Microsoft's on the, erm, threshold of something big -- something that's likely to make its three major operating systems even more similar. Queen of Microsoft leaks Mary Jo Foley has caught word from some unnamed contacts that the next major update to the Windows family is codenamed 'Threshold.' That name comes from an internal email from EVP Terry Myerson. The codename reportedly covers updates to Windows, Windows Phone and the Xbox One operating system, bringing even more commonality to the three OSes. The Threshold is title more than just a big abstraction -- it's actually borrowed from the original Halo game, following the Cortana codename the company adopted for its forthcoming personal assistant offering.

Among the shared, cross-OS features are single, unified app store and tool sets designed to further entice developers to create applications for all three. Naturally, none of the higher-ups at Microsoft are confirming the existence of Threshold yet, but Foley's projecting a spring 2015 release for the upgrades.