Free Windows 9 Upgrades for Windows 8 Users?

Microsoft is widely expected to introduce its Windows 9 operating system at an event in San Francisco next Tuesday and rumors have been flying about what we can expect from the successor to Windows 8.

Now we can add "free upgrades for Windows 8 users" to the mix of speculation in advance of the unveiling of the next-gen software platform code named Threshold.

The source behind the latest rumor? As spotted by BGR on Saturday, Indonesian tech site Detik earlier this week quoted Microsoft Indonesia president Andreas Diantoro as saying that "the Windows 9 upgrade will be available free of charge to all existing Windows 8 users once it's released."

The Detik article is in Indonesian, but BGR gleaned from a translation that once Threshold is released, Windows 8 users "will be able to easily install the Windows 9 update after downloading it from Microsoft."

In fact, the rumor that Redmond could be planning free Windows 9 upgrades has been kicking around for some time, with variants suggesting that legacy Windows XP users may also be gifted free upgrades. If any of these rumors prove solid, what's unclear is what happens to users of other Windows OSes like Vista and Windows 7, BGR noted. Meanwhile, another slew of Windows 9 rumors and emerged a few weeks earlier, courtesy of German site WinFuture.

According to the blog's screenshots and videos, Redmond is working on a number of tweaks to love-it-or-hate-it Live Tile interface of Windows 8.

Windows 9 is expected to formally roll out next year and include the return of the Start menu, according to WinFuture, which also reported on a multi-desktop feature, a Windows Phone-like Notification Center, and the incorporation of the mobile-based Cortana digital assistant to the desktop.

The return of the Start Menu would supposedly relegate Live Tiles to an expandable table, with the option to individually enable the menu, according to the German site.

WinFuture also provided a look at virtual desktops, each of which can be created to fit your needs—one for personal projects, another for work use, and more for family or entertainment. Similar to Apple's OS X platform, Windows users will have access to various workspaces and their open programs via a new taskbar icon.

Redmond could also be taking a few pages from its mobile playbook to boost its next-gen desktop OS, including the addition of its Notification Center feature and Cortana.

With additional reporting by Stephanie Mlot.