Why Did Microsoft Brand Its Next OS Windows 10?

Microsoft held an event today at which the company revealed its next version of Windows. For the last few months, many industry insiders, tech experts, and journalists (myself included) have been referring to the next Windows release as Window 9, but Microsoft threw water on all of that talk today and announced Windows 10.  That’s right, Redmond is skipping Windows 9 altogether and jumping into the double-digits.

The “official” story out of Microsoft’s event was that the company didn’t feel it was right to call it Windows 9 because of the sheer number of changes coming with the OS and because they wanted to convey a sense of uniformity and oneness. Unfortunately, “Windows 1 has been done” was mentioned at the event.  So instead, Microsoft chose Windows 10. It’s not clear to me how a higher, double-digit number shows more uniformity than a 9, which is can be written (or animated) in a single stroke. And I’m also unclear as to why Microsoft didn’t choose Windows One, due to the obvious possible tie-ins the company could make with the Xbox One, but I digress.

Although there was no comprehensive explanation as to why Microsoft chose Windows 10 for its next release, I have some opinions.  The first explanation is that the company wanted to distance this release as far as possible from Windows 8.  Choosing Windows 9 could have given the impression that the new OS was only a simple update to Windows 8.1.  While technically that may technically be true, I suspect Microsoft doesn’t want to convey that message. According to today’s event, Microsoft has envisioned new ways to improve the user experience on all types of devices with Windows 10, beyond what was tried with Windows 8.

I also suspect the timing of Windows 10’s release was a factor. A solid date wasn’t given, but Microsoft did say the new OS was coming after next year’s BUILD conference. That timing potentially puts Windows 10’s release in line with iOS 9, assuming Apple sticks to its typical release schedule. iOS and Windows aren’t directly comparable (yet), but having two competing operating systems released at similar times and with similar version numbers would draw inevitable comparisons I’m sure both companies would rather avoid.

Finally, I also believe choosing Windows 10 was a move on Microsoft’s part to restart the Windows narrative. If you search for Windows 9 news, you’ll find thousands of articles, just like mine.  But now the story starts anew, and based on what we’ve seen of Windows 10 thus far, much of the criticism that marred Windows 8’s image is gone. Windows 10 has me excited, at least.

In Windows 10 Microsoft seems on track to release a version of Windows that may just appease most of its user base. Desktop users are sure to appreciate the new Start menu, virtual desktops, and task view features, and users more comfortable with touch will like the improved app controls, more flexible app snapping, and enhanced touch targets. We’ll know more when the release preview is made of available, but for now Microsoft seems to have taken much of its criticism to heart and is building something its users have actually asked for.  Time will tell.