Is windows 10 the last windows

If Windows 10 was supposed to be the last version of Windows, why is there a Windows 11? Great question.

Like the answer to many questions, the answer is, “it depends.”

The authenticity of the concept of “Windows as a service” began in 2015, when Microsoft launched Windows 10. Over time, Microsoft said then, the company would simply deliver ongoing updates, adding features and patching bugs on the “Windows 10” platform. But, as we know now, whatever Microsoft adds to Windows, it’s still Windows. 

But Microsoft representatives never said that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows—not really. That comment was actually made by Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft developer evangelist who spoke at the company’s ”Tiles, Notifications, and Action Center” presentation about Windows 10 at Microsoft’s Microsoft Ignite conference in 2015. According to the transcript of the session, Nixon’s comment was more of a throwaway line, one that he literally referred to as a segue. Microsoft developers could never talk about what they were currently working on, he said, only what they had worked on and released. That changed with Windows 10, because it was all one platform.

“All the stuff that’s coming, because even though we were announcing Windows 8.1, we were all really working on Windows 10,” Nixon said at the time. “It’s sort of a bummer in its own way. But that’s not what’s happening today.

“Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10,” Nixon continued. “And it’s really brilliant. So I can say things like, yeah, we’re working on interactive tiles and it’s coming to Windows 10 in one of its future updates, right.”

Microsoft didn’t deny what Nixon said, but it also didn’t back up the “last version” of Windows, either.

“Recent comments at Ignite about Windows 10 are reflective of the way Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner, with continuous value for our consumer and business customers,” says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge at the time. “We aren’t speaking to future branding at this time, but customers can be confident Windows 10 will remain up-to-date and power a variety of devices from PCs to phones to Surface Hub to HoloLens and Xbox.” (Italics added.)

In other words, all Microsoft would officially confirm then is the concept of Windows as a service, and that there would be ongoing patches and updates. Microsoft declined to comment on the record.

So what is Windows 11?

Based upon the hands-on time that we’ve spent with a leaked build of Windows 11, you can very much argue that Microsoft’s original statement is still valid today. Microsoft’s Windows 11 looks very much like “Windows 10+”: a foundation of Windows 10 with a graphical update that includes a new Taskbar orientation and icons, a new Start menu, Widgets, and not much more (for now). It’s a break from Windows 10, but it very much builds upon it, too. Virtually all of the familiar Windows 10 apps make an appearance in Windows 11.

Microsoft has yet to acknowledge Windows 11. The company hasn’t provided any context for what Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella calls “the next generation of Windows.” We simply don’t know whether Windows 11 will be the foundation for Windows going forward, or whether this is a parallel development track like Windows 10 S, for example. (We think this is unlikely, but we don’t know for sure.)

Really, though, Windows 11 is a branding exercise. Windows 11 is still Windows, and it’s still Windows 10, much like Windows 10 carried forward elements found within Windows 8. Microsoft will patch it, and likely continue to add featurrs, whatever it is — “Windows as a service” isn’t going away. Expecting Windows to carry forward “Windows 10” until the end of time, though, was likely unrealistic. So yes, right now it appears that Nixon’s statement was wrong, and that Microsoft does plan to move on from Windows 10. But give Nixon a break, too: He made an enthusiastic, throwaway comment that ended up being understood as company policy. 

"Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10." That was the message from Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon, a developer evangelist speaking at the company's Ignite conference this week. Nixon was explaining how Microsoft was launching Windows 8.1 last year, but in the background it was developing Windows 10. Now, Microsoft employees can talk freely about future updates to Windows 10 because there's no secret update in the works coming next. It's all just Windows 10. While it immediately sounds like Microsoft is killing off Windows and not doing future versions, the reality is a little more complex. The future is "Windows as a service."

It's all about Windows as a service

Microsoft has been discussing the idea of Windows as a service, but the company hasn't really explained exactly how that will play out with future versions of Windows. That might be because there won't really be any future major versions of Windows in the foreseeable future. Microsoft has altered the way it engineers and delivers Windows, and the initial result is Windows 10. Instead of big releases, there will be regular improvements and updates. Part of this is achieved by splitting up operating system components like the Start Menu and built-in apps to be separate parts that can be updated independently to the entire Windows core operating system. It's a big undertaking, but it's something Microsoft has been actively working on for Windows 10 to ensure it spans across multiple device types.

While we'll witness the results in the coming months, Microsoft is already in launch mode for a number of its apps and services that power Windows 10. The software company is testing preview builds of Window 10 with willing participants, and apps like Xbox and Mail have been engineered for regularly monthly updates. Even Office for Windows 10 will also get regular updates, much like a mobile version, instead of the big bang release every few years.

Windows isn't dead, but the idea of version numbers could be

When I reached out to Microsoft about Nixon's comments, the company didn't dismiss them at all. "Recent comments at Ignite about Windows 10 are reflective of the way Windows will be delivered as a service bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner, with continuous value for our consumer and business customers," says a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. "We aren’t speaking to future branding at this time, but customers can be confident Windows 10 will remain up-to-date and power a variety of devices from PCs to phones to Surface Hub to HoloLens and Xbox. We look forward to a long future of Windows innovations."

With Windows 10, it's time to start thinking of Windows as something that won't see a big launch or major upgrade every few years anymore. Much like how Google's Chrome browser gets updated regularly with version numbers nobody really pays attention to, Microsoft's approach will likely result in a similar outcome. This is really the idea of Windows as a service, and the notion that Windows 10 could be the last major version of Windows. Microsoft could opt for Windows 11 or Windows 12 in future, but if people upgrade to Windows 10 and the regular updates do the trick then everyone will just settle for just "Windows" without even worrying about the version number.

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