated too.
Cortana is expected to integrate into the OS as well, much like she does on Windows Phone, but at this time the deep integration into Windows Threshold is slim but there are plenty of time for improvements.
The cool thing about Cortana is that since Microsoft is updating her functionality so frequently, those features are also included in the desktop version as well. Microsoft has already said that Cortana will be updated at least twice a month which means that by the time Threshold launches, Cortana will be significantly more robust than today.
In other Threshold news, builds are becoming more stable as well, certainly not release or even ‘preview’ caliber, but they are making solid progress. Considering how quickly builds are being pumped out and the progress that is being made, a ‘preview’ release later this year certainly seems plausible."
Sources:
Primary: Brandon Follett
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