The next major Windows Phone version will be Windows 10

posted by Paul.K / Sep 30, 2014, 1:06 PM

The next major Windows Phone version will be Windows 10

Well, it has officially been announced - the next Windows OS will be called Windows 10, instead of 9 or Threshold.

One thing the rumors were true about is that Microsoft will aim to bring unification to any device running Windows - be it a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop PC. In other words - the next version of Redmond's mobile OS will also be called Windows 10 (or maybe Windows Phone 10 - who knows?).

It was obvious that Microsoft was aiming for the corporate crowd - promising that the new OS will be compatible with management programs, will allow users to separate their personal and corporate data, customize the Store (no idea what that means yet), and even saying that it has aimed to create the "greatest enterprise platform, ever".

Now, naturally, Windows phones will still not get any Desktop, however, Microsoft has been very clear about designing its new OS with unification in mind. From what has been said, it seems that, even though visually the OS will still look a bit different across devices, under the hood - it should be very similar. This should be a relief for the app developers out there. While on that note - the Modern interface, the one that was once known as Metro, has been renamed to Universal, apparently to signify Microsoft's intentions.

Unfortunately, nothing has been said about Universal apps - the company said that details on these will be revealed in April, 2015. All we know so far is that these apps will still be able to run on desktop machines and users will be able to have them in windows, instead of the current (Windows 8) full-screen mode.

Joe Belfiore, Corporate VP of the Operating Systems Group, was very articulate about blending the experience across PCs and tablets. So maybe the Windows smartphones will not become the productive machines one might hope them to be, but let's be honest - what 5" screened device is?

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45 Comments

1. draconic1991

Posts: 200; Member since: Apr 27, 2012

why do they keep changing the name of their ui with each iteration? just sit down with ur team and decide it once and for all....

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:15 PM 2

3. elitewolverine

Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

who cares what the name of the gui is, as long as it works. Most people dont know that android has touchwiz, sense, etc etc etc.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:26 PM 4

5. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

Microsoft took a step backwards with W8 and was definitely not as great as W7 imo.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:29 PM 2

8. ArtSim98

Posts: 3535; Member since: Dec 21, 2012

8 is awesome, 8.1 is awesomer, 10 is awesomest. Ps. This comment totally made sense.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:37 PM 8

11. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

i thought Ms took a step forward with win8. but people dont like change so it's hard to get the hurd going in the same direction. win10 is still a step forward from win8 while bringing win7 with it. they did a good job.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:47 PM 1

16. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

Metro doesn't on a laptop doesn't appeal me at all. I used W7 until I got my Mac last year and upgraded this year.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:59 PM 1

13. DogeShibe

Posts: 1121; Member since: Jan 10, 2014

Looks who is back !!

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:54 PM 0

15. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

PA gave me three warnings for one comment because I said their numbers were wrong and DisplayMate was more accurate lol. Their reason was because I was trolling the website PA yet comments under the iPhone 6/6+ review, very few comments got moderated. Doesn't phase me though. They can limit me all they want, but my comment stood 100% true whether they liked it or not. Expecting a warning for this comment.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:57 PM 1

30. Penny

Posts: 1869; Member since: Feb 04, 2011

Windows 8 did have a disjointed user experience due to the two separate screens, but it was functionally better than Windows 7 in pretty much every way I can think of. It boots up faster, has a much more robust Task Manager, manages drivers better, seems to be smoother, added the app environment (not well, but having it is better than not having it), works well on tablets, smartly integrated OneDrive into the file system, and probably other stuff I'm not thinking of. It's one thing to have a preference for W7 because it was an excellent, simpler OS, but I think Windows 8 is definitely the better OS all facts considered.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 3:19 PM 1

43. elitewolverine

Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

The step back never phased me. Live tiles on my desktop gave me immediate info I wouldn't have otherwise cared to look for, at least not right away. Clicking a tile called desktop was not 'scary weird or bad' imo. My 3d modeling apps worked, my office worked, outlook worked, chrome worked, IE worked. It booted up faster, have yet to have it crash on a pc that rarely gets turned off. It runs just as smooth on a low spec pc that is considered a 'bookshelf' pc, all the way to my main pc. Runs well on my laptops. I have gotten so used to touch its funny, this includes touch on a 23in all in one, laptop and two tablets, desktop still isn't touch and sometimes I wish it was.

posted on Oct 01, 2014, 11:05 AM 0

35. medicci37

Posts: 1361; Member since: Nov 19, 2011

Coming up with a consistent name for the ui should be common sense by now. Ms just doesn't understand what consumers want & worse doesn't seem to care. They have a "We're to big to fail" mentality

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 4:20 PM 0

2. nithyakr

Posts: 161; Member since: Jun 20, 2014

Windows will never be able to perform as smooth as Mac OSX and as sophisticated as a Linux OS. It's just UI changes not fixing kernel level bottlenecks.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:26 PM 4

4. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

Which is why I ditched windows all together and been a Mac guy since last year. Yosemite on my MBPr is going to be awesome.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:28 PM 5

37. Rydsmith unregistered

I wish I didn't have a real job that required useful applications. =\

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 8:09 PM 2

7. brrunopt

Posts: 742; Member since: Aug 15, 2013

already wrong on booth counts ...

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:30 PM 2

9. ArtSim98

Posts: 3535; Member since: Dec 21, 2012

In my experience W8 is just a lot smoother than Mac. I mean not faster maybe in all situations, but smoother.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:39 PM 6

17. Jommick

Posts: 221; Member since: Sep 10, 2013

Agreed, better resolution support with 8.1, faster boot times, lighter feeling OS overall...definitely worth it imo

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 2:00 PM 3

21. DogeShibe

Posts: 1121; Member since: Jan 10, 2014

Wait for 8K screen resolution support ;)

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 2:05 PM 1

25. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

My MBPr boots in about 10 seconds lol.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 2:22 PM 1

27. DogeShibe

Posts: 1121; Member since: Jan 10, 2014

.....

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 2:26 PM 0

31. ZeroCide

Posts: 816; Member since: Jan 09, 2013

My surface boots in about 5 seconds.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 3:21 PM 0

34. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

I'll stick to my MBPr with a higher screen resolution and a flawless user experience that costs less than a Surface Pro 3 any day. :)

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 3:36 PM 0

44. elitewolverine

Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

Really? Cause they cost the same per screen size... I mean it is not to hard to go to apple.com and windows.com and see the same price points.

posted on Oct 01, 2014, 11:07 AM 0

45. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

Here's three things I found that makes your comment slightly incorrect: 1) Screen resolution - 2560x1600 (MBPr 13") vs. 2160x1440 (SP3) 2) No 802.11ac 3) 2 UBS 3.0 vs 1 As an added bonus, updates for Macs are free vs. paying $99+ for each release.

posted on Oct 01, 2014, 12:01 PM 0

12. crazymonkey05

Posts: 189; Member since: Nov 20, 2012

Idk my friend has a macbook pro and a surface 3 and I can tell you right now that the surface 3 trumps the pro

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 1:47 PM 3

20. PapaSmurf

Posts: 10457; Member since: May 14, 2012

No it doesn't lol. If it did, I would have never gotten my Retina. OS X Mavericks is a hell lot fluid than W8 from my experience.

posted on Sep 30, 2014, 2:02 PM 1

41. nithyakr

Posts: 161; Member since: Jun 20, 2014

Same here mate. Ditched Windows last year for a rMBP. Waiting for yosemite. Heard they released the Gold master build as well. And in Office for development using Ubuntu. So that closes all the Microsoft Connections for me. :D