A few more details are coming out about what is being called Windows Blue and Windows Phone (News - Alert) Blue. These are likely updates to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

For instance, recent screenshots show that Microsoft will switch to kernel version 6.3. This was described in news reports as a “major revision” for Windows.

It is also being reported that Windows Blue will see improvements to Modern apps, as well as tweaks to user experiences and cloud services, according to a report from Winaero.com.

Many other features to be found in Windows Blue remain a secret. It appears to offer a new user experience, however. Microsoft (News - Alert) Blue could offer new programming interfaces, as well.

It is also being suggested that Microsoft Blue will be “a major service pack upgrade” rather than the release of Windows 9, Gotta Be Mobile reported. So far, there is no Windows 9 under development at Microsoft, media reports said.

Microsoft Blue may be added to Windows 8, Windows Server, Windows Phone 8, and Hotmail and Skydrive. The debut may come in the late summer of 2013.

In addition, there was recently a Windows Blue-related job posting on Microsoft's careers site. The company is seeking a software development engineer. Another job posting shows Microsoft will use Windows Blue to Windows Phone.

Windows Blue does not appear to be a major change for the directions of the company, but may respond to the growth in the mobile sector.

“If you were hoping the next version of Windows would be a radical departure from Windows 8, or it would revert back to something just like good old XP, that seems unlikely,” according to a report from UK Enterprise Efficiency. “It looks as if the company's plan is to tweak the UI and ‘build on and improve upon’ what exists, not completely throw it out and start over.”

In addition, TMCnet’s Tony Rizzo (News - Alert) in a recent analysis of Microsoft Blue said that, “Microsoft has finally figured out what Apple already knows – that the golden age of the PC is indeed over. … This wakeup call – which is directly linked to the speed of mobility in today's market in both the consumer and enterprise segments, leads us to believe that Microsoft has pulled together a new operating system game plan that directly addresses the rapid pace of a mobile world. So we now have Windows Blue.”