Microsoft Naming Confusion Continues

The naming confusion continue from Microsoft but at least for Windows an end appears in sight.  As you probably already know, the next version of Windows will be called Windows 10.  For whatever reason Redmond has decided to skip Windows 9.  At least they are consistently inconsistent.

That said, Windows 10 will be the last major Windows release.  There won’t be a Windows 11, or 12 or 13 or whatever goofy name is next in their naming convention.  Windows 10 is the last major release.  From this point forward Windows will be updated incrementally on a monthly basis with the typical security patches we are all accustomed to but also with new features and functionality.

For this reason, it was thought the next version of Windows might just be named “Windows”.  My guess is that starting with Windows 10 Microsoft will start using more traditional versioning for Windows.  We start with 10.0 and then work our way up through various 10.something iterations until we eventually hit 11.  That is just a guess, as Microsoft hasn’t indicated whether or not versioning will become more traditional or whether we will all still be talking about Windows 10 in 2027.

I hope they do go with traditional versioning and then when they hit 11 they hit 11.  The product name doesn’t have to change as it has been with version updates.

Speaking of version updates, that process will also change.  It is unknown how home users will update but enterprise users can opt-in to the monthly updates.  I hope that they can determine if they want security patches or feature updates as many corporate IT shops will be hesitant to update Windows functionality monthly.  Sometimes it is all we can do to handle a normal Patch Tuesday.

The future of Windows is still being determined but it seems at least the naming options may have normalized.