Windows 10 is the last version of Windows

Windows 10 has been called the last version of Windows

Speaking at Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Chicago Jerry Nixon (Microsoft Developer evangelist) is quoted as stating

“Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10.”

At first glance this seems like a big deal as it sounds like Microsoft could be discontinuing its Windows product range in the foreseeable future, but in reality this statement means very little. We already know that Microsoft plan to deliver Windows as a service with small frequent updates being pushed in a steady stream rather than through infrequent clunky service packs and major releases.

Going forward it seems likely that the features and bug fixes that would have been presented in service packs and new releases will be delivered as they become ready. This should see Microsoft move closer to its goal of the majority of the Windows user base running the same version of the operating system – the latest version. Microsoft are keen to avoid another “XP” where users become so comfortable they don’t want to change or worse still another “Vista” where the operating system gets a bad reputation and users don’t want it.

It seems likely that users will remain on “Windows 10” for sometime even if that Windows 10 ends up being very different from the Windows 10 they initially install and ordinarily would have warranted having a new release name of its own. Of course in a world that is increasingly marketing driven Windows 10 as a brand may one day become whatever Microsoft’sĀ marketing team decides it needs to become to keep the brand where they want it to be, Windows 2017 maybe.

Whatever happens to the name the concept is likely to remain the sameĀ in so much as users will increasingly find that updates are applied regularly as a drip feed of change to the point that they wont really pay attention to the version name and will just be running Windows.