Microsoft is planning to reveal its Windows 8 successor

Microsoft is planning to reveal its successor to Windows 8 -- known as "Windows 9," if the company continues its naming scheme -- at the end of next month, according to a new report.

The purported date of the press event is Sept. 30, The Verge reports, citing anonymous sources that were familiar with the company's plans. This follows last week's report from ZDNET that Microsoft was planning a preview of the newest version of Windows at the end of September or October.

According to ZDNET, if the leaks are to be believed, the newest version of the operating system -- code named "Threshold" -- is expected to have a "Mini-Start" menu, virtual desktops, and the elimination of the Charms bar feature, which has been unsuccessful with users since debuting with Windows 8. It may also include Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana for the desktop.

With the newest edition of its operating system, Microsoft may be trying to persuade users of Windows XP, Windows 7 -- and even Windows Vista -- to upgrade to Windows Threshold. In April, technical support for Windows XP was discontinued after 12 years, leaving many consumers with two options: continue to use the outdated OS or upgrade to the newest version. In addition, the company announced that Jan. 13, 2015 would be the end of "mainstream support" for Windows 7.

Windows 8 has been unpopular with consumers since its launch in 2012. The Metro interface may have been a sticking point for many. Better used on a tablet than desktop, consumers were leery about learning an entirely new interface. The price to upgrade to a touch-enabled desktop proved to be another another downside for consumers.

Microsoft launches most affordable Lumia smartphone

Microsoft has quietly listed the Lumia 530 on its official India store for Rs 7,349.Though the image has ‘Coming soon’ printed on it, the page now says it is ‘in stock’ and the company promises to deliver it within four working days. It is available in green, dark grey, white and orange.

The Lumia 530 dual-SIM 3G variant has been launched in India. Specifications of the smartphone include: a 4-inch FWVGA LCD display with  854 x 480 pixels resolution, a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and 512MB RAM, along with 4GB storage space with up to 128GB micro SD card support.

The battery has up to 22 days standby, and 13 hours of 2G talk time. The battery capacity is 1430mAh. Connectivity options include HSPA+ 21Mbps/5.76Mbps, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and micro-USB.

It gets 5-megapixels rear snapper and no front camera. Also the 512 MB RAM is likely to seem too little for users, especially when budget Android phones are launching with 1GB RAM. For instance the Motorola E, which is priced under Rs 7000, has 1 GB RAM.

The Lumia 530 will run the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1 and comes with features such as the one-swipe notification from Action Center, and the fast Word Flow keyboard. Users will also get an additional 15 GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft OneDrive.

Microsoft has teamed up with Airtel to offer free 2G and 3G data offers for new and existing Airtel users. This offer is valid up to October 31.