Thinking terminology. Microsoft has made a bit of a stir lately by hyping up what’s next for the Windows platform, both the mainline Windows 10 and the shiny new Windows 10X.
Out of character, some may say, for the company. But it was the main himself, Panos Panay, doing the talking. And he was visibly excited about what’s in store for the operating system in the near and immediate future.
Add in the rumors that the software titan wants to market this as The New Windows, and things start to get tantalizingly teasing that something big is on the way.
Microsoft has not used this terminology since the debut of Windows 10 in 2015, and that was due to the logical reason that Windows 10 was a new operating system that replaced the previous one. Though the modern journey of the OS did begin a few years back with Windows 8.
Therefore, when you think about it, Panay referring to “the next generation of Windows” is a much bigger deal than one might imagine.
For real, we know that two things are real. First is the upcoming Sun Valley update for Windows 10 that is supposed to a substantial one in scope and size. Second, of course, is the looming launch of a whole new variant of the OS in the form of Windows 10X.
To that end, the term “next generation of Windows” refers to both of these releases.
It is hard to imagine Windows 10X being ready for mainstream markets yet, not at launch certainly. Plus, the Windows desktop is still one of the biggest Microsoft products around. And that is not going to change for the foreseeable future.
At the same time, the Sun Valley update is being planned as a sweeping rejuvenation of Windows 10 that will give it a modern and consistent UI design and new features.
Moral of the story?
Microsoft seems to want to leave behind the baggage that has weighed down on the Windows platform with these two new releases.
It all comes down to trimming the codebase and dropping the legacy components in a new version, and the long overdue refresh of those very components in the other. Throw in something like Project Reunion as one final fix for the app situation, and you have what you might call a generational leap.
