Windows 10 will be the last major Windows release, with all subsequent updates issued as regular instalments, Microsoft has confirmed. Developer Jerry Nixon told a crowd at Microsoft’s Ignite conference that “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”.
If this sounds strange, Microsoft didn’t help. The company today stepped forward to defend Nixon’s comment to The Verge saying it was “reflective” of the company’s opinion. So what is going on? Is Windows 10 really the end?
Recent comments at Ignite about Windows 10 are reflective of the way Windows will be delivered as a service, bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner, with continuous value for our consumer and business customers. In the future, Windows could be updated more like Mac OS X, with small, free updates periodically, or even like Google’s Chrome browser, which updates almost weekly with barely any user intervention.
Microsoft’s wording suggests that in being “the last version of Windows” Windows 10 must transform into the all encompassing ‘Windows’ during its life cycle. If not it wouldn’t be the last major version of Windows, the subsequent everlasting ‘Windows’ would be.
So how will Microsoft decide where to draw the line with ‘free’? It is highly unlikely that those who move to Windows 10 within the first year will not be charged for a Windows update, upgrade or major new feature ever again.