Microsoft Already Preparing "Redstone," the Rumored next Major Update to the Still Unreleased Windows 10

Windows 10 has yet to ship out this summer, but Microsoft is reportedly already working on its next planned major update for the operating system. Codenamed "Redstone," Neowin says the update will come in two waves, the first wave is targeted to arrive in June of 2016 and the second wave is scheduled for October of the same year.

ZDNet's Mary Jo Folley, saying she has inside sources, reveals more: "Redstone will not be 'Windows 11' or 'Windows 12.' It will still likely be 'Windows 10,' I am hearing. Redstone will be delivered automatically to Windows 10 users as part of their regular, every-month-or-so updates. Redstone will just be a larger update than the others and will provide new functionality and support for new classes of devices that aren't already part of Windows 10, so the supposed thinking goes. Releasing regular updates to Windows 10 works well for things like Spartan (the new Windows 10 browser), messaging and the Start Menu -- things that increasingly are not part of the Windows core. But for deeper core work to support the devices building on top of Windows 10 -- things like Xbox Surface Hub, Windows Phone, and HoloLens -- sometimes bigger changes are needed that require bigger updates like Redstone. Redstone also will be the vehicle for Windows core features that aren't going to make the cut in time to be included in Windows 10 this year."

Windows 10 will be available for public release "later in the year," according to Microsoft's Terry Myerson announcement during the company's January 21 event. As already disclosed, the upcoming operating system aims to address present shortcomings in the user interface as well as to unify the Windows, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded product families around a common internal core. A public beta or Windows Technical Preview of Windows 10 was released on October 1, 2014. Testers who opt into the 'Windows Insider' program receive occasional automatic updates to the Windows Technical Preview, allowing Microsoft to collect feedback on changes throughout development of Windows 10. As Softpedia opines: "Redstone could be living proof that Microsoft would no longer release stand-alone versions of Windows, but instead focus on updates that would be launched at a faster pace, whenever they are ready....Microsoft would then adopt a model that's currently being used by Apple for Mac OS X: just one big stand-alone OS version with updates released yearly to make sure that new features and options arrive on computers running the software... Redstone will also keep the Windows Insider program alive, as Microsoft is reportedly planning to continue developing new products in the same way it does with Windows 10... This way, Redstone would also be based on user feedback even though it arrives after Windows 10."