A few months ago, Microsoft offered its Windows 8.1 update. If this improves the user experience on Windows 8, Windows 8 which has struggled to sell, many believe that this version should have been the one proposed by Microsoft in 2012. Others go even further. by stating that Windows 8.1 makes Windows 8 less “awful” (check out our tips and tricks for mastering everything on Windows 8). On April 8, Windows 8.1 Update 1 appeared and further improved the OS.
All the information you need to know about Windows 8.2!
Windows XP (find our file devoted to the history of Windows XP) followed by Vista, Windows 7 followed by Windows 8, it didn't take much for Microsoft to qualify as an intermittent performer, offering only every other good operating system. If we announce (already) Windows 9 for 2015, another update will appear by the end of the year. Discover our file dedicated to the next Windows update and all information and rumors concerning her.
Release date
If we are to believe the Russian hacker group Wzor (source had revealed almost all of the content of the last Windows 8.1 Update 1 release before it was officially released and therefore rather reliable), the next update should land this fall, in September to be precise. Wzor adds that the name of this update is not yet discontinued. This could be called “Windows 8.2” or “Windows 8.1 Update 2”.
If we are to believe the specialist journalist Mary Jo Foley (writing for ZDNet or Cnet for example), based on her various sources, the release of Windows 8.2 would even take place before, as early as August. Still according to her, Microsoft would like to accelerate the rate of its updates, starting with Windows 8.2 which would arrive barely 6 months after Windows 8.1 Update 1.
The news
During the last Build conference, Microsoft had teased the return of a start menu. While many users regretted the absence of this menu in Windows 8, Microsoft timidly resuscitated it with Windows 8.1. As “promised” by Microsoft, a real Start menu will indeed be back with the next update, mixing “traditional” features like on Windows 7 and dynamic thumbnails of recent applications. Windows 8.2 should sign the return of the start menu.
If a Start button had appeared on Windows 8.1, it was clearly not intuitive enough. Clicking or tapping this button will return you to the Home screen. Microsoft has with Windows 8.2 a great opportunity to restore its credentials to the Start menu. (Re) Check out the prototype unveiled by Windows below.
The ability to directly run applications from the Modern UI environment on the desktop (or use applications in windowed mode) should also be there. In other words, you will be able to launch applications which are currently only in the form of tiles, directly on the traditional Windows desktop.
Towards a single application catalog?
Many rumors reported a single catalog of applications whether for Windows Phone or for Windows from Windows 8.1 Update 1. This not having happened with this update, everything suggests that this could be the case for Windows 8.2. This would not only facilitate the user experience but also that of the developers..
According to the same Mary Jo Foley, a wave of Windows Threshold updates (which may include Windows 8.2) will expand common Windows core footprint shared by phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, in other words a core: several products. Windows versions should share more components in terms of "fundamental architectures", in other words "the file system, drivers, memory management, but also the application platform, the App Store and services. ”. According to some specialists, Windows Threshold is simply Windows 9.
A transition to Windows 9
This future update, like the previous ones, is supposed to prepare users for Windows 9 even if some imagine that there is no Windows 8.2 and that we go directly to Windows 9. The odds are high that this version arrives in 2015. The month of April (during the Build 2015) as well as the summer of 2015 are mentioned. Windows 9 would change the Metro interface even more. The Start menu would still be present but different from that of Windows 8.2 insofar as it will adapt according to the use (touch or mouse).
Other information", Microsoft was also working on a Windows Cloud (sort of Chrome Os?). This would be directly downloadable from the UEFI of a machine, like what Apple offers with Internet Recovery. In addition, note that it would be free to download and offer basic features while advanced features would require a subscription. An evolution which seems logical for the firm.
It goes without saying, but these various information / rumors should be taken with a grain of salt as long as they are not confirmed. However, we can say that there is a good chance of seeing Windows 8.2 (or Windows 8.1 Update 2) landing this fall and that it should mark the big comeback of the start menu. Still, we would love to hear from you. What do you think of Windows 8? What are you waiting for as new in Windows 8.2?
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