Windows Blue Build 9364 [slideshow]

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Windows Blue owns tech news for the past two days, from its leak to BitTorrent yesterday, to first-look articles today. While we all try to digest what is included in the next version of Windows, which really is more of an update to the current iteration, it really is much easier to get a sense by visual aid as opposed to listening to talking heads like me drone on with descriptions.

When I installed the leaked build, 9364, yesterday and fired it up I was blown away by all of the changes Microsoft has made in what is essentially an interim update. Over the coming days I will take a more in-depth look at some of these things, but for now, I at least have plenty of screen grabs to try and illustrate what your next operating system will look like.

I also have a better idea of where the company is heading in the future, and some of you will likely not be happy with it. The addition of Metro versions of the Calculator (now called Calculate) and Sound Recorder are harbingers of the continued move away from the desktop and onto the Start screen.

I am not saying the desktop will be gone when Windows 9 debuts (rumored for late 2014), but I think it will, at the very least, be squeezed out of the picture even further. When Office gets there, then the move may be complete. Personally, as long as the apps are there in Metro, I don't really care, but I know the traditionalist change-haters will be out with fangs showing over this.

Scroll through the slideshow of images I grabbed as I tested the new build. Windows Blue is not ready for Prime Time by a long shot, but there is much to get excited about.