Windows 9 may ship as soon as 2015, and Microsoft is expected to open discussions about the new platform at the BUILD developer conference in April this year.
According to blogger Paul Thurrott, writing on his Supersite for Windows, the new Windows version is code-named Threshold and will probably ship as Windows 9.
Thurrott believes that a Windows 8.1 update will likely ship in April this year, alongside Windows Phone 8.1.
Also in April, it is expected that Microsoft will take the wraps off Threshold, which will probably feature the return of the Start menu as well as an ability to run Metro-style apps on the desktop alongside desktop applications, Thurrott says.
He adds that Windows 8 has seen worse-than-anticipated take-up, with Windows 8.1 running on fewer than 25-million PCs.
