14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 9 is clearly one of Microsoft’s biggest projects to be released next year, but it appears that the company is also working on something entirely new for customers.
Windows 365, a new version of the operating system that could be offered with a subscription, as is the case with office 365, is currently in the works, some sources say, and could be launched sometime next year if development advances as planned.
This isn’t be the first time we’re hearing about a subscription-based Windows version and Twitter user Faikee, who has a good track on information regarding new Microsoft projects, has recently said that such a product is indeed in the works.
Of course, the Redmond-based tech giant is currently refusing to discuss on future projects, so it’s hard to say whether Windows 365 has any chance to see daylight or not.
Reports coming via unofficial channels revealed in the past that Microsoft had no intention to release a subscription-based Windows, pretty much because the operating system is a platform and not a service.
Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley said in May that “Windows 365 is not real, not in development, and not on the roadmap,” explaining that Redmond was already offering Windows to business customers as a subscription through renewable enterprise volume-licensing agreements and Software Assurance.
A product roadmap that was also published on the web in early May revealed the upcoming releases prepared by Microsoft, including not only Windows 9 and Office 2015, but also a potential Windows 365 project.
At that point, the leaked information suggested that an alpha version of Windows 365 was already ready, but again, no other details were provided.
Although so many sources are denying the possibility to see Windows 365 going live, such a project does make sense at some level.
Office 365 is already experiencing a terrific success and Microsoft might go for a similar approach for Windows too, especially since the new CEO Satya Nadella insists that the company should become a mobile-first, cloud-first firm.
As for the release date, previous reports indicated that early 2015 could also witness the introduction of Windows 365, although that’s really unlikely, given the fact that this is the timeframe prepared for the introduction of Windows 9. Microsoft obviously wants Windows 9 to be a hit, so pushing back Windows 365 for a few months, if it’s really in development right now, seems the most logical steps for the company right now.