Windows 9 accidentally plugged by Microsoft China

Windows 9 got some press early Tuesday from Microsoft itself, although it wasn't exactly intentional.

In a posting on Chinese site Weibo, Microsoft China posed the question: "Microsoft's latest OS Windows 9 is coming soon, do you think the start menu at the left bottom will make a come back?" A Windows 9 logo used as a mockup also popped up on the page, according to The Verge. The post and logo were soon removed, but not before Chinese site Cnbeta managed to take a screenshot.

With consumer response to Windows 8 lackluster at best, Microsoft is likely striving to ramp up Windows 9 as quickly as possible. Currently known as Threshold, the next generation of Windows will bring back the Start menu and offer other features designed to win back traditional PC users. A technical preview version of Windows 9 will reportedly hit the market following a press conference on September 30, while the final edition is rumored for release in April 2015.

Beyond reviving the Start menu, Windows 9 will purportedly get rid of the Charms bar, offer the ability to run Modern apps in resizable desktop windows, add support for virtual desktops, and integrate Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant.

CNET contacted Microsoft for comment on Windows 9 and will update the story with any further detail.

Windows 8.1 update images pop up online

One Web site claims the spring update to Windows 8.1 won't just be a traditional service pack.

Windows 8.1 in its current incarnation.

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET

 

An update to Windows 8.1 reportedly planned for the spring is now showing off online via a series of leaked screenshots.
Served up by Russian Web site Wzor, the images show the same internal version number currently found in Windows 8.1 Pro (version 6.3.9600) but the full build number is intentionally blanked out. Assuming the images are accurate, that means the update won't carry with it Windows 8.2. But it won't be a simple service pack or collection of security updates, at least according to Wzor.

 

 

Instead, the update is being dubbed a new and updated RTM (release-to-manufacturing) release of Windows 8.1, although Wzor's screenshots don't reveal anything different from the current version. The final build will be available around March, Wzor claims, and then launch publicly on April 1 as a free upgrade to Windows 8.1 users. The update would reportedly be available through the standard Windows Update service and as a standalone installation package.
The new build itself has not been fully leaked online, according to Wzor. However, it will enter wider distribution after January 14, at which time the full build may surface. The public rollout of the update is being geared to coincide with Microsoft's Build 2014 conference, which will run from April 2 to 4. That timeframe gibes with information provided last year to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley claiming that Microsoft will release a spring 2014 update to Windows 8.1.

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Apple, Samsung CEOs agree to mediation over patent dispute

Chief executives for the two smartphone giants will meet in person by February 19 to try to resolve the companies' latest legal fight.

The chief executives of Apple and Samsung have agreed to meet with a mediator to try to resolve some of the companies' ongoing legal patent disputes.
Executives from the two companies met Monday to discuss settlement opportunities, attorneys for the tech giants reported Wednesday in a filing with the US District Court for Northern California. The discussions were in response to a federal judge's order that the two companies hold settlement talks before a new patent infringement trial is scheduled to begin in March.
The mediation will take place by February 19 with an unidentified mediator who has "experience mediating high profile disputes," the companies said in their filing. In addition to the chief executives, three to four in-house lawyers will attend the mediation; no outside counsel will be in attendance, according to the filing.

CNET has contacted Apple and Samsung for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
In November, before jury election began in a separate patent infringement lawsuit Apple filed against Samsung, US District Court Judge Lucy Koh told both parties that she would like them to try to reach a settlement and that she would prefer the companies' CEOs participate in the talks. She prefaced the request by saying to the attorneys for Apple and Samsung that "you don't have to laugh at me, but even my chambers laughs at me when I mention settlement."
At the time, the parties agreed to submit a proposal by Wednesday.
However, previous attempts between the two companies to talk out their dispute have proven unfruitful. A court-mandated discussion between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Kwon Oh Hyun in August 2012 failed to break the deadlock between the two companies.

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