Microsoft might be ready to abandon Windows 8 earlier than it planned in an attempt to reverse the slide in its fortunes.
The company might announce Windows 9 as early as April, reports claim, as it tries to distance itself from the poorly received Windows 8.
We reported on Friday that the Threshold project was being tipped as a major update for Windows 8, however according to Winsupersite it will instead be billed as a new Windows operating system version slated for release in April 2015.
Although the launch of Windows 8 has not been the disaster that Windows Vista was, this would confirm that Windows 8 has been another failure for the company and make Windows 9 another "do or die" product for Microsoft like Windows 7.
Big changes are likely to be in store for the new "Modern" interface that has been criticised for its lack of integration with the traditional Windows desktop environment. Many aspects of the "Modern" user interface have a tacked on feel to traditional Windows PC users, but without enough innovation to lure new ones.
Other major changes that have alienated users include the withdrawal of support for DVD playback out of the box, which is now a premium feature limited to Professional Edition users. Perhaps the most discussed change, however is the removal of the traditional Start Menu, which Microsoft considered uncecessary but has been the subject of a continuing campaign by users lobbying for its return.
A Start Button was reintroduced in Windows 8.1 along with a host of other features designed to answer the many critics of the operating system, however the new Start Button is simply a toggle switch between the "Modern" and traditional Windows Desktop interfaces and has failed to placate most users.
Paul Thurrott, the blogger who runs Winsupersite said that work on Windows 9 has not yet begun, so there will be no early version of it available at Microsoft's Build conference in April, although it's likely that there will be opportunities to work with the upgrade that's been leaked for the Windows 8.1 service pack.