The more
information that leaks about
Windows 8's expected
summer upgrade, dubbed
"Blue" by Microsoft, the more
questions that pop up,
analysts said today.
And with very few exceptions,
customers don't have
answers.
The latest tidbit about
Windows Blue -- disclosed
earlier this week -- was that
the upgrade would be named
"Windows 8.1," a convention
reminiscent of rival Apple's
system of numbering its
versions of OS X as, for
example, 10.7 for Lion, 10.8
for Mountain Lion.
Apple then adds a third
number to signal each
update. Mountain Lion, for
instance, is currently at
10.8.3 , meaning it has been
updated three times since its
July 2012 debut.
Calling the first upgrade
Windows 8.1 may not seem
important, but to analysts
well-versed in Microsoft-ese,
names matter.
"How you use numbers in
naming conventions is
important," argued M3
Sweatt, who works in a
Microsoft group aimed at
improving partner and
customer satisfaction, on
Twitter Tuesday.
The experts agreed:
Microsoft's licensing policies,
but more importantly its
support practices, are linked
to names, or more
specifically, name changes.
As soon as an enterprise
places newly-named Windows
Server software into
production, it must also
immediately update all CALs
(Client Access Licenses), the
rights required for individual
client PCs -- desktops,
notebook, tablets -- said Wes
Miller of Directions on
Microsoft.
That's why he and others at
the research firm believe that
Microsoft will not dare to
name an upgraded server OS
something like "Windows
Server 2013," but will instead
stick with "Windows Server
2012" as the name even after
the code also gets a Blue
project refresh this summer.
The most likely moniker is
Windows Server 2012 R2, the
analysts said, because the
"R2" designation has been
used before by Microsoft and
doesn't trigger the new-CAL
requirement.
On the desktop, licensing has
less effect, mainly because
relatively few enterprises
carry Software Assurance, the
annuity plan that provides
rights to future upgrades, on
the client OS. But there may
be some support fallout from
a name change.
Microsoft has historically
issued Service Packs (SP) for
Windows, collections of bug
fixes that sometimes also
include new features. Those
SPs always started a clock
that gave customers 24
months to upgrade from the
prior version -- either the
original, termed RTM, for
"release to manufacturing," or
an earlier service pack -- to
the new SP.
In fact, Microsoft will do just
that next week, as it retires
Windows 7 RTM and supports
only Windows 7 SP1, the
upgrade that launched in
early February 2011.
But SPs are apparently
persona non grata, to be
replaced by Blue and
Microsoft's plan to pick up
the release pace.
So what happens for
support? No one knows.
"With Blue, does that mean to
get support on Window 8, I
have to have Blue?" asked
Michael Cherry, also of
Directions on Microsoft,
referring to the code name for
what will be Windows 8.1.
Rob Helm, another Directions
on Microsoft analyst, reeled
off more questions that
Windows 8.1, nee Blue,
poses.
"Is the new release going to
be required for support, like
service packs have been?"
Helm asked. "Will Microsoft
restart the [10-year] support
clock? Will Blue expire from
support the same day as
Windows 8, or will it expire a
year later than Windows 8?"
Historically, Microsoft has
supported Windows for at
least 10 years, with any
service packs hewing to the
original deadline. In other
words, while Windows 7 SP1
appeared 16 months after
Windows 7 RTM, the former
will fall off the support list
Jan. 14, 2020, the same date
originally pegged for soon-
to-be-retired Windows 7
RTM.
But the new and faster
Windows development may
not observe the older rules,
which is what concerns
Cherry, Helm and Miller.
"And what apps will be able
to run on Blue?" Helm
wondered. "Will some come
out that won't run without
Blue? Microsoft's done that
at times with service packs."
Questions, it seems are
plentiful, but answers are
not.
"This is all tied together,"
said Cherry. "And there are
no answers."
Microsoft has been mum,
even though it has
acknowledged Blue and said
it will now pursue a faster
development and upgrade
cadence, one that the
company's top public
relations executive called
"continuous" in a blog post
last week.
So enterprises remain in the
dark about Windows'
accelerated development.
Microsoft's core constituency
and its most important
revenue source, business,
already has reason to worry
about the faster pace: By
nature, corporations loath
operating system changes
because of their cost and
potential for disruption.
To be fair, few companies
have adopted Windows 8 for
anything more than small-
scale pilot programs, and
today's mystery could well be
solved tomorrow. And
psychologically, "Windows
8.1" will go down easier than
would have "Windows 9."
Still, the pattern of Microsoft
rushing where enterprises fear
to tread is troubling.
So much so that Microsoft
may find it hard selling the
quicker tempo to enterprises.
"They're going to [be] under
pressure to keep corporate
customers happy, and still
have a viable consumer OS
that keeps up with the fad of
the year," said Patrick
Moorhead, principal analyst
at Moor Insights & Strategy,
in an interview last week. "It's
going to be really tough."
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