Rumor: Microsoft’s ‘Windows 9’ campaign begins this fall

Microsoft may abandon the Start screen in favor of smaller elements.

ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN LEAKER WZOR,Microsoft plans to launch “Windows 9” this fall and back it with a substantial ad campaign.
      The Russian blogger also claims that accompanying the release will be a new distribution method keyed to the user’s PC and the online Microsoft Store, rather than an activation key that’s sold and/or distributed to an individual user. Wzor, who went silent in March after allegedly receiving leaked information from former Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo, resurfaced in early July, posting information to Russian bulletin boards.
      Wzor’s latest post as of this writing spends more time describing the new activation system than the Windows 9 campaign itself—but the activation system may very well end up being the more significant announcement.
      So far, Microsoft hasn’t indicated what its plans are regarding Windows. Following the recent release of Windows 8.1 Update 1, tipsters have pointed toward a second, minor update this fall. After that, reports have claimed, comes “ Threshold”, though whether that release will be a third update or a new, full-fledged Windows is up in the air.
      At this point, the distinctions are purely marketing—but what important distinctions they are. According to NetMarketShare, the combined market share of Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 is merely 12.54 percent. That’s more than Apple’s Mac OS share, but far less than the 25.31 percent that Windows XP holds, or the 50.55 percent share that Windows 7 enjoys.

Windows 8 may soon join Windows Vista in Microsoft’s hall of shame.

      Microsoft long ago stopped disclosing the number of Windows 8 licenses it has sold. And its product releases have steadily moved away from the bold yet intimidating Start screen toward more friendly elements, such as the shrunken Start menu that will supposedly debut with Threshold.
      It’s Microsoft’s prerogative to keep the Windows 8.1 branding if it wishes. But the company has equal reason to jump ahead to Windows 9 and begin a new chapter in its product development. If that turns out to be Microsoft’s strategy, then Windows 8 is indeed the new Vista.

Activation through the Microsoft Store

      The Wzor post outlining a new, online-centric method of registering a Windows purchase states that registration would be bound to a single PC and activated when the user connects that machine to the Microsoft Store. Users could also back up their key to a special ‘ESD-RETAIL’ format on a flash drive or on another PC. Users who tried to run a single copy of Windows on multiple PCs would be asked to “undock” the other machines, in Wzor’s phrasing, within three days.

Whether ‘Threshold’
will be an update or
a new Windows is
up in the air.

      A translated copy of Wzor’s post describes the Windows 9 marketing campaign as “fantastic.” Microsoft communications chief Frank Shaw essentially dismissed the rumor, tweeting “Was there a ‘crazy rumor day’ declaration that I missed?” without specifically referring to the Wzor report.
      Whether or not the report is true, the question it raises is an intriguing one. Each Windows 8.1 release that Microsoft ships leaves the company mired in that operating system’s troubled history. With a new chief executive, a revamped management structure, and a fresh “mobile first, cloud first” approach, doesn’t it make sense to turn the page on Windows, as well?