Microsoft drops the Blue codename, confirms Windows 8.1 will be a free upgrade

[douglas9]

One of the worst kept secrets rattling around Microsoft's campus is Windows Blue, the forthcoming update to Windows 8 that addresses users' bugbears about the OS. Now, Microsoft is officially rechristening the platform, and with a more staid name: Windows 8.1. Tami Reller, the CMO and CFO of Microsoft's Windows Division made the big reveal during JP Morgan's Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. The upgrade will be free and available from the home screen when it launches, while a preview version will be opened up to the public on June 26th at the beginning of Build 2013. Unfortunately, Reller wouldn't get any more specific about a formal release date, saying simply that it will be delivered "later in the calendar year." The only clarification she would offer is, "we know when the holidays are."

http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/14/windows-blue-details/

[lpbk2713]

1. "Yes ... we suck."

"But we'll try to make it up to you."

[Phillip McCleod]

2. doing my 6th downgrade to 7 today.

This one isn't even brand new.. guy's had it for months but finally got sick of it. Heard we offer discounts on downgrades as a public service. That's a fact. $150

[hunter]

3. I have a radical solution to Microsoft's problems.

Make the Widows operating system itself free and open source.

Charge the developers of proprietary software (Adobe, Electronic Arts, Apple, etc.) for the right to use the "Microsoft Windows" trademarks. Charge for intellectual property protection widgets. Charge hardware manufacturers in the same manner, fifteen dollars for the sticker. No sticker, any machine could still have the Windows operating system installed, but without the intellectual property protection widgets required by some software, and the user would have to decide if they trust the manufacturer or not.

Microsoft has already rewritten the operating system to run on non-x86 processors, so it wouldn't be a huge leap to open up the code.

Alas for Microsoft, I don't expect they will pay any attention to me. Google will become the General Motors of the software world, Apple the Ford, and Microsoft the Hudson Motor Car Company. You do remember Hudsons, don't you?

[BlueJazz]

4. I might download it for my customers but I'm quite comfortable...

...with 8 as it is.

[Gore1FL]

5. Let's hope this one is enterprise friendly. n/t

[RoccoR5955]

6. But it's NOT version 8.1

It's version 6.3, or Vista warmed over twice!

I gave up on Windows when I found out that Windows 7 was actually version 6.1. If it was such a major change, why does it not justify a new version number? Could that kernel of the OS be the same? I still haven't found out to my satisfaction.

At any rate, my Macbook Pro will run any version of Window as fast as a Windows box, with the help of VMWare Fusion.