Microsoft's ‘Redstone’: An update to Windows 10 due in 2016
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet :
Context & Ripple Effects
Mary Jo Foley's report lands mid-way through the Windows 10 SDK release and the Edge browser branding of the preview builds — the pre-launch sprint before Windows 10's debut — and names the next milestone after launch: 'Redstone,' a major Windows 10 update targeted at 2016 rather than a routine patch. It signals Microsoft intends Windows 10 to be an evolving platform, not a one-shot release.
That framing proved durable: the Redstone wave was later stretched when Microsoft pushed Redstone 2 back to Spring 2017, then formalized into the twice-yearly March and September update cadence beginning with Redstone 3 — before Microsoft retired the Redstone codename entirely in favor of timing-based naming. This report is effectively the origin point of Windows-as-a-service.
First-order effects
- Windows 10 developers and IT planners now have a named target for the first post-launch feature wave in 2016, letting them sequence work against it alongside the SDK already released in March.
Second-order effects
- By tying feature updates to a predictable annual rhythm, Microsoft forces PC makers and enterprise IT to plan hardware refreshes and deployment cycles around Redstone waves rather than waiting years between Windows versions.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence holds — as it did through Redstone 3 and beyond — Windows shifts structurally from discrete multi-year releases to a continuously updated service, with codenames eventually replaced by timing-based labels to match that rhythm.
The trend: Windows is transitioning from episodic big-bang releases toward a scheduled service model, with Redstone as its first named installment.