Microsoft commits to 10-year support lifecycle for Windows 10

[Porthos]

Microsoft commits to 10-year support lifecycle for Windows 10

It's been a bad week for conspiracy theorists. As the Windows 10 launch nears, Microsoft is clearing up loose ends. Today's announcement of a 10-year support commitment for Windows 10 should remove one persistent bit of FUD from the discussion.

Earlier this week, Microsoft published its license terms for Windows 10. Today, the company updated its support lifecycle policy for the new OS. In the process, they've cleared up the confusion over a phrase that defines the new Windows 10 servicing model.

Here's the tl;dr:

• For Windows 10, Microsoft will continue its traditional 10-year support lifecycle. The five-year mainstream support phase begins with the release of Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, and a second five-year extended support phase begins in 2020 and extends until October 2025. (That's a few months later than July 29, 2025, because of the way Microsoft calculates support dates.)
• A note to that policy qualifies the support commitment to devices where the OEM continues to support Windows 10 on that device

... Full ZDNet article: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microso...or-windows-10/

Microsoft support lifecycle for Windows: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

 

[MDD1963]

Most of the world has little idea that there are so many Linux OS variants are at least as easy to use as Win XP/Win7, and are completely free....

 

[glennd]

Microsoft commits to 10-year support lifecycle for Windows 10

It's been a bad week for conspiracy theorists. As the Windows 10 launch nears, Microsoft is clearing up loose ends. Today's announcement of a 10-year support commitment for Windows 10 should remove one persistent bit of FUD from the discussion.

Earlier this week, Microsoft published its license terms for Windows 10. Today, the company updated its support lifecycle policy for the new OS. In the process, they've cleared up the confusion over a phrase that defines the new Windows 10 servicing model.

Here's the tl;dr:

• For Windows 10, Microsoft will continue its traditional 10-year support lifecycle. The five-year mainstream support phase begins with the release of Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, and a second five-year extended support phase begins in 2020 and extends until October 2025. (That's a few months later than July 29, 2025, because of the way Microsoft calculates support dates.)
• A note to that policy qualifies the support commitment to devices where the OEM continues to support Windows 10 on that device

... Full ZDNet article: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microso...or-windows-10/

Microsoft support lifecycle for Windows: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

I thought this was going to be the "last" version of windows? or am i a week behind the news??

 

[nlinecomputers]

I thought this was going to be the "last" version of windows? or am i a week behind the news??

Your guess is as good as anyone's From the ZDnet article.

One question Microsoft didn't answer today is what happens in two or three years. In the past, that would have been time for a new version of Windows to take its place on the support lifecycle chart and bump the old one down a notch. With Windows as a continually evolving platform, that option isn't available.

One clue about what happens next is in that updated support lifecycle page. All other client operating systems are listed by their major version number: Windows 7, Windows 8, and so on. The new entry reads, "Windows 10, released in July 2015."

My guess, based on that language, is that in the next two years or so we'll see an extension of the 10-year lifecycle based on a new baseline release date. But that's just speculation, and we'll have to wait for the actual answer.

Microsoft use to extend the life of the product with Service Packs. There isn't supposed to be service packs any more but there likely as mentioned above will be certain builds that are considered Long Term Support Builds from which a new lifecycle point will be set. Think Ubuntu and it's LTS versions they do every 3 years.

 

[NJW]

So, if we go with the 'LTS' builds idea, how are MS planning to monetise Windows? I can see that MS software will probably move to subscription-only (e.g., Office 365) and services will be pushed (e.g., OneDrive), but will that be enough to fund Windows development? I know that Windows on subscription has been denied (too much?), but how else can it work?

 

[nlinecomputers]

The same way they always have. It's a free upgrade. And only for this year. New systems still have to pay for it. Volume licences are still paying for it.

 

[NJW]

New systems still have to pay for it.

Agreed, but if there are 'no new versions', where is the revenue going forward? Vista, 7 and 8 arrived at two to three year intervals, each a paid upgrade (with some subsidised upgrade rights for latecomers to the previous version). If 10 is to just be a rolling release, there's no income from it.

Furthermore, there's no incentive to buy new hardware, unless subsequent updates remove support for old hardware by requiring, say, newer CPU features.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

They will probably do like Mac OS X. No new versions per say. But they have like 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, etc. Windows may just be called Windows, but be like 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 etc with all the other numbers in between, and maybe try to keep just the name Windows so that consumers see it as a unified platform and not splintered like before.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Agreed, but if there are 'no new versions', where is the revenue going forward? Vista, 7 and 8 arrived at two to three year intervals, each a paid upgrade (with some subsidised upgrade rights for latecomers to the previous version). If 10 is to just be a rolling release, there's no income from it.

Furthermore, there's no incentive to buy new hardware, unless subsequent updates remove support for old hardware by requiring, say, newer CPU features.

Like that really has been an incentive before? New versions of Windows are no longer driving PC sales. PCs are a microwave to end users. They buy new ones when the old one dies. 99% of end users do not care what OS is on it and many are unable to tell you the version number. And even when it did have a higher effect then it does now it was not the bulk of sales. Microsoft makes most of it's Windows sales to OEMs and Volume License Holders. Most people do not upgrade. Even with the free version of Windows 10 I do not expect to see a massive shift to it. Most end users don't care. Windows 10 will become the dominant version of Windows only when most of the Windows 7 PCs die.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

So, if we go with the 'LTS' builds idea, how are MS planning to monetise Windows? I can see that MS software will probably move to subscription-only (e.g., Office 365) and services will be pushed (e.g., OneDrive), but will that be enough to fund Windows development? I know that Windows on subscription has been denied (too much?), but how else can it work?

Subscriptions/recurring revenue is a HUGE part of it.
Office 365 is still fairly new yet, it's been a huge success.
Azure cloud services have been taking off slower, but it's gaining traction.

Business/Corporate/Enterprise....huge part of MSs income.

 

[frase]

office 365 has to be the most convoluted and confusing piece of software released ever from MS.