As Windows 8 flounders in obscurity, Microsoft needs to hit a home run with its next consumer operating system.
That operating system is widely expected to be Windows 9, which makes sense numerically. Windows 9 has also been associated with the codename Threshold that has been tossed around the tech rumors community over the past few weeks.
According to recent rumors and reports, we can expect Windows 9 ‘Threshold’ to arrive sometime in 2015. That timeframe shouldn’t really surprise anyone, because just about every Windows since Windows 1.0 has been released three years apart from another (with the exception of Vista and Windows ME):
-Windows 1.0: Released 1985
-Windows 2.0: 1987
-Windows 3.0: 1990
-Windows 95: 1995
-Windows 98: 1998
-Windows ME: 2000
-Windows XP: 2001
-Windows Vista: 2006
-Windows 7: 2009
-Windows 8: 2012
-Windows 9: 2015?
Another update to Windows 8 – likely Windows 8.2 – will occur later in 2014. However, by the time 2015 rolls around, we should already be hearing rumors about the next great Microsoft operating system.

Windows 9 is reportedly in its early planning stages. Microsoft is expected to talk broadly about its vision for the future at its next BUILD, but it probably will not talk specifics about its next operating system.
All of these rumors and speculations come from Paul Thurrott, who runs WinSupersite.com, a “Supersite for Windows.”
Thurott claims that developers will not get an early Windows 9 developers’ kit at BUILD. He also claims that BUILD will not reveal anything grandiose.
The most important part of Thurott’s rumor roundup article is the Windows 9 release date, which puts it just 2.5 years after Windows 8: apparently, Windows 9 ‘Threshold’ will be released in April 2015.
Windows 9 is expected to include the following features:
-A common platform between Xbox One, Windows Phone, and Windows PCs
-The next version of Metro UI, which will likely carry significant improvements
-Three developer builds before the final release, including a Beta, Release, and Candidate version before Windows 9 ever hits store shelves
-The fingerprints of whatever CEO will come after Ballmer and the distinction of being the first Windows OS release of the post-Sinofsky era
There is one thing we know for certain: when Windows 9 comes out, it will certainly push Windows 8 into ‘Vista’ status as the failed operating system that never could. Good riddance!