Windows-as-a-Service with Windows 10 is Versionless Windows
Windows-as-a-Service represents a huge shift in how Windows is purchased, presented, and delivered.
January 22, 2015
Windows-as-a-Service has been rumored for quite a while, and most times jokingly because of Microsoft's ability to turn everything into a service for the past few years. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and so on, have become a very real part of the Cloud vernacular. So, when Microsoft implored us to consider Windows 10 a sort of Windows-as-a-Service during its latest Windows 10 event, I thought the company had finally owned up to the joke.
And, without going into too much detail to alleviate any post-event questions, both Terry Myerson and Satya Nadella stated how important and monumental Windows-as-a-Service will become.
Here's what we know.
Windows-as-a-Service means that once customers install Windows 10, they will essentially be registered with Microsoft to receive rolling, free feature additions, improvements, and updates. This is not too far off course from what we experience today with Windows Update, and this updating mechanism will mostly likely continue to be the vehicle to make this happen for Windows 10. Microsoft has been notorious over the last couple years silently including new features in some of its updates almost as if it was testing the waters for what Windows 10 will provide.
The difference with Windows 10 is that this operating system version could possibly represent the very last major Windows release. Which brings us to Versionless Windows. Whether you install Windows 10 when released, buy a new PC with Windows 10 pre-installed, or decide to upgrade later on, it will always be Windows 10. No new major version numbers and you'll only be able to tell the Build you're using by locating the features that exist on your particular installation. I've talked about this before (over on WindowITPro) but, Myerson made it semi-clear in a statement on the Windows blog yesterday