Windows 9 Release Date And Features: With Microsoft having announced details of its next Windows OS, code named 'Threshold' at its Build Conference for developers, the Redmond tech giant gets a chance to put the Windows 8 'faux pas' behind it. Windows 9 is slated for launch in spring of 2015. And with a new man at the helm, CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft is eager to show the world what Windows 9 can do and how it's better than its predecessor.

Windows 8 users had complained of loss of functions when the OS was used to combine use with tablets and PCs. This would result in loss of specific functions like the Start menu. Leaving out the Start menu, found in Windows 7, was one reason some fans of Microsoft hesitated to update to Windows 8, even after the Seattle-based firm announced it was pulling support for the decade old Windows XP. Another un-welcomed change was 'app mixing' of mobile and traditional apps.

Although the logistics behind Windows 9 release date was undisclosed, Microsoft execs will "discuss at a high level the company's goal to create a new Windows 9 SKU that would run on Windows Phones, ARM-based Windows tablets/PCs, phablets and other kinds of devices."

Windows 9 will be frequently updated through the Windows Store and it might not support a 'desktop for running legacy Win32 apps," as implied previous tipsters online.Microsoft has also detailed its 'touch first' versions of PowerPoint, Word and Excel for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8. The touch first apps will resemble how the Office works with the iPad; it should be more touch interface friendly than regular Office on Windows. The touch-based interface Office should be out by the end of the year, which would be attuned to the Windows 9 release.

At the beginning of the year, a hacker reported that the Windows RTM build would be out by October 2014, instead of a 2015 Windows 9 release. But that rumors has yet to be confirmed by Microsoft.
Microsoft will also announce Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1 and its features simultaneously with the software updates,notes BGR.