Windows Blue shall be named Windows 8.1

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Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley heard rumors that Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 update will be called Windows 8.1. The software giant will not focus on the version number though, the top-level branding will be "Windows 8", just like Windows Phone officials talk about "Mango" (Windows Phone 7.5) as part of the Windows Phone 7 family.



The client version of Blue, codenamed Windows Blue, is a refresh of Windows 8. It is expected to be released to manufacturing around August of this year. As I've blogged a few times, Microsoft is planning to position Blue as part of the Windows 8 wave, not as Windows 9.

On Twitter this morning Roman L. (a k a @AngelWZR) tweeted a link to a screen shot, which I've embedded in this post, above, of what appears to be a build of Windows Blue that postdates the one that leaked a week ago. The week-ago leak was build 9364; the new one is 9375. It is labeled in AngelWZR's screen shot as "Windows 8.1 Pro." The original source of this screen shot is Winforum.eu.


In related news, Neowin writes that Microsoft has revamped the search features of Windows 8.1 so users no longer have to pick from either Apps, Settings, or Files:
Basically, the new search, which is disabled in the leaked Windows Blue build, does away with having to pick from either Apps, Settings, or Files. Windows 8.1 should allow users to simply type in a search string to find anything inside the OS. The search box will also apparently include a way to receive web-based search results from inside the search charm, presumably from Microsoft's own Bing service by default.


Windows Blue shall be named Windows 8.1


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