With Windows 9 Coming This Year, Microsoft Goes All-In on Rapid Releases

Windows 9 is supposed to be Microsoft’s next big thing in the OS market, with some people close to the matter saying that it could be launched sometime this year or in early 2015.

That’s only a few months after the company introduced the new Windows 8.1 Update 1, so many consumers are curious to find out why the rush to bring so many fresh operating systems on such a short notice.

Microsoft is desperate to fix Windows and move users from older platforms to newer ones, this is actually a strategy that has been outlined by former CEO Steve Ballmer at BUILD in June 2013.

Microsoft wants to migrate towards a rapid release cycle that would most likely come down to a major OS release every two years and an important update every 12 months, which is exactly what happened since the new Windows 8 came to the market. Windows 8 was launched in October 2012, while Windows 8.1 got to see daylight in October 2014.

Windows 8.1 Update 1, however, will arrive a bit sooner (April 2014), but Windows 9 could be launched approximately one year after the debut of Windows 8.1.

“We are moving to an absolutely rapid release cycle,” Ballmer said at BUILD 2013, “Rapid release, rapid release, rapid release.”

“We’re transitioning from a software company to a company that’s building software, devices and services,” Ballmer said. “And the only way we can do that is to adopt a rapid product release cadence. This is fundamental to what we’re doing, and what we must to do to mobilize our ecosystem and our partners.”

The problem is that with so many rumors pointing to the launch of Windows 9, users still running older Windows versions, such as XP, are delaying the move to a newer platform, as they wish to wait before seeing the feature lineup of the new OS and only then pick their next destination.

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