Windows 9 leak shows multiple desktops, notifications, new Start menu, and more

del.icio.us Tags: Operating Systems,Technology,Windows 9

 

Jared Newman@onejarednewman

Jared Newman , PCWorld

Jared writes for PCWorld and TechHive from his remote outpost in Cincinnati.
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A batch of leaked screenshots from the next version of Windows show just how far Microsoft will go to win back desktop users.

The update, codenamed Threshold and possibly called Windows 9 or just plain Windows, takes some features from Windows 8 and grafts them onto the classic desktop. While we've known for some time that Windows 9 will have a pop-up Start menu and the ability to run modern apps in windowed mode, the new screenshots from Computer Base and WinFuture.de give even greater detail on how things will work.

When running in windowed mode, Windows Store apps will get a button in the top-left corner. Clicking the button brings up a list of functions that previously appeared in the Charms bar, including Search, Share, Play, Project and Settings. This menu lets users switch the app to full screen mode as well.

WinFuture.de

Microsoft is also adding a few new buttons to the desktop taskbar. A search button sits immediately to the right of the Start button, followed by a button for switching between multiple desktops. The latter feature, possibly called “virtual desktops,” will let users switch between several sets of desktop apps and layouts in nod to Ubuntu Linux's longstanding “Workspaces.”

WinFuture.de

Near the right side of the taskbar, users will find a new notifications button, with a pop-up menu that will presumably show messages from Windows Store apps.

The screenshots don't reveal any other major features, but they do give away a few more minor details. Despite rumors that the Charms bar is dead, the screenshots show that users can still bring up Charms by pointing to the upper-right corner, or bring up a recent apps list by pointing to the upper-left corner. Those options and others will be available through Taskbar and Start Menu Properties.

Of course, all of these details are subject to change as Microsoft hasn't even released a public beta yet. The leaks likely come from Microsoft partners, who according to Neowin started receiving Windows builds a few weeks ago. A public “Technical Preview” is expected to arrive later this month or early next month.

Via The Verge

Oops! Microsoft accidentally teases Windows 9 'coming soon' on social media

del.icio.us Tags: Windows 9,Operating Systems,technology

Brad Chacos@BradChacos

• Sep 2, 2014 6:12 AM

Brad Chacos Senior Writer, PCWorld

Brad Chacos spends the days jamming to Spotify, digging through desktop PCs and covering everything from BYOD tablets to DIY tesla coils.
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Microsoft's internal censors seem to be sleeping on the job this year. In June, the Surface Pro 3 manual included several references to a small-screen Surface Mini despite the fact that a small-screen Surface Mini was never actually released. And now, as rumors of Windows 9 swirl, Microsoft China appears to have confirmed the impending reveal.

Posting to Weibo—a Chinese social media site—Microsoft China posed its followers a question: "Microsoft’s latest OS Windows 9 is coming soon, do you think the start menu at the left bottom will make a comeback?" (Translation courtesy of The Verge.)

Oops. And not just because Microsoft has already announced the return of the Start menu.

The post was accompanied by a screenshot of a Windows 9 logo mock-up by Shy Designs, seen above. Microsoft China appears to have quickly realized the error of its ways, as the Weibo message has since been removed, though not before Cnbeta noticed and first reported it.

Several reports from oft-reliable sources say Microsoft is prepared to announce Windows 9 in "technical preview" form at the end of September or early in October, just before Windows 7 PCs disappear from store shelves, though Microsoft itself has yet to confirm it. Leaks suggest Windows 9 will better let a PC be a PC and a tablet be a tablet, bringing several mouse-friendly changes to the desktop and possibly killing the desktop completely in tablets and phones powered by mobile ARM processors.

If Windows 9 is indeed incoming—and Microsoft China's slip-up suggests it is—we have some suggestions for features we'd want to see. But one of the most crucial improvements Microsoft needs to make ASAP has nothing to do with the core operating system itself: The company needs to clean up the Windows Store pronto if it ever hopes to make Metro apps viable on the desktop. Fortunately, Microsoft's already taking its first tentative steps towards fixing the mess.