Windows Blue Is Windows 8 Successor? Microsoft Mulls New Low Cost OS With Yearly Updates

After the release of Windows 8 in October, Microsoft is working on a new operating system -- Windows Blue, The Verge has reported.

It appears that Blue is just a codename for the operating system that is scheduled to be released in mid-2013. There will be user interface changes and alterations to the platform and pricing.

Windows Blue is identified to be a low-cost OS or it may even be shipped free to ensure all the Windows users upgrade to the latest operating system, The Verge has reported.

After the Windows Blue release, the Windows SDK is likely to be updated to support the new release and Microsoft may steer clear of apps that are built for Windows 8 only, urging the developers to create apps for Blue.

Windows 8 apps may continue to run on Blue despite the SDK changes. And only those with a genuine copy of Windows may be able to upgrade to Windows Blue as built-in apps and Windows store may stop functioning in the pirated copy.

Most of the Windows Blue efforts are channelized towards facilitating yearly update to the operating system that is designed to make it competitive against rivals Google and Apple, The Verge has pointed out.

Tami Reller, chief marketing and financial officer, Microsoft, recently revealed that Microsoft had sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses since the launch of the operating system Oct.26. However, the break-up of direct sales, upgrade license and channel sales was yet to be made available.

In late October, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive officer, announced at the Seattle headquarters that the company had sold over four million upgrade licenses in the first three days of the launch.

Ballmer forecast hundreds of millions of Windows systems sales in 2013 owing to strong interest from enterprise users, adding that Windows 8 reported more sales than Windows 7, in the same period after launch, Tech2 has stated.