Windows 9 is the likely name for the next Microsoft Windows operating system. The internal Microsoft codename for Windows 9 is Threshold. While no official release date has been announced by Microsoft, Windows 9 is rumored to be released on or close to April, 2015.
It's very likely that Windows 9 will be released in three phases, similar to how Windows 8 was released.
First will probably be a Windows 9 Developer Preview, which is a beta release for software and hardware makers. Second will likely be a Windows 9 Consumer Preview - or maybe Windows 9 RC (Release Candidate) - which is an almost-ready, limited-time-use version that Microsoft will release for free in return for feedback.
The third and final release will be the final copy of Windows 9, which will be referred to at Microsoft and to computer makers as Windows 9 RTM (Release to Manufacturing).
Windows 10 will likely be the name of the eventual successor to Windows 9.
Windows 9 Editions
Rumor has it that Windows 9 will be available in three editions:
Windows 9 (for inexpensive tablets; possibly called Windows 9 RT)
Windows 9 (for traditional PCs)
Windows 9 Enterprise
It's unclear yet whether or not Microsoft will further split out any of these editions, as in Pro vs Standard, etc., but most of the feedback I've heard is that customers want less choices when buying Windows, not more.
All versions will likely be available in 32-bit or 64-bit editions, but a 64-bit exclusive version of Windows can't be too far off.
Windows 9 Minimum System Requirements
No information on the minimum hardware required to run Windows 9 has been released, but expect it to be similar to the requirements for Windows 8:
CPU: 1 GHz with NX, PAE, and SSE2 support (CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF support for 64-bit versions)
RAM: 1 GB (2 GB for 64-bit versions)
Hard Drive: 16 GB free space (20 GB free for 64-bit versions)
Graphics: A GPU that supports at least DirectX 9 with a WDDM driver
If anything does change in this regard, an increase in the free hard drive space required is probably the most likely change from Windows 8 to Windows 9.
