A lot of factors have been blamed for slow Windows 8 sales. One of the more interesting ones of the bunch is the impending release of Windows 9, a factor blamed by several analysts. Add another one to the list.
There were times when Windows versions were denoted by the year or release (Windows 95 and 98), then by letters (Windows ME, XP and Vista). Redmond made another turn by going back to the roots and calling a new version by the name of Windows 7.
Then Windows 8 arrived, and with it speculation that Microsoft had already started development of the next iteration of the Windows OS, one that is set to be called Windows 9.
The thing with this type of a naming scheme is that some people (and businesses) plan their upgrades around the version numbers. Not many knew what was in store after Windows XP, even Windows Vista.
Motion Computing is a company that manufactures tablet PCs and solutions for mobile professionals. Talking to TabTimes, Ian Davies, the company’s Northern Europe country manager said that most of their users believe Windows 7 to be the best choice for them and they may even skip to Windows 9:
“Today, our customers say that Windows 7 is what they need. A lot of them are still transitioning from XP and some research suggests that businesses will skip Windows 8 altogether and go to Windows 9.”
Some research, you say? The timeline of release is one of the biggest issues here.
Word on the street is that Microsoft is getting ready to unwrap Windows Blue sometimes this summer, and the next major update after that is Windows 9, which is set towards the end of 2014.
Windows XP support is ending in 2014. You do the math.
