Unconfirmed speculation during the past couple of weeks has ben that Microsoft will relase (at least Beta copies) of Windows 9 sometime later this year. "Official rumors" (intentionally accidental "leaks") from Microsoft have previously suggested that the plan was for this to happen (maybe) in late 2016.

Those making guesses appear to hope that Win9 will recover some of the desktop functionality that went away with Win8, but the big question is whether Microsoft is smart enough to recognize that they chopped off one leg (mainly Enterprise users) with their push to make everything "portable."

It's difficult to tell whether the speculation now is credible enough to limp forward with Win8/8.1 while waiting for a return to sanity.

For now, I'll stick with Win7, I think, despite it's peculiarities.

John