In Windows 8.1, Microsoft brought back the Start button. But it was a troll Start button that brought users to the little-used app drawer instead of the Start menu they’ve grown to know and love in previous versions of Windows.
Windows 8.1 has been out for a few weeks and rumors are already swirling about the next version of Windows – which will likely be Windows 8.2
The next major Windows update is currently codenamed Threshold according to Mary Jo Foley, who has been the internet’s best Microsoft reporter for quite some time.
Here are all the rumors about Threshold so far according to Foley:
-Microsoft is preparing for a Spring 2015 release (in which case this update would likely be the next version of Windows, or Windows 9).
-Threshold will update all three operating systems, including Xbox One, Windows Phone, and Windows and unify them on a common platform
-Threshold was the name of the planet around which the halo ring orbited in the first Halo game
-Threshold will likely introduce a single unified app store for all Windows platforms along with a single developer platform

Threshold versus Windows 8.2

While some people think Threshold refers to the next Windows 8 update, others think that it will be the next version of Windows.
According to Mary Jo Foley, the next Windows 8 update won’t be called Windows 8.2 at all. Instead, it will be called Windows 8.1 Update 1. Why? I have no idea.
Windows 8.1 Update 1 will likely be delivered at the same time as the Windows Phone 8.1 update which is supposedly happening in Q2 2014/Spring 2014, making that update totally separate from Threshold.
Threshold could be something special. If Microsoft could polish up Windows 8 and reintroduce some features from Windows 7, then Threshold/Windows 9/Whatever-Microsoft-wants-to-call-it could be the next great PC operating system.