Microsoft rumored to announce “Windows 9” in April

Microsoft is currently working on an “Update 1” for Windows 8.1, but the company has bigger plans for the future of Windows as part of a “Threshold” wave of updates. Windows watcher Paul Thurrott reports that the company’s Threshold plans will involve a release of Windows 9 around April 2015. Microsoft will allegedly unveil its vision for Windows 9 at the company’s Build 2014 developer conference in April, with a release planned for a year later.

Rumors of the next major Windows release codenamed “Threshold” have been circling for some time now, but Paul Thurott has now revealed further details on the next version of Windows. Threshold will reportedly bring a number of major changes to Windows 8, such as the return of the Start Menu and the beginning of a converged platform encompassing Windows Phone and Windows RT. The company is also working on delivering a single app store across Xbox, Windows Phone and Windows.