Windows Next: Just call it ‘Blue’?
Summary: Windows 9 might not be Microsoft's next version of Windows. Instead, ‘Blue’ could be the interim release that shows up first. — It's been a couple weeks of Microsoft naming madness. To top it all off at the end of last week …
Context & Ripple Effects
The 'Blue' report lands two and a half months before Microsoft begins selling Surface tablets on 26 October at its own stores, inside what ZDNet itself calls 'a couple weeks of Microsoft naming madness.' The claim is explicitly unconfirmed: a reported plan for an interim Windows release codenamed 'Blue' arriving ahead of, or instead of, Windows 9.
Timing is what makes it matter. The Metro interface is already drawing confirmed criticism as a 'massive mistake' and 'overkill,' with commentators invoking the long-standing pattern of Windows users adopting every other OS version. A rumored mid-cycle release hands that argument a fresh focal point just as Microsoft's biggest product push in years gets underway.
First-order effects
- Microsoft heads into the 26 October Surface and Windows 8 launch window with an unresolved versioning story: buyers and developers cannot tell whether the OS they commit to will be followed by an interim 'Blue' build rather than a full Windows 9.
- An unconfirmed codename becomes a live news cycle anyway — same-day pickups by BGR, The Next Web, gHacks, Redmond Pie and TechnoBuffalo show how quickly naming speculation travels when it touches the flagship product.
Second-order effects
- OEM partners building Windows 8 and Windows RT machines for the holidays face a messaging problem if an interim update lands mid-cycle, since 'which Windows am I selling?' becomes harder to answer on a box label.
- Enterprise planners who already skip alternate Windows versions — the adoption pattern critics cited against Metro — gain another reason to defer upgrade commitments until Microsoft states the roadmap plainly.
Third-order effects
- If the reported interim-release structure holds, Microsoft shifts away from long, monolithic numbered releases toward smaller, more frequent updates — eroding the very skip-a-version buying rhythm that shaped its historical install base.
- Codename leaks surfacing before official confirmation point to Windows being run more like a continuously updated platform than a boxed product, straining retail and licensing models built around discrete versions.
The trend: Microsoft's Windows roadmap is drifting from infrequent numbered releases toward faster interim updates, with leaked codenames like 'Blue' exposing the strategy before the company confirms it.