It’s only been a month since Windows 8 was released, but do you already find yourself wondering what comes next? If reports by ZDNet and The Verge are to be believed, Microsoft’s next operating system will be called Windows Blue. According to The Verge’s source, Microsoft’s bent on making Windows Blue “the next OS that everyone installs.” Perhaps the company will offer the update for a price much lower than usual … or even for free.
Just like any other software upgrade, we can expect user interface changes to come with Windows Blue. The extent of the redesign is unknown at this point, as is whether or not it will retain Windows 8′s aesthetics. Another major change that you might come to like if you also own a Windows phone is that when Windows Blue comes out, developers will be required to make apps that work on both computers and mobile devices. All the Windows 8 apps available right now will still work with Windows Blue, but once the new OS hits the market, Microsoft’s Windows Store will stop accepting Windows 8-only apps.
But perhaps the biggest change you may encounter with the new OS is Microsoft’s plan to release an upgrade every 12 months. This is a big deal since the company’s known for pushing out a new version of Windows once every few years. This more frequent update schedule is reminiscent of Apple’s OS X, and even of mobile operating systems like iOS and Android, ensuring you always have the latest of what Microsoft can offer – assuming you choose to update your system every year. Unlike past Windows versions that cost quite a lot (a Windows 8 upgrade license costs $40, while a full version costs $70), these yearly updates will reportedly cost you a lot less, perhaps somewhere around $20 – just like OS X. Microsoft plans to release its new operating system sometime in mid-2013.
Oh Microsoft, you so want to be Apple, yet you are looking at the short term. Apple’s model made them rich, but their technology has no staying power. There are very few Apple technologies that became the standard.
Your products, however, become the standard for whole industries, from project management and web hosting to databases and desktop PCs. I believe a major contributor to this is that you do NOT release new products every year. It gives a chance for people to get used to what you produce. Case in point, IT managers are only just now deploying Win7 across their organizations.
I think a better strategy is to release large updates every year, but ones that do not require a re-install of the whole OS. How about Win8.5 instead of Win9. A new OS should be a paradigm shift, not an incremental evolution. People just want their systems to run, they do not care about the number at the end of their OS name.
Stop trying to be Apple. Apple is wrong, and they will fail in the end. Please, please, when they do, do not bail them out like you did last time.
How can you say there are “very few Apple technologies that became the standard”? I’d say the iPod became the standard for the MP3 player.
Also, could it be possible that the lack of enthusiasm over W8 is causing Microsoft to rethink things? Instead of waiting a few more years to release an entirely new OS, it can come out with a smaller update (a Windows 8.5 instead of a Windows 9, as you mention) in a year’s time which could help ease the pain that is W8 for so many people.
Well, there’s always a chance that the yearly updates Microsoft is gunning for are actually smaller updates (but bigger than service packs) as you mentioned. Nothing’s set in stone at this point.
Windows 8 no start menu