Mark your calendars, geeks (tentatively anyway). Microsoft is reportedly planning an event for September 30, and there’s one thing on the menu: showing off Windows 9 and unleashing the preview bits on a public that’s eager to move on from Windows 8.
According to sources who spoke to The Verge’s Tom Warren, it’s possible that the date could change.
Up until the announcements go out to the press, there’s no real guarantee that the 30th is a lock. Still, late September has been pegged before for the unveiling, so it seems probable that we’re less than five weeks away from getting our first in-depth look at Windows 9.We’ve already seen and heard about a few of the changes that are coming, and so far they’re aimed at making Windows 8′s dueling UIs work together more smoothly. The first major change we got a glimpse of was the return of a real Start Menu — not just a throwback button that takes us back to the Start Screen. The new Start Menu melds the old with the new: the trusty old Vista and Windows 7 Menu and Live Tiles from the Start Screen.
You’ll finally be able to run windowed Metro apps on your desktop, too. They won’t be limited to mere Taskbar adornments any more. The app you installed from the Windows Store will run right next to Firefox, iTunes, or Steam just like all good Windows apps should.
One more change that’s coming is the removal of the Charms Bar, at least on non-tablet systems or hybrids that are in currently tablet mode (Windows 9 will reportedly detect when that’s the case, too). Icons for the search, sharing and device actions may be moved into the title bar — which Microsoft already added to Metro apps to give us a more obvious way to close them down.
So, what’s the verdict, Geek readers? Are you getting anxious to get your hands on the Windows 9 Preview, or are you still not sure why so many people seem so down on Windows 8/8.1?