Could Windows 10 Be the Last Stand-Alone Windows Release?  

jimbo45 said:

There will ALWAYS have to be some type of clean install -- people forget that sometimes new hardware is actually bought these days too !!!! - whether the OEM installs windows or the end user if it's a brand new machine there will have to be an initial install.

Yes, of course there will... but what there won't be is a full on big release version like we have had in the past, more like what happened with Windows 8.1, and the various updates that followed.

What will happen is that Microsoft will release rolling updates that include all patches and new features using the "flighting" technology. New installs will start from a base, then update to the latest, and Microsoft will periodically update the base image to include the recent flights.

Robinb9 said:

it will all depend if the upgrade goes well for windows 7 users or the likelihood of ppl upgrading will be nil. I can see 8.1 users upgrading, it is basically the same as windows 10 with a few extra features so it is less if things go wrong.

I think that Win10 will by far be the biggest thing Microsoft has ever shipped, bar none. The pent-up demand in the PC market will explode sales there (Metro was not a PC-friendly GUI and predictably threw cold water on the PC OEM market for a couple of years.) PC's have already recovered to the tune of ~35M sales a month as Microsoft continues to make Win8.1 a far stronger PC OS than it was when 8.x shipped--look for 35M-40M+ PCs sold per month in 2016. Anyway...for the majority of people, Win 10 will be a must-have upgrade, both for those still using Win7 and those using 8.1--not to mention a *free* upgrade during year #1--which is quite a motivator.

The clincher? Win10 will be the last Windows OS version folks will need to install for the lifetime of the device/OEM PC they buy (which I take to mean "according to manufacturer's support duration.") For people who build their own machines, who are constantly buying new peripherals and components in a never-ending hardware upgrade cycle, it would appear that Win10 will provide them with the most current version of Windows in perpetuity, since some/most of their hardware will always be supported by the manufacturer (especially motherboards.)

The advantage, according to Microsoft, is that when they get new features done they can roll them out *immediately* and consumers won't have to wait 'till the next giant Windows version ships. Also, this will undoubtedly mean some changes in the Windows authorization routines (we may have seen the last of "phone activation" and the like) that will positively affect Microsoft's bottom line and go easier on consumers. I don't think there will be a Windows 11,12, XIII, etc. I think that Microsoft is set for some banner sales, as the larger the Windows installed base, the larger the market for other Microsoft software--and the larger the market for Windows developers (like Mozilla and Google) whose largest markets today are the Windows markets. That's really ironic as heck when you think about it... Weird how some of the wealthiest companies today, whose fortunes and corporations were built largely by the installed Windows base of consumers, are the first to try and can Microsoft...Such is life, I guess.

BunnyJ said:

Jody Thornton said:

jimbo45 said:

Hi there

There will ALWAYS have to be some type of clean install -- people forget that sometimes new hardware is actually bought these days too !!!! - whether the OEM installs windows or the end user if it's a brand new machine there will have to be an initial install.

Cheers
jimbo

I would agree there. Maybe in a year, you could get an OEM DVD-ROM installation that has the complete OS with the last seven revisions built right in. And then you'd have to download the last two builds to completely update your system.

The DVD is already listed on Newegg for sale. So I suspect it will come out when the new OS is released.

Don't forget that XP/Vista/OS X/Linux users will have to pay some up-front price for Win10 this year when it ships, should they opt to buy it this year. I have a strong suspicion that it will cost quite a bit less up-front than Windows has traditionally been priced. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think so. Win8.x direct from Microsoft was $39.99 for the first four months or so; Win10 will be *free* for all Win7/Win8.1 upgraders for the first year, with free life-of-the-device upgrades, and those two groups make up the largest group of Windows users.

Microsoft is already making the builds of the Win10 previews available in .iso format, so I think this will continue to be the case at RTM and beyond for Win10. Maybe Microsoft will make an updated RTM Win10 .iso available every quarter or so, but that is just a guess of course. This will be very interesting to watch. I think every aspect of Windows distribution will be affected--from authorizations on down.

waltc said:

The clincher? Win10 will be the last Windows OS version folks will need to install for the lifetime of the device/OEM PC they buy (which I take to mean "according to manufacturer's support duration.") For people who build their own machines, who are constantly buying new peripherals and components in a never-ending hardware upgrade cycle, it would appear that Win10 will provide them with the most current version of Windows in perpetuity, since some/most of their hardware will always be supported by the manufacturer (especially motherboards.)

Waltc. I am not sure I understand you correctly. I don't really see how that is going to work (Highlighted in bold). Most computers have a year warranty, some only have 90 days, others have 30 days and some independent computers shops have no warranty at all. The main reason computers and devices can last for years. My windows 7 computer is out of warranty now. I had it for a whole year.

adamf said:

Superfly said:

Eventually ...get rid of the dead-wood and all's good.

You talking to me?

good one

alphanumeric said:

But what if somebody decides they don't want a particular update? Say it changes the UI in a way you don't like? If it's optional that's all well and good. But if its not, and you have to apply it to get any further updates/patches, what then? Right now you have people that like 8.1 but don't like 10. If 10 is going to morph into another OS and another OS, at some point there will be some that don't like the changes. Even if they are free.

then they will have buy an apple ,or Linux,or chrome