With Windows 8.1 out of the way, Microsoft has now begun work on Windows 8.2. According to sources close to the development Windows 8.2, dubbed Threshold, Microsoft will bring Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox One closer together — to the threshold, if you will, of being a fully unified OS. Furthermore, again according to insider sources, Windows 8.2 will introduce a “traditional desktop” SKU that is optimized for mouse-and-keyboard Desktop users and resurrects the original Start menu.
This information, of course, comes from Mary Jo Foley. According to her sources, which are usually pretty accurate, Threshold is Microsoft’s next wave of software updates, which follow on from Blue (Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, etc.) The code name is an odd one — Threshold is the planet from the original Halo game. Some tech bloggers have tried to infer some functional data from the code name, but it probably means nothing (just like Cortana, Microsoft’s Siri rival, or Blue). Threshold is apparently a wave of software updates that will more closely knit together the user experience of Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox One. This fits in well with our analysis that Microsoft will eventually unify its various platforms into a single OS, finally giving it the software ecosystem that it needs, if it ever wants to crack the iOS/Android mobile computing duopoly.
The Windows 8 Start screen is so incredibly unpleasant to use with a mouse and keyboard
According to Foley’s sources, Threshold will see Windows 8.2 (or Windows 9 perhaps) split into three SKUs (stock-keeping units): a Modern/Metro SKU, a traditional desktop PC SKU, and a traditional enterprise SKU. The Metro version would be focused on the Metro interface, WinRT apps, and the mobile/touchscreen experience. The traditional desktop PC version would be a lot like Windows 7, but with Windows 8′s low-level tweaks. The traditional enterprise version would be Desktop-oriented (but still have a Metro interface), and have support for group policies and other business-oriented bits.
Presumably, the new Windows Threshold SKUs would more formalize the split between the WinRT and Win32 stacks
That’s where Foley’s source dries up — but thankfully, Paul Thurrott is on hand with his own sources to fill in the rest of the picture. Apparently, the new version of the Desktop (which might ship with all three SKUs, or maybe just the latter two) will support windowed Metro apps — i.e. you’ll be able to open News, Mail, Photos, and other Metro apps on the Desktop. Thurrott also says that the Start menu might return, too — so, instead of being shown a full-screen Metro interface when you hit the Start button, you’ll get something like the Windows 7 Start menu.
So far, this all makes perfect sense — Microsoft is clearly trying to make amends for the way that Windows 8 has screwed over traditional Desktop and enterprise users. It really does make you wonder why Microsoft didn’t go down this route in the first place, though. Why didn’t Microsoft release a Desktop-oriented version of Windows 8 in the first place? Threshold isn’t due until spring 2015, so most of us are forced to live with the mess of Windows 8 for another year. Microsoft must really have believed that Windows 8 tablets were going to fly off the shelves, and that billions of existing PCs would burst into flames. Oh well.
In the mean time, you can always install a Start menu replacement, and disable the Metro interface and hot corners, which makes Windows 8 actually quite pleasant to use.
December 18, 2013
vikastheengineer
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