Windows Blue To Be Named Windows 8.1

Windows Blue has been the hot topic of our news lately, with the Windows Blue Preview reportedly arriving this summer and the operating system itself getting leaked on the internet. Now comes the revelation that in fact, the Windows Blue operating system will not be called Windows Blue, but instead Windows 8.1. This would explain why many reported leaks of Windows Blue actually still go by the naming of Windows 8 even though they are significantly different to Windows 8 in some of their features.

In essence it looks like Windows 8.1 could replace service packs as Microsoft looks to extract more and more money out of customers. No longer will you get crucial and useful updates for free, but you will have to buy a new OS update every year to bring you to the latest version. Consequently, we may see a Windows 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 and so on, style of progression in the Windows operating systems. Each time a major update is made, probably on a yearly basis, there will be a new version of Windows.

This is very much similar to what Apple do with their Mac OS X where each new version gets a codename and is sold as a new OS, Mac OS X 10.6 is Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.7 is Lion and Mac OS X 10.8 is Mountain Lion. This will allow Microsoft to have a seasonal product release and generate much more revenue without having to develop a totally new OS every time.

Although, with all that said, it is still possible these updates won’t cost anything at all. However, most people are predicting it will and will cost a nominal fee of around $20-40 each time. More importantly though, we want to precaution everyone that all this information is still in its “rumour” stages so it is possible none of it is true at all. However, with the number of leaks occurring and the mounting evidence it is looking increasingly more realistic, or at least close to the truth.

What do you think about the possibility of Microsoft changing their Windows OS release strategy? Would you pay for yearly Windows OS version updates? Would this drive you to pirating the software? Let us know what you think.

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