Microsoft is considering free update for Windows 7 and 8.1 to next Windows

Microsoft would consider giving users of Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 a free update to the next version of Windows, currently codenamed Threshold and due out next spring.

The free update should ensure that many users quickly switch to the new operating system and that way Microsoft can distance itself from Windows 8.x, which according to Microsoft insider Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet has become a ‘Vista 2.0’. The free update would be reserved for users of Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1.

Windows Threshold, which may be called Windows 9, continues the line to adapt the interface of the operating system to the device: on tablets and smartphones the ‘Metro-style’ interface comes to the fore, on desktops and laptops Microsoft only shows the desktop interface. Foley’s information matches a rumor from Monday.

Russian analyst and blogger Eldar Murtazin recently said in an @evleaks podcast that Microsoft will move away from the signature live tiles in the Metro interface in Threshold. “Microsoft will say it’s an evolution of tiles and it’s not widgets like in iOS or Android and that’s partly true. But this decision was made a few months ago because people don’t like tiles and the interface.”

The rumors about Windows Threshold have been going on for some time, but have grown stronger in recent months. That could indicate that an announcement of the next Windows version is approaching.