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According to The Verge, Microsoft will begin shipping cheap updates to Windows every year. The new approach, which is reportedly codenamed Windows Blue, would shift Microsoft away from its current strategy of introducing mammoth updates to the OS package after several years.
The Verge reports that the Blue approach will include both Windows and Windows Phone. The idea is to offer people using licensed versions of Windows a cheap or free incremental update with UI changes and tweaks instead of bombing them with the massive updates that take a while to catch on. The next version, which is supposedly coming next year, will still be called Windows 8.
While this is all still a rumour, Windows Blue makes a lot of sense strategically. It should look very familiar as it’s more or less a mirror of what Apple has been doing for years with OS X. Big, sweeping changes can be hard to adapt to and leave companies with few options when something fails. Sticking to a more incremental update schedule allows Microsoft to test features before committing to them long term. As long as it prevents another Vista, we’re on board. [The Verge]
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i think they need this to be honest, as if they only released big updates once every 5 years, Apple just copy what they put in after 1 year and have another 3-4 years to build new things before the next update.
Also since XP you got 1 OS every 3 years? So only 1/2 price of OS really
So they are charging us for service packs now? Nice one M$! (see what I did there?!)
Yes, but you won’t need to fork out a hundred+ quid every three years for a major update, probably 30-40 quid every year instead.
so, no windows 9 but some ‘Snow Leotard’ or ‘Fountain Lion’ instead ?
I’d like a Snow Leotard!
Worrying if applications built with the new SDK associated with Blue only run on Blue and neglect Windows 8.
I wear a Snow Leotard when I’m riding my Fountain Lion.
That genuinely made me laugh out loud in the middle of the uni library
It is effectively what Apple do. £14 to gain a notification centre and have X11 stripped off of my machine while introducing bugs with common software I use? Throw in worse battery life as of 10.8.2 for the 2011 MacBook Air and I’ll pass thanks.
That’s strange, my battery life since 10.8.2 has become 2x better and it wakes up alot quicker than before
. Macbook 2010.
I’m going by the Anandtech and Ars Technica insights into the software. I have heard of older MacBook Pro models performing better with Mountain Lion – just not the Airs!
What worries me is that Microsoft will try to do the same as Apple when it comes to support and only handle the two most recent versions. Which means for IT bods like me, a never-end series of upgrades to users’ computers whether they need them or not.
Microsoft is trying so hard to become apple, this is getting ridiculous.
when all is said and done, why not go for the real deal instead of staying with a knock-off?
or are linux golden years finally ahead?
“or are linux golden years finally ahead?”
HAH!
Before: Pay £100 for OS every 5 years, receive Service Packs annually / bi-annually.
Now: Pay £20 for OS every 5 years, also pay £20 for Service Packs annually / bi-annually.
Overall customers are getting the same and spending roughly the same, just spreading the cost over a wider time period. Meanwhile MS get’s a more regular annual cash flow instead of having to predict cycles over periods of many years. Seems to work.