During the Microsoft Ignite conference in Chicago, one of the software maker employees, Jerry Nixon, said: “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.”
As it may have sounded like Microsoft will stop developing the world most popular operating system, he was actually referring that the future is “Windows as a service”.
While Microsoft has talked in the past about the idea of having Windows offered as a service, the company has never really described what the future of Windows looks like. However, the reason could be because probably we won’t be seeing any major release of the operating system moving forward.
Beginning with Windows 10, Microsoft has changed the way Windows is built. Instead of releasing major versions, as we have seen with Windows XP and Windows 7, the company is moving toward incremental updates and feature releases.
This type of rapid releases is possible by making Windows a modular operating system, which allows Microsoft to update parts of the Windows independently of each other, instead of having to update the entire core. It’s a challenge, but the software maker has invested a lot of work on making Windows 10 a single piece of software that run across PCs, tablets, game console, and phones.
You can already see this with the number of apps and services that are part of Windows 10, such as the Xbox and Mail apps, Microsoft Edge web browser, and even Office will include regular updates instead of big releases.
Starting with Windows 10, we’ll need to begin thinking that future releases won’t be major, like previous releases. Releases of Windows will be much like Chrome and Firefox, which get regular updates and most people don’t really seem to care much. This is pretty much how Microsoft envisions the idea of Windows as a service, and what the company describes as Windows 10 being the last major release of Windows.
Although, Microsoft could always go with “Windows 11”, “Windows 12”, or “Windows 13” — well, scratch the last one, Microsoft would never use of the number “13” on any of its products –, maybe what’s really going to happen is Microsoft going with simply “Windows” without versioning.
Source The Verge
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].