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Read more: Windows 10 release date rumors challenge traditional development schedule | ZDNetAccording to Neowin's Brad Sams, Windows 10 is on target for a June RTM date.
That's an aggressive schedule, leaving only about four more months of development time for a major OS release that is still missing key parts.
But that deadline says as much about the new reality of Windows development as it does about the status of Windows 10.
RTM used to stand for "released to manufacturing," and it was a very big deal, marking an end to further feature development and the beginning of a process that ended up with shiny disks in shrink-wrapped boxes.
These days RTM means "released to manufacturers," and it isn't so much an end as it is yet another milestone.
In the modern era, declaring an RTM milestone doesn't mean "We're finished." The days of monolithic Windows releases, with features frozen in Carbonite, are long gone. Instead, reaching the RTM milestone has a multitude of meanings for different audiences.
Released to manufacturing in June would in the past mean you could get your hands on a "Golden DVD" in the October. As they are aiming for the back to school market that would be August. I think Microsoft just want to move on from Windows 8. Since they are saying future features and modules will be released when finished one can assume they will get features to sell the OS firmly (start menu, talking bimbette Cortana etc.) established and bug free and then go on to add other features users have been asking for or should that be demanding.