Microsoft updates Windows twice a year, usually adding a few welcome new features (a new screenshot tool, a cleaner start menu, etc.). This year’s spring update will be another one of those little updates cleaning up bugs and squashing.
But in the fall, Microsoft is expected to launch a complete redesign of Windows 10. We know this for a few reasons.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Why Windows needs to be refreshed
Most of the recent Windows tweaks have targeted a specific audience, particularly gamers and business customers. But the PC is back as a consumer staple – the era of working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic has brought productivity cool again. Microsoft wants to make sure that its new daily users can enjoy using their PC.
Apple’s new Mac OS Big Sur takes advantage of the new chip by integrating features that people have become accustomed to on their iPhones and iPads. The convergence of smartphones, tablets and PCs is underway.
Still, this new kind of chip could disrupt the tough PC world, lighting a fire under Microsoft to redesign Windows for new kinds of PCs it hasn’t yet come up with. So it’s time Windows 10 got a major makeover.
Sad history of Windows updates
It doesn’t look like the “Sun Valley” version of Windows 10 will be the kind of completely new experience from previous new iterations of Windows. That’s probably a good thing, given Microsoft has a reputation for making every other effort to deliver a good operating system:
- Windows 3 was a huge hit. Windows 95 was a hit, but a mess with errors.
- Windows 98 fixed all errors from 95. But Windows Me may be the worst version of Windows ever.
- Windows XP may be Microsoft’s greatest success ever. Windows Vista was a disaster.
- Windows 7 was loved for going back to basics. With Windows 8, people didn’t even know how to get to the desktop.
- Windows 10 has become a great success. So let’s not screw this up, Microsoft.