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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.
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.
Wtf.... microsoft is not mozilla!!
I wonder if they plan metro-style changes every year then
Never mind Blue is the color most associated with IBM
Think that's intentional?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I wanna be like Mike!
Apple = Michael Jordan
Windows 8 = Air Jordans
Microsoft = little kid in the commercial
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.
Personally, I upgraded to windows 8 specifically because it was so cheap. At only $40, it was a steal compared what they've charged for previous versions of Windows. I'd be happy to pay $25 a year and always have the newest version of Windows.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
So instead of $129 every 4/5 years, it's $25 each year. Yes, we're all being horribly ripped off.
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
It's true that the desktop does not need this pace of innovation. Some stability is nice - at least a few years.
However, if they are serious about merging the desktop and mobile platforms, they will need to go to a yearly (or more frequent) release schedule. The mobile market is simply moving too fast, and the platforms are becoming more powerful very quickly.
Queue discussion about the wisdom of merging the desktop and mobile platforms...
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Personally, I upgraded to windows 8 specifically because it was so cheap.
You'd have to pay me a lot more than $40 to downgrade my Windows PC to 8.
I'd be happy to pay $25 a year and always have the newest version of Windows.
Most Windows user don't pay for Windows; it's hidden in the cost of the PC they buy. Few of them are going to throw Microsoft $25 every year.
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!"
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.
most people get Windows when they buy a new PC. So for them, the buy-in cost isn't $200+, it's more like $20 or whatever HP/Dell/Lenovo currently pays Microsoft for a copy.
so we're going to file the discussion in a FIFO stack?
Mark Anthony Collins
... 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.
Last years "Windows Blew" - so let's Blue again...
Quality naming guys!
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
The major PC vendors have made it very difficult to NOT buy Windows 8. That's not the same thing as saying that Windows 8 is successful...
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.
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....)
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".
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
$40 is indeed a bargain for the newest version of Windows.
The only problem right now is that it's the newest version of Windows.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
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...
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 find this incredibly stupid because part of the purpose of windows is stability.
Is that a joke, or have you simply never run any other OS? Windows is the least stable of any OS out there. Any hardware fault hoses Window while Linux will chug along without a hiccup. Plus they have a very bad habit of changing everything around with every release so you have to relearn everything. The only way I can tell one version of Windows from another is it's completely different, to the point that I had a laptop in a bar running Linux, and someone asked "which version of Windows is that?" OTOH, if you were used to Mandrake from ten years ago and switched to kubuntu you'd feel right at home. The way to tell the difference between two versions of a linux distro is the latest will be faster and have more features.
And why would anyone upgrade Windows in the first place? I seldom see new features, never see increased speed (except that it seems that way because the registry makes sure it gets slower the more you use it), and you have to figure out where they put stuff. Often it actually loses functionality; I really miss XP's search on my W7 notebook.
The only reason to upgrade Windows is often the newer software won't run on he older OS. I've never had that problem in Linux, and seldom in Windows.
Free Martian Whores!
I recently upgraded my work PC to Win8. I upped the RAM to 8 GB, but the box came with the 32-bit version of Win7. I looked into the cost of buying a copy of Win7 64-bit, compared it to the cost of Win8, and figured, "Someone here has to be first, might as well be the IT guy."
It took me a few days to tweak, but I've figured out how to make the parts that piss me off mostly stay out of my way. I hate The Interface Formerly Known As Metro, including and especially the Start page. But since I've been using Launchy since the XP days, I just installed that and I mostly use Win8 the same way I used Win7.
I hate the flat, two-dimensional look. Under Win7, if the keyboard and mouse are idle long enough for the display to shut off, I still have that half-second grace period to nudge the mouse and not need to punch in the password to unlock it. I hate that the calendar widgets on the lock screen and Start page will only pull calendar info from Microsoft's online calendar instead of the copy of Outlook I've got installed. But most of all, I hate having a pseudo-tablet interface pop up on my dual-screen desktop PC
I've said it before here: 10 years ago Microsoft learned - the hard way - that putting a desktop interface on a phone doesn't work. Now they're learning - the hard way - that the opposite is also true.
Redundancy is good And also good.
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.
you paid for 64bit window 7 when you had 32bit?
You just needed to download a ISO and REUSE the key on the BOX.
This is just FUD being spread around. Windows 8 is better than windows 7, and 7 was highly praised.
drivers are not Metro and metro will need side loading as well.
Also metro does not work that well in multi app work flows
When did you ever report a bug to microsoft AND GET A RESPONSE?
When did you ever report a bug to a linux forum and not start a flame war?
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.
A similar cycle (for iPhone) has almost pioneered the BYOD syndrome.
Bingo Dictionary - Pragmatist, n. A myopic idealist.