Microsoft Accidentally Teases Windows 9, Quickly Deletes Post The unreleased OS was mistakenly mentioned in an online post by Microsoft's Chinese division.
By Carly Okyle
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In the modern age of constant connection and promotion, it's hard to keep a secret. Microsoft had been doing a decent job of keeping its new operating system under wraps until this morning, when its Chinese division posted a question to users on the Chinese social networking site Webio.com.
According to The Verge, the post, which was written in Chinese, translated to "Microsoft's latest OS Windows 9 is coming soon, do you think the start menu at the left bottom will make a come back?" This was something of a rhetorical question, since the company had already confirmed the return of the start menu, according to PC World. The post has since been deleted, but CNBeta noticed it and was the first to report the story.
Besides confirming the as-yet-unmentioned operating system, the post was accompanied by a mock-up of a Windows 9 logo, which ExtremeTech.com was not happy with.
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Prior to the leak, Microsoft had been referring to the product as the codenamed "Windows Threshold." A technical preview of the software was slated to be released at the end of this month, following a press conference, and the final edition of the OS is reportedly slated to be released in April 2015, as CNET reports.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company had "nothing to share" about the events.
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Besides the start menu returning -- though not to its full, former glory -- Windows 9 (if we can officially call it that) is supposedly going to have features such as the ability to run Metro apps and Cortana voice assistant integration, which is Microsoft's response to Apple's Siri. Also noteable is what the new system will not include, mainly the Charms bar.
Now that the secret is out, people are talking. Many hope that this new version of Windows will be a sharp departure from Windows 8, which was intended more for tablets than desktops and was not well-received by the tech community.
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