Stefan Mileschin

Software giant Microsoft appears to believe that a billion devices will be running the next version of its operating system, Windows 10.

That’s according to Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s VP in charge of operating systems and speaking at the Build conference in San Francisco.

Microsoft has still not announced a formal date for the release of Windows 10. Some have speculated it may be available to its partners at the end of July while others say it is likely to be released in September.

Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows 8.1, has failed to gain many plaudits and the company is missing out the title of Windows 9 as part of a marketing move to convince people that 10 is much better than eight. Many people are running Windows XP, even though Microsoft rather shamelessly dropped support for the OS. Others stay happy with Windows 7.

Myserson’s prediction of a billion devices in the next couple of years may not be far from the truth – the company now pursues a more open policy than in the past and wants Windows 10 to be on all sorts of devices, from mobile phones to tablets as well as PCs. CEO Satya Nadella is also engaged in diversifying the company’s offering – formerly it relied heavily on operating systems and Office software to make bucks.

Myserson also said in his keynote that it will make it easier for software engineers to port apps for Apple’s iOS and Android operating systems to Windows.

Windows 10 builds on the lessons that Microsoft seems to have learned from its Windows 8 debacle and will bring many of the features in Windows 7 back to the operating system party.

http://www.techeye.net/news/microsof...dows-10-future