Windows 9 will eliminate the Windows 8 Charms menu, report says

By Konrad Krawczyk Published August 7, 2014

Good news, Windows 8 and 8.1 haters! Windows 9 will get rid of the Charms menu that stores Search, Settings, and other portals to the operating system’s Metro UI, a report says.

The Charms menu is one of the reasons that Windows 8 has not been well received by PC users since Windows 8’s release in late 2012, which is why Microsoft is reportedly opting to ditch it. If that’s the case, then that would definitely be an example of addition by subtraction. What’s more, the Charms bar will be severed from all Windows 9 devices; both traditional PCs, and tablets as well.

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Related: Windows 9 could be a free upgrade for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 users

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the functionality in the Charms bar will be going away entirely. The same options will be added to the top of apps in the form of a title bar. In other words, you could be seeing Charms-button like controls exactly where you’d find buttons like File and Edit in traditional desktop programs. This should make use and access both easier, and less jarring.

However, Microsoft won’t just be pinning its hopes for Windows 9 on slicing off un-liked Windows 8 features from the OS. Microsoft may also add virtual desktops to the next iteration of Windows, though it’s unclear whether this feature will be something that’s easy to find and use, or buried deep within the OS and tailored towards hardcore users. The addition of virtual desktops could make it easier to use more apps simultaneously, bolstering Windows’ ability to facilitate multitasking.

Related: Windows 8.1 and XP usage falls, while Windows 7 rises

Doing away with Charms and integrating them into apps individually would be a nice step for Microsoft towards bridging the divide between itself and PC users. However, it will take a lot more than that to ensure that the weak adoption numbers suffered by Windows 8 won’t be repeated once Windows 9 hits the market.

Windows 9 could be released sometime in Spring 2015, but what should Microsoft do to ensure that it’s great right off the bat? Here are five things we want to see in Redmond’s next desktop OS.

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Computing Editor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

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