Microsoft pushes back Windows 10 ‘Redstone’ 2 to Spring 2017 to line up with new Microsoft device wave
Mary Jo Foley / ZDNet :
Context & Ripple Effects
When Microsoft first sketched the 'Redstone' update to Windows 10 due in 2016, the assumption was two feature drops inside one calendar year. Pushing Redstone 2 to Spring 2017 breaks that rhythm and ties the release instead to a new wave of Microsoft-branded devices — software shipping when the hardware that showcases it is ready.
The delay lands on top of an already-stretched mobile timeline: Windows Phone 8.1 users were told their Windows 10 Mobile upgrade would slip into 2016, so Redstone 2's slip means phone users face another long gap before meaningful new features arrive.
First-order effects
- PC makers and enterprise IT planners lose the expected late-2016 feature drop and must re-plan deployments around a Spring 2017 target that is explicitly coupled to Microsoft's own device launches rather than a fixed date.
- Windows Phone 8.1 holdouts, already waiting on a delayed Windows 10 Mobile upgrade, see their next major feature window move out with Redstone 2.
Second-order effects
- Redstone 3 inherits the burden of the slipped roadmap — by late 2016 sources point to x86 emulation for ARM64 devices landing in that Fall 2017 release, making the following update the real mobile-hardware milestone.
- A one-off slip hardens into policy: within a year Microsoft commits to twice-yearly Windows and Office updates in March and September starting with Redstone 3, effectively replacing ad hoc timing with a calendar both OEMs and enterprises can build against.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Windows release management shifts from codename-driven feature trains to fixed semiannual slots synchronized with hardware cycles — a structure Microsoft later makes explicit by retiring the Redstone codename in favor of names reflecting expected release timing.
- Aligning OS drops with device waves pushes the ecosystem toward hardware-software co-launches as the norm, raising the cost for OEMs of shipping on Microsoft's schedule rather than their own.
The trend: Windows is moving from loosely timed feature updates toward a fixed semiannual release calendar deliberately synced to Microsoft's hardware launches.