And go buy a new PC, your clunker is old." Oh, while you're at it, shave and get a haircut. Perhaps this is more of a celebratory moment for Microsoft to say, "Hey, it's OK to go back in the water - here's a new flashy-looking bathing suit to get you started. Let's face it, the "stain" we have to wash away here has nothing to do with Windows - and everything to do with the pandemic and all the other crazy junk the world has thrown our way for the past four years.
I think we can make an argument for Microsoft wanting to put a spark in the PC upgrade cycle because that inertia has been slowing down for a while due to a variety of factors - but that's a whole other article. I mean, come on, we even have a Linux subsystem in Windows now that allows you to run all sorts of cool open source applications, even graphical ones. Windows 10 is an excellent OS, the hardware that PCs have today is actually quite impressive, and Windows 10 takes advantage of all of that already. Traditionally, Microsoft has used bumping of version numbers and brand names to wash away the stain of a previous version - like Windows 7 washing away Vista or Windows 10 washing away Windows 8 - or for juicing up the PC upgrade cycle with its OEM partners.īut we don't have any stains to wash away here.
Because of this biannual update regimen, Windows 10 is a very up-to-date OS today, with lots of modern features in it already. Instead of waiting every five years, give or take, to introduce them, Microsoft did it twice a year. This became not just a rollup of bug fixes or a service pack, but a pattern of introducing actual new features. A few years ago, Microsoft switched to a biannual cadence with incremental upgrades to roll out improvements. But when Windows 10 came out in the summer of 2015, it injected some sanity into the equation. Then we witnessed that whole imbroglio with Windows Vista, then the migration to Windows 7, and the UX disaster that was Windows 8. For example, in the consumer space, Windows 95/98/ME went to Windows XP, which used the NT kernel and systems architecture we are still using now, and that was a huge deal for consumers.īefore that, while some verticals migrated to Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0, most enterprise businesses went from Windows 95/98 to Windows 2000, implementing Active Directory (and moving from LAN Manager and Novell NetWare to NT in the datacenter) and then XP, so that migration was painful and disruptive to them for many different reasons. They were colossal pain points for consumers and organizations who were upgrading. Let's refresh our memory: Before Windows 10 came out, we had large milestone releases that introduced significant changes to the OS.
Microsoft reveals Windows 11 today: What to expect and how to watch.So, why are we getting a new major version of Windows now? Windows 11 FAQ: Everything you need to know.Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11: Step-by-step.Windows 11: Here's how to get Microsoft's free operating system update.You can easily roll back Windows 11 to Windows 10, until this bonkers policy kicks in.