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Windows Blue: Microsoft's Plan To Release a New Version of Windows Every Year
MrSeb writes "Way back in August, three months before the release of Windows 8, we learned about the existence of a project at Microsoft codenamed Blue. At the time it wasn't clear whether this was Windows 9, or some kind of interim update/service pack for Windows 8. Now, if unnamed sources are to be believed, Windows Blue is both of those things: a major update to Windows 8, and also the beginning of a major shift that will result in a major release of Windows every 12 months — just like Apple's OS X. According to these insiders, Blue will roll out mid-2013, and will be very cheap — or possibly even free, to ensure that 'Windows Blue [is] the next OS that everyone installs.' Exact details are still rather vague, but at the very least Blue will make 'UI changes' to Windows 8. The sources also indicate that the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 SDKs will be merged or standardized, to further simplify the development of cross-platform apps. Perhaps more important, though, is the shift to a 12-month release cadence. Historically, Microsoft has released a major version of Windows every few years, with the intervening periods populated with stability- and security-oriented service packs. Now it seems that Microsoft wants to move to an OS X-like system, where new and exciting features will be added on an annual basis. In turn, Microsoft will drop the price of these releases — probably to around $25, just like OS X."
for Windows users.
To represent the filthy lucre they expect to extract from all their steady, dependable shee^H^H^H^Hcustomers.
It's like the usual WinTax doubled.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Wtf.... microsoft is not mozilla!!
I wonder if they plan metro-style changes every year then
We're renaming service packs as major releases now?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I enjoy those news where Microsoft just follow other's trends
I wanna be like Mike!
Apple = Michael Jordan
Windows 8 = Air Jordans
Microsoft = little kid in the commercial
It would be a shame if Windows 8 ends up being the base for years of incremental updates. I was hoping Microsoft would revert back to a more traditional OS design after Windows 8 is a dismal failure.
Lovely... so it'll be like automobiles.
You'll hear about recalls that affect Windows 2015, 2017, and 2018
but luckily, I'm still running Windows 2014
people in 2029 will brag about how they wish they'd bring back "classic Windows 2019, but not that crappy POS Windows 2021 that had the noise problem"
Karma: Excellent. 15 moderator points expire sometime.
I feel blue just by hearing that.
In the Stephen King book The Stand the virus that wiped out most of humanity was part of Project Blue.
Seems almost fitting somehow.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
and allow folks to disable the "tiles" thing
or have a Command Window "charm" that can be used
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
"...Blue will roll out mid-2013, and will be very cheap — or possibly even free, to ensure that 'Windows Blue the next OS that everyone installs.
Free? Really?
And which version of Blue will we get for free? The can't-do-shit-with-it ultra-lite version meant for OLPC hardware, or the all-your-data-belong-to-us personal-use cloud version?
Anyone believing that MS would ever even murmur the words "free" and "corporate use" in the same sentence is living in the cloud.
Can't wait to run Firefox 56 on Windows 21!
My first thought was "What color will they paint the screen of death?"
Apple can charge $25 because they have made money on the hardware. Hard to see how MS makes sufficient revenue from this, unless they anticipate controlling more of the hardware than they do now.
Coca Cola may have not done this on purpose when they released New Coke, but Microsoft seems to have caught on to the fact that they (Coke) doubled their sales after reintroducing original Coca Cola. Major UI changes..
"Here is Metro, no start menu. Oh wait here's it back. We told you we listen to our customers!"
Microsoft sold 40 million licenses off Windows 8 already - the great success must have messed up their thinking. This success may very well be temporary - corporations will probably hold back way more this time around than even with the Win XP -> Windows 7 transition (which is far from over, XP is the second OS by usage share).
I hope a bit of bitchslapping by the corporations (who won't upgrade to Win 8 for several years) will sober MS up somewhat and make them forget about Windows Blue.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
Of all the colors, for Microsoft to pick something associated with blue, after all the blue screens...
then Red, White, Black, Silver, Gold, Platinum, etc.
Gotta catch 'em all!
I use XP in a VM whenever I have to use the one in a thousand windows program so at my present rate of Windows usage I would have to upgrade every second time I use windows. What Microsoft is missing is that most people are using windows out of inertia. Places like Staples and Walmart still sell windows laptops so people buy them. If Apple changed its whole marketing approach tonight and reduced macbooks to $350 the sales of windows machines would plummet. I am not making the Mac vs Windows argument I am saying that people usually don't care; nor am I suggesting that apple drop their prices. Gamers use windows because that is where the games are, not because of some love of windows. If all the PC games moved to BeOS tomorrow then the day after tomorrow most of the gamers would move as well.
So what MS needs to do is to find out what people really want. A good example of them not doing this would be their new tablets. Most people want enough storage to watch lots of video and some for their apps. What people didn't want was all their space taken up with MS Office on the tablet; who the hell is going to do extensive office work on those tablets? As a programmer I want tools to make my life easier. What Microsoft tries to foist upon me are tools that guide me into their suite of products such as office and SQL server. What my mother wants is a machine that is simple (like an iPad) what MS gives her is a machine that is always asking hard questions. What my mother also wants is a machine that she can't easily screw up (like an iPad). What MS give her is a machine that comes pre screwed up by the manufacturer with trialware and allows for third party crap to install itself over and over until, in the case of her browser, she has 7 inches of toolbars and one inch of browsing space.
So until MS starts actually listening to their customers and not their internal marketing departments the only customers they are going to keep are the ones who don't bother leaving them.
If Microsoft doesn't change anything important. Apple releases a 'new version' of iOS almost yearly, but what changes? Other than toys, we don not know.
Sure will keep the script kiddies busy validating their tools agains 'new versions'. Security through churn. Interesting concept.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Big companies have got to hate paying the Microsoft tax every couple of years when MS stops supporting an OS. They have to purchase new licenses and often new hardware. Why don't the fortune 1000 get together and turn Ubuntu into something they can all use?
No sigs in BETA. Beta SUCKS.
When can I expect my copies of "Windows Does Dallas" and "Windows Strikes Back?"
It would be complaining about Windows 8 SP 8 now working as well as Windows 8 SP 6. Or maybe they will come up with cool nicknames like Lion, or Tiger, or Liger. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic.
... If I had a horse for every time you made me blue, I'd have a house full of horse sh...oes.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
You'll hear about recalls that affect Windows 2015, 2017, and 2018 but luckily, I'm still running Windows 2014
people in 2029 will brag about how they wish they'd bring back "classic Windows 2019, but not that crappy POS Windows 2021 that had the noise problem"
You don't understand Microsoft's logic. Back when they only released an operating system every few years, they included the year in the version. Now that they will be switching to an annual release cycle, they're switching to colors, using the ROYGBIV order, which is why they are starting with blue. You see, Blue comes after 8, which comes after 7, which comes after Vista, which comes after XP, which comes after 2000, which comes after the millennium edition, which comes after 98, etc. They found that people were very confused about Windows 8 following Windows 7. It didn't fit the pattern at all. Hence, they are moving to colors. After ROYGBIV they're moving to Pantone color numbers, in order from Ballmer's least favorite Pantone to his favorite.
Blue Screen of Death Edition!
Wow, that's quite radical move from Microsoft actually. :)
Last years "Windows Blew" - so let's Blue again...
Quality naming guys!
I can't think of a better name for a Windows project than "blue". I think it can only be topped by using its full name: "Blue Screen"
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
MS made this same announcement in '97 when they released win 98. The idea was similar to car model years, and the hope was that people would want to keep up appearances and buy a new model every year just like cars. This failed because of MS's inability to deliver on time, the OS was almost a year late in its release, so they abandoned that idea because it made them look bad. I wonder what will be different about it this time?
Sent from my ENIAC
"New Version" = Get another $100
While I agree that they should release a new version of Windows 8 as soon as possible, I did not pay for a copy since Windows 3.1 came pre-loaded on my 486-SX, and I don't plan on paying for another OS install until release date of Elive 3.0. I was fortunate to be blessed as a Computer Science whiz, and so I understand a thing about release engineering. This is not a chess match, it's operating systems. At some point you ought to concede that if you plan to release again in 24 hours, and again each day after that, you should not be charging your customers for what you're providing today. It's obviously not finished.
I should hope that by this time, they are so invested in your systems that they won't tolerate incompatible changes, and no amount of beautification will convince them to fork over cash for a system that's exactly the same as the last iteration.
Bitcoin plans to halve rewards every 210,000 blocks. That's an operational standard. Let's all plan on having something they want every year, and charge $100 per head. If attrition is as big as population growth, then we don't hire any new people and our fixed costs are all covered, forever.
Restating the obvious since nineteen aught five.
So basically Microsoft is admitting that Windows 8 is a huge failure and this is their way of getting us all to
shift our focus from Windows 8 and to a 'new and improved' Windows 9 (which I bet will basically be an updated
Windows 7 without the awful Windows 8 tiles.
It's their version of 'Squirrel!'
I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes with curiosity
Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind
Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
(Aa aa aa)
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Oh, ho, ho
Now don't hang on
Nothin' last forever but the earth and sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
(All we are is dust in the wind)
Dust in the wind
(Everything is dust in the wind)
Everything is dust in the wind
(In the wind)
(Ooo)
(Ooo)
(Ooo)
Is not soon enough... Will Microsoft survive till January 2013 after betting the company on Vista 2.0?
I recall a few years ago now on Slashdot a discussion on the topic "MS doesn't matter any more" - doesn't matter, as in you don't need to use any MS software to run your business and communicate with the outside world. They are of course still a major player in the software arena, but far from as all powerful as they were. There are plenty of alternatives, they are viable, and indeed a key reason for companies to stick to MS is because they are already with MS. New businesses that still have the choice, have an alternative.
That was basically the argument, and mostly I agreed at the time. But it was ahead of time, it was before Android and the iPhone even.
Now it seems to me that MS is really risking becoming just "one of the options". And probably MS feels the same. They took nearly a decade to come with a viable successor to WinXP, and in the meantime both OS-X and various Linux distros made great strides in UI design, general usability, and indeed market share.
They completely lost control over the www - partly thanks to Firefox, Chrome, Safari and the others on the desktop, partly thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices which are pretty much all non-Microsoft devices (Windows Phone is really small compared to Android and iOS).
They will lose control over their Word lock-in, again partly thanks to mobile devices: people do want to view and edit their documents on their tablets, which means some application running on iOS or Android. MS doesn't have such an offering yet. OpenOffice in it's various incarnations is gaining significant ground at least in Europe, and Google Docs is also a major competitor sucking people away from MS Office.
And surely people will start thinking. "Why is my iPad working so much nicer than my desktop? Aren't there alternatives to Windows?" They see Apple's offerings in the stores. "That's nice but out of my budget, any cheaper alternatives?" They may have heard about Linux, about Ubuntu or Red Hat. "Hey, geek friend, how about that Ubuntu thing that I recently heard about? Can I still watch videos on YouTube, and edit some Word documents? Can I try it out a bit?"
Not many people at first, sure, but there are always people curious about what's out there, and nowadays you can see there is more out there than Windows.
MS is definitely feeling the heat of the competition. First they finally picked up development of their web browser, and made great progress there. Then after the debacle of Vista they quickly came with Win7 and now Win8. And now planning a new major release every year, that's going to be interesting. They'll have to start offering intersting features to keep people on their platform, and give people a reason to use Windows and not one of the alternatives. I'm looking forward to it.
After the Windows 8 debacle this is Microsoft's version of 'Squirrel!!'.
'Microsoft Windows 9: just like Windows 7 but without tiles!'.
That is what I am guessing.
Good time to switch to Linux.
Sounds more like "Blue Balls" to me.
Have gnu, will travel.
So, will certs still expire when they're 2 releases old? I'd hate to be working on a Win 7 certification only to have it retire when Blue comes out. Either way, with new versions of Windows coming out annually, I picked a great time to jump from systems administration to security.
By the time you learn enough to do you job of how to deal with all the annoying changes and different bugs .... you get to do it all over again....
Has anyone done a study on how much time/dollars are spent in dealing with such? (learning, bugs, other system hogs/user waits....)
Well its not a bad idea totally it would allow them to introduce wide unpopular interface changes gradually instead of "here it is". But some companies may encounter rolling comparability problems and weird cases in which Feature A is actually Feature B and then becomes Feature C but is not backwards comparable at all. Currently the model is a little more archaic "we build it to good enough" and make it work better after some time and then industry buys into it. But at that point, why not just switch to Apple who has a vastly more stable operating system and is established already? Or Linux and cut the umbilical cord of cost and keep all the same comparability headaches.
Personally I think Microsoft tries way too hard to make each OS a wildly new user experience, when consistency would be more prudent, they rule the workstation wold almost exclusively. We have workstations that are wildly overburdened with security workarounds because Microsoft just wont do it. But they're busy trying to chase the apple model. Just my 2c.
Good leaders run toward problems, bad leaders hide from them.
I'm a little confused as to why this is a big deal, Linux has been rolling out major updates and releases on the kernel and distributions much faster then 12 months and yet we don't see a big post about that. Big OS-X has the 12 month release, that is still slow, Ubuntu has a new release almost every 6 months, Gentoo roles a nightly build and the same goes for many Linux Distro's. So I fail to see why I'm going to be impressed when Microsoft is just copying a release system that's been done.
When would Windows become open source?
Its a shame that MS seem to feel they have only one option now... "be like apple".
Half the reason they thrive so well in corporate-enterprise-juganaut land is simply because they aren't apple and dont behave like them. A release every year is going to be an utter nightmare for a decent sized enterprise, but i guess it depends on what "next version" really means. Is it going to just an incremental update similar to what service packs used to be? In which case, the actual OS update will probably less painful, but there will be pain to be had in other places (namely licensing).
I really wouldn't be cheering for this idea if i were in a corporate desktop support role, thats for absolute certain.
Even given the job that i do (which falls into the systems integrator role), it doesn't sound good... whats it going to mean for certification? oh the pain.... then that comes with its own set of licensing nightmares (the SI role).
Still, as a linux-lover, i can only say "i love where apple and MS are taking their OS's because they seem to be working very hard to make linux as attractive as possible".
What if I know better than to put Win 8 on any of my systems? After all, like Win ME and Vista, Win 8 is already disgusting users and seems to be one of those releases that you would be wise to skip. Can I still get a next release if I don't but Win 8, or does the "upgrade" only apply to those who bought Win 8? If so it would be more honest to call it a paid service pack than an upgrade.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
I have an nvidia optimus/k1000m on a shiny new thinkpad w530. The kernel-included nouveau and intel drivers work fine. Switching between these without restarting is even theoretically possible with vga_switcheroo (though it apparently doesn't entirely work on the w530 specifically). Using the "optimus" bit is also perfectly possible with bumblebee.
However, even with bumblebee, the drivers are included with the kernel, allowing you to fully use KMS, bootup logos, etc. For full 3D, you can even still rely on the builtin intel drivers and use the proprietary nvidia drivers with bumblebee (or not, if your system allows you to switch fully to discrete mode).
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Not sure if you know it or not but, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger
They want some thing more stable and they most of the time wait at least for a SP1. Now MS can't go to fast and remove stuff and or cut off old apps.
also windows store only will not work that well and the old licensing systems will have to stay in place.
When did you ever report a bug to microsoft AND GET A RESPONSE?
Linux out of the box detects more hardware easier than windows. And unlike windows, doesn't decide it has to install another USB driver because you moved your mouse to a different USB port before it lets you use it.
MS will tell you that NT is unsupported and you aren't allowed to fix ANYTHING if your USB camera doesn't work: You are now SOL.
And try using your Geforce2 card on your Win7 system.
You shit on MS for moving to a 12 month release cycle, yet Ubuntu already does the same thing every six months and suddenly it's gold.
Good to know that after Red will be Black. To bad that won't also appear on their financial filings under Ballmer's leadership.
if your time is free.
Otherwise each upgrade will cost you extra.
You forgot octarine ...
Did they bury him with a stake through the heart and his head chopped off?
My Windows PC has a fixed set of applications and they Just Work(TM). New versions of some of those applications have been released but the older versions still do exactly what I want and need them to do. I see little to be gained by installing new versions when the old versions are rock solid and totally functional in every way for me.
The OS? It's 32-bit Windows XP, even though the hardware supports later versions. Like the (older) apps, WinXP Just Works(TM) and there is no reason at all to install anything newer.
Obviously this probably doesn't represent the majority case, but there are still a lot of people around whose number one concern -- possibly even their only concern -- is ensuring that their critical must-have apps keep running flawlessly. Not everyone wants to (or needs to) tinker with the latest and greatest.
I heard it was web color numbers. I was really looking forward to Windows #CD853F !
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
Can you imagine being a small hardware company in 5 years and you have to do validation: Win7, Win8, Win2013.... with different Service Packs and versions? That's going to be a nightmare.
I'm assuming this is a strategy to push developers to write "Metro" apps and not desktop applications because I'm assuming Metro the validation process is much simpler with "Metro" apps and would guarantee maximum compatibility across multiple versions of Windows.
Sounds like Microsoft is scrambling to keep ahead of compedition.
Win8 "sales" are showing positive regardless of negativity of OS geared towards mobile devices and secondary to everything else.
Win Blue i suspect is next part of their business plan of sustainablity. Apple shown along with Google, is Rose Garden eco-system is way to go to make money.
I'd hate be gated up with limited choices like that, but i suspect thats where MS wants to go. With releases each year, they can tweek their OS match passing taste of consumer. I agree with others comments, this maybe renamed Pack update but on upper level. New features, etc, meeting with ever-changing environment. I think Win8 is frame work for this. I'm not crazy about it, but what you going do? There what? 2-3 choices of OS for a PC without changing platform itself?
I thought it was to remind people what color of screen they should associate with Windows
It'll also, just like Win 8, try to be on every phone, tablet, and PC
And the slogan will be: "Microsoft Windows: every screen is a Blue screen"
Last years "Windows Blew" - so let's Blue again...
Quality naming guys!
This year it's "windows hate".... So, Um, yeah,....
If I were in a joking mood I would say that the code name 'BLUE' is because the Windows 8 users are 'blue' they need a quick patch, Windows 2013 fast! btw - code BLUE also has a special meaning in the ICU.
More likely Microsoft is just wanting to get a better 'cash infusion' plan since the current arm twisting method via Windows 7 starvation doesn't seem to be working very well. Having yearly 'cash infusions' must be sounding pretty good right about now. The problem is how to get everybody to upgrade, every single year? Maybe they will try expiring the OS license each year. Yup, that aught to do it.
Does this mean that you have to upgrade each and every year to get the upgrade cost? Can you wait 4 years and still only pay $25 for the latest? Because if not, it doesn't sound much better than what it costs now. Sounds more like a way to charge for service packs.
I'd actually prefer a daily rental model for Windows as I only ever use it anymore for flashing devices, turbo tax or the occasional game.
I usually wait 18 months or so for the bug rate in a new version to settle down. There's not much point if the code is making major changes ever year.
.. Screen of Death!
Program Manager Syndrome
http://www.cringely.com/2009/02/04/microsoft-has-pms/
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
So in 2099 we can look forward to Windows 95
I think I will wait for the 2102 version
(of course they will have immortality by then...
It all depends if it is a much faster major release turnover or a incredibly slower Tuesday patch.
This sort of disruption is not helpful. And emulating OSX is foolish. Windows sells to a totally different market with totally different needs. I can't tell you how disruptive Windows Vista and Windows 7 were in some corporate networks. The loss of backward compatibility is a serious deal breaker. If MS is going to start messing around with the whole operating system on a fundamental level continuously then why stay with MS at all? It's not in our interest as corporate customers to roll out workstations in this operating system if they have such high maintenance issues. In some cases, we might have to totally recode proprietary company software every year just to keep compatibility with the OS. That is an additional expense we don't need.
Seriously MS... What we wanted from you was Windows XP with fewer bugs, a slightly more polished UI, a couple extra features, and not a lot else. That is our corporate need. These are WORK computers. People do spread sheets on them, modify databases, and check email.
We've resisted moving to linux for a variaty of issues but this sort of behavior makes us think that we're actively not wanted. Fine. Have fun trying to sell your stupid operating system when most of your customers don't use it at work anymore.
As as to the residential user... you'll never compete with Apple at being Apple. If people want macs they'll get macs. A "me-too" strategy is only for marginal buyers. And even the gaming community is turning on you.
This whole thing is a massive mistake. Radical redesigns of the OS are a bad idea. And cutting backward compatibility is lethal.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Gives a whole new meaning to Blue Screen of Death.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
I mean not for nothing, this is all stemming from a *single* source -- the Verge. If they are slightly inaccurate about how they are wording this, or getting some bad information, everybody's running off on a tangent here.
Microsoft has been known to keep compatibility for versions from 100 years ago. That's why they keep offering a 32 bit version of Windows 8, because of legacy 16 bit code. The idea that they'd throw their enterprise customers for a loop like this without having seriously thought it through is well... ridiculous to me. They may have some bad ideas but their core cash cows being sacrificed is really not one of them.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
The computer industry is caught up with churn for the sake of churn. Innovation has almost stopped completely. Now things are changed just because people need to change something to create new releases. Firefox shuffles its user interface around, moving icons and menu items that were the same for a decade. Unity and Gnome 3 change their user interfaces for no good reason. C++11 is a mess, with new features like the move constructor and return values after functions (what's next, C++15 with return values in the middle?).
I shudder to think what Microsoft will do to justify yearly releases. Tiles becoming circles? A return to cooperating multitasking? Who knows, but it will be awful to justify yearly releases.
Of course, MS has a track record of churn. DDE->OLE->COM->COM+->DCOM->.NET, ODBC->DAO/ADO->.NET->EF, VB->VB6->VB.NET, and so on. The only thing you can be sure of is that the time you invest in learning MS's current technology will be wasted because they'll dump it in a few years.
So if we want to get all the features in "Windows Blue", will we have to run a sync cable to a friend who bought "Windows Red"?
You missed out on your BSOD reference chance by a faster and equally non clever poster. Stop it.
You are so full of shit.
If Apple is so bad, according to the Apple Haters on this site, why is Microsoft trying so hard to be just like them?
That is it, Ballmer has gone insane. The guy was a clown before but now he has REALLY lost it.
You see, people who pay for updates expect improvements. MS can barely fix an OS in its lifetime, let alone improve it. You bought XP that is what you kept for half a decade and more. USB support was for Windows a fucking major update, not a point update for free as with Linux but something you just didn't get unless you paid for a new release.
And MS, even with payed for, expensive updates barely adds anything worthwhile. What is there in Windows 8 that is worth actually paying for? A tiny articially restricted update to DirectX and a UI nobody wants.
MS already has enough trouble getting people off XP when Windows 8 is out. They want to have people run major incompatible updates each year?
Or is this just another attempt to charge for service packs? Which are NOT upgrades but merely bug fixes packaged together.
MS upgrade path so far has been "you got to buy our latest version because we do our best to make sure new software doesn't work on old windows any more". It has never had to SELL an upgrade on new functionality.
This is going to fracture windows even more badly in different versions because you can be sure MS will do its level best to make only the latest version capable of running software but users will be doing their level best not to upgrade under any circumstance. Except now that dance won't be done every 5 years or so but every year. YAHOO!
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Is Microsoft ever going to come up with a plan that doesn't boil down to Apple envy or Google envy?
you paid for 64bit window 7 when you had 32bit?
You just needed to download a ISO and REUSE the key on the BOX.
Apple does it. Apple's an actual threat to Microsoft, it's not surprising they're trying to mimic them in a number of ways.
free with windows 8?? now maybe if they can fix some of bad UI in 8 and make metro work better on a desktop then it will be the OS that everyone installs.
Sounds like they finally went to a model to ensure a steadier revenue stream.
I have no idea what microsoft is thinking in trying to combine mobile and PC operating systems.
Woosh.
Blue will make 'UI changes' to Windows 8.
My grandma got pissed when she has to go from Outlook Express to Outlook 2010. She already was having great difficulty doing simple things on her computer. I can't even image her reaction if someone told her that she would have to learn a new interface every 12 months.
I mean common, they have made the same OS to desktop and phones, tablets, whatever. I guess they want to compete with android and ios, they cant have outdated software(in this case apps) that gets left behind as android or ios evolve, now windows will be like android and ios basically, andoird have ICS, JellyBeans and whatever they name it, windows will have win 8 -> win blue -> win green etc
Windows 7 certainly did not blow and windows 8 is an improved windows 7 in every way
No, and that's my final answer. What a horrible idea. Why doesn't Microsoft stick with one and make it rock solid? Like they did with XP. Doing this will make developers go nuts because they will have to build a new version every time a new version of windows come out. They are just trying to copy Apple's business model and they are doing it WRONG.
When I think Windows, I just think "awesome."
But Vista blew hard enough to cause wind all the way to Windows 11.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
... with new and better bugs? Just what I always wanted - not.
But every 4 to 6 years, Microsoft changes how they name/number their OS releases. By 2021, they will have switched to at least a couple new schemes.
But will use. It's just easier to get the free complimentary copy they offer to TPB users.
Unfortunately, Apple has a patent on magic.
Blue it not for "Dead blue screen"? Oups.
Most would say it always has.
Will Microsoft be using Blue Man Group to market it like Intel did for its Pentiums (3 and 4)?
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Where have I heard that before?
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
drivers are not Metro and metro will need side loading as well.
Also metro does not work that well in multi app work flows
STAHP!
Bring Your Own Device will not tolerate non-enterprise grade support and new technology every year. It's simply too much of a moving target to have any useful application support on for larger companies that want to allow BOYD.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Mojave was Windows Vista Service Pack 1. All its improvements were rolled into Windows 7.
nonsense
Maybe the fact that Microsoft supports OS's for so long is actually the cause of business users getting over invested and entrenched in a dated OS. If they practiced changing os more often perhaps it would get easier?
love is just extroverted narcissism
it seems that Microsoft wants to move to an OS X-like system
So are they also going to scrap 90% of the code base, break all backwards compatibility, steal a bunch of source from BSD, and call it WindOS-X? They should code-name the first release Baghdad, for the total fustercluck it will end up being. Then I presume they will benefit from all the work others have done, and not pay them a dime or give them any credit except accidentally, as it serves their purposes of making claims of having the robust nature and built-in security of UNIX, with the "user friendliness" of Windows. Then they'll go walled-garden like Apple, and alienate the remainder of the pro-PC, anti-MAC crowd. After that, Microsoft will get acquired by Apple, and then Apple will have what it wanted from day 1: to be Microsoft, but with cooler stuff.
Buy your computers now, while we still have a say in what they do, how they work, and what programs they'll run.
Oh yeah, obligatory "maybe 2013 will be the year of Linux on the Desktop" statement. How could I have come so close to forgetting that?
Then I'll wait for Microsoft to release Windows Pink :-)
Have you noticed that lately MS's broad strategy seems to be 'Do whatever Apple does'?
It wouldn't surprise me if MS's yearly releases are timed to be a few months behind OSX releases to give them time to copy whatever Apple releases.
Ryans Tutorials - A collection of technology tutorials.
...Jesse Ventura?
- T
Announced 1985, released 1988.
You forgot Yellow. I can't wait for Microsoft Windows Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition. I comes on the custom Pikachu-themed Surface tablet.
I refuse to believe that Microsoft will ever be capable of releasing Windows: web-safe edition
You're right. 8 following 7 is just crazy.
Still waiting for WinFS
Is it even possible to add unnecessary features to Gnome? How would anyone know?
or possibly even free, to ensure that 'Windows Blue the next OS that everyone installs
Not free, but Ad-Supported. This is of course, a great idea, unlike Windows 8 where you still have to pay for ...oh, wait.
I'm also excited about the UI changes, can't wait for the first leaked Windows Blue Screen shot.
MS anounced that they'd make anual releases of Windows by 97, when they were trying to rent it instead of selling. Then, they anounced it again by 2004, and did start to rent it for some companies.
It's an old plan. Never worked because they need 5 years to make a change in Windows that compiles, but they never really quit trying.
Rethinking email
Can I have your tots?
How about selling service packs and security updates for XP before you become too thinned out with the million monkey army creating all these new OS's which have to be maintained and nobody wants.
2012 was toward the end of the "PC" era, when the basic software, or "operating system" of our information appliances was still updated frequently so as to make it incompatible with older devices and applications. We did actually pay for the software that did this to us.
The rationale for this was that historically this software was very primitive, and new versions gave important improvements in utility, security and performance. By 2002 however, operating system software had become mature enough that it did not need such radical continuous improvement. It had become stable enough.
In 2012 though the customer's need for this had long passed, software and hardware companies still clung to this old tradition because they needed their old software and hardware to be made obsolete so they could sell the same products to the same customers again.
Sometime around 2010 consumers started becoming wise to this game. The result was a new "mobile" era of information appliances that didn't have this legacy tradition.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Great just do a new non-upgradable install each year.
Yes, it did that from 10.0 to 10.3, when frankly all the bugs were getting fixed and all the things that hadn't made it into the system in the first place were being added. And yes, it did that from 10.7 to 10.8 for some reason. But from 10.3 to 10.7, major releases of OS X came two years apart. Has "ExtremeTech" not heard of "Wikipedia?"
It's safer to say that by and large, major releases of OS X happen every 1-2 years, depending on how long it takes Apple to get them ready. Major versions of Windows have also sometimes come out after only 1 year if Microsoft feels they're ready - Windows XP was released the year after Windows 2000 and Windows Me, remember? - but on the flip side, they ran with Windows XP for five years before releasing Vista, close to three years from Vista to 7, and three years again from 7 to 8.
We all know what happens when Apple ships stuff before it's ready. We just had yet another headline about iOS 6 Maps. Some of us remember iCloud's teething pains. And so on. Rushing releases of Windows is likely to be every bit as unwise. If they really want to take an Apple approach, "every 1-2 years, depending on when they're ready" might be safer.
(If the linked article and the summary here on Slashdot want to talk about an Apple OS that does get a major release every year, there's iOS, of course.)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Need i say anything more?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
So I will have the chance to _not_ buy a MS product each year! :D
More fun for me
Two of my machines run Windows 7 and one is running Mint. When support ends for Windows 7 I'll have three machines running Mint. MS should have remained MS, but they were so busy trying to keep up with Apple that they lost sight of their true customer base. The people I have the most sympathy for are the ones trying to support Windows in a multi-user environment.
Give me a MacBook Pro for $750 and I will abandon Windows. And I am a looooooong time Microsoft customer. Apple charges way too high of a premium for their notebooks. Evan a the current astronomical price/spec ratio I am still considering purchasing my first macbook.
Always blue......
As an app developer, the most frustrating thing about developing for Windows 8 was that my existing Windows Phone apps didn't just run. In fact my XNA games would need to be rewritten from scratch because XNA isn't supported on Windows 8 like it is on WP8. The task of porting/rewriting those apps/games is so large that I still haven't done it, weeks after release. I don't know when I'll get the time.
One of the benefits of agile development the focus is on allowing you to be able to release and test software faster. It looks like they're applying that to Windows now.
Skyfall 2012 TS XViD UNiQUE http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7818787/Skyfall_2012_TS_XViD_UNiQUE [thepiratebay.se] magnet:?xt=urn:btih:6d7882c59d6555283745f31e0492ac8d041132a1
Fail. Linux drivers either (a don't need to be installed, (b can be installed through something you might recognize as being similar to an "App Store", (c aren't dependent on the HW manufacturer deciding what level of support you get, and (d can occasionally emulate multi-touch on systems that don't support it. No, really.
0/5 Troll harder.
You are correct. The business planners are out of their mind at Microsoft. They should have started their own Linux distro a while ago and provide paid support to customers and hardware manufacturers, instead of building annual crap upon the world. Seriously, Microsoft has so many coders who would be much more happy, if they could create for Linux and leave out their dreams, instead of pleasing the management at the top. The same management that talks about synergy, collaboration, team spirit and power naps. What else is more synergistic than the Linux community, where even totally disconnected people are potentially working together on a code that might be cooked into one package by some third person one day. That is the synergy, that the management can only dream about, becasue it will not happen in a closed organization that tries to lock naturally immaterial code in one material building.
~ Best man at your service.
Windows Blue: It needed the money...
Lurking in the desert
That's because you have no idea what you're talking about. It *is* possible to detect corruption, to avoid writing bad data to disk, to roll back failed filesystem transactions. Due to the way unix works, you can delete the binaries for the apps you're using, and continue using them.
Unix systems are designed for stability in a way that Windows simply wasn't. On systems where the words "mission critical" mean something, you will patch the running kernel, because downtime is not an option. In multi-user systems, downtime is going to be pretty expensive no matter what -- and it has ever been thus. So, you recover from as many faults as possible. Servers don't get to just throw up a blue screen or reboot randomly. You only get that with cheap consumer OSes.
I've run linux exclusively for a few years now. Before that I had a past life as a windows tech. It would be impossible to estimate the number of times that I've seen variations on a Windows bluescreen. By contrast, I have never seen a kernel panic. I don't think I know anyone that has. I suspect that my friend who does board bring-up for embedded linux hardware prototypes has seen one, but I would not be surprised to learn otherwise. I don't actually expect to see one myself -- ever -- but if I do, I will certainly mark the calendar. Probably write a blog post about it.
Here's a nickel, kid. Get yourself a better computer.
"[...] to further simplify the development of cross-platform apps"
Desktop Windows and Windows Phone - "cross-platform" - you must be kidding, right?
It's Microsoft... they've gone from suck to blew!
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -HLM
I left Windows for Linux 9 years ago and I am so glad.
Never heard of that one. Is it any good?
:-P
Does this mean it will come with even more bluescreens then ever making users blue every time they have to use it?
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
All of them.
DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
So they're doing more work to make the same amount of total money over time and at the same time pissing off all IT departments everywhere by making their job impossible due to compatibility problems? Awesome.
Also, unless they get rid of metro, nobody will buy it. This just means 1 more additional year and release before they get a fucking clue. There goes the Microsoft "every other version sucks" pattern.
I can not do such things(photo of a part of programms in my desktop)with 7 or 8 i will soon get a BSOD! XP is still the best!
http://img1.dreamies.de/img/200/b/svr9qgofpbz.jpg
Any UI change to MS Bob 8 is welcome!
I'm afraid Microsoft just blue itself.
Does MS know that selling hardware is what drives Apple's need to constantly roll out new versions of its OS? It may not be the business model MS needs.
It needed the money.
'nuff said.
to switch to a Linux distro fulltime.
http://www.accountkiller.com/en/delete-slashdot-account Stop visiting Slashdot.
I don't need new versions of operating systems or browsers, with "new" features. What I need are stable products. MS, Google, Mozilla, etc., need to regression test, find the bugs, register overflows and other factors that lead to instability of the products, before releasing. Users should not be the "free" troubleshooters that the companies have made us.
Is MS pulling a cruel joke on us. Blue connected to MS usually means "Blue Screen of Death", and issuing a revised Windows every year sounds like an excl lent plan to insure we often see the BOS.
Unfortunately, I can't cite any specifics because the firewalls at work block all gaming related stuff. (Gee, I wonder why? ;-) )
Still, it isn't too hard to use your Google-fu to find plenty of copies of the list of games that will be available at launch. The last list that I saw said 50. That was up from 36 two weeks earlier, and 24 two weeks before that.
Valve reps have said on several occasions that many publishers, both large and small, have at least inquired as to the feasibility of porting their games to Linux. Apparently, some number of them have moved beyond simply asking to actively working to make their catalog of games viable on Linux.
Realistically, I think it's safe to say that the initial implementations will be all over the map in terms of code quality because cross platform development is foreign territory for many of these companies. It'll be interesting to see (1) how well they execute, and (2) if they stay the course for the long haul.
Everyone is going to have to look sharp, not as much time to learn before it becomes obsolete.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I'll bet the Linux based offerings are priced far below Office 365. I've seen the prices for the latter and a smattering of the former. Microsoft's prices were much higher. Personally, I think their pricing model is going to come back to bite them.
If M$ is releasing a new iteration of MS Windows every year, then how will this move impact on support for previous releases of MS Windows that were sold with PC hardware sold to consumers within the last 5 years, or disk image builds deployed new into enterprises in the previous 5 years?
I think M$ is building a rod for its own back that it won't be able to sustain.
Aero offloads the UI to the GPU making the system faster
Provided your machine's APU is up to the task. Notably, the GMA 950 wasn't when Windows Vista first came out.
I hope those yearly "versions" of Windows are edible. They are gonna need to eat them as I'm not buying them.
I'm old, not dead. Well that's my 2 cents worth, your mileage may vary. I say what I think, not what you want to hear.
Now people are realizing they don't need a PC as much as before... some people don't need PCs at all!!
Say someone who currently uses a device-that-is-not-a-PC to view works (aka "consume") wants to start creating works as a hobby. How much would it cost for him to a device suitable for creating works?
Microsoft did make a new handheld gaming system. It's called Windows Phone.
For one thing, it costs hundreds of USD more per year to own a device running Windows Phone than to own a Wi-Fi-only Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita. These connect to the Internet through the DSL or cable you're probably already paying for at home and through the Wi-Fi included in your restaurant bill. For another, unlike Nintendo 3DS or PlayStation Vita, devices running Windows Phone lack a directional pad and trigger buttons, and though touch control has its advantages for some types of game, not every video game genre is conducive to play on a flat sheet of glass. For example, how would Mega Man series work?
No doubt, user of many a Linux variety, OS X, Droid or iOS will attest that their devices OS works pretty well, no BSOD's, and no entire and complete loss of all their data. If that did exist, then the smartphone market wouldn't be exploding as it has and quickly disintegrating the PC
market.
Perhaps there ought to be a study of people who use tech - do you trust your smartphone more than your PC, in regards to working daily, backing up your pictures, and not crashing?
The same can't be said with certainty for the multitudes of Windows OS's we've endured- although W7 is a vast improvement, fairly stable and generally accepted in the IT world - a yearly OS rollout could ostracize IT departments world-wide.
Now - there's Windows 8, and it would seem - a shiny new pearl about every 12 months...
There's nothing in to reinforce why any user would choose this path of uncertainty (meaning a Windows PC).... with the horrible problems with Surface, not to mention quality issues (keyboards falling apart within a month), I'm certainly not rushing out to pick up a W8 machine anytime soon.
I will however, continue to use my smartphone and look at options as to how I can store more of the data I use on that device, on my home Wifi - whether that be a separate appliance (Patriot Gauntlet), a Max or Unix-based box, or the cloud...
This could be the end of the "PC" as we know it
Greed has its bearings all throughout Microsoft. Linux provides it's Operating systems and support for free and only receive donations to keep the development ongoing. Linux comes preloaded with tools Microsoft wishes it had and wishes it could do what Linux can do. Linux also provides an office program and graphics program and website builder and all kinds of tools for, you guessed it: FREEE. Here is a small list of Free Operating systems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions
m'crud's problem is that they can't attract the brains to get one release a decade to work. they're smokeandmirrorsware artists of the first rank tho'.
on your own pillow
It's all about the law of averages. Eventually they may get something right and put out an OS worth using, say like Windows 4864
Really, you like tan, do you own a Zune?
this is going to be as stupid as Mozilla's plan to rev a new major release of Firefox every 6 weeks.
It's easy to look at this and say "what a great idea"... but the people who do that are, nearly unanimously in my experience, people who are only responsible for 1 or 2 PC.
When you're responsible for 100 or 500 or 20,000, you come back to me and tell me how many more IT people that's going to require you to hir... oh, wait.
No; this is a *great* idea!!!