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In 2017, I argued that Microsoft’s Windows operating system, as we have traditionally understood it, has an expiration date. And for the Redmond software giant to move forward, the “death” of Windows probably will happen sooner rather than later.
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I described various architectural changes to the operating system that were critical in order for it to modernize and to shed legacy components that were hampering its evolution, such as the Win32 subsystem that has been present since 1990 or so, as well as its affinity to the Intel x86 architecture and moving to low-power SoCs, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, which is based on an ARM architecture.
Systems that run on Windows and use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, such as HP’s Envy X2 2-in-1, are already shipping.
These are changes that Microsoft is actively working on as part of a long-planned transition toward a more modernized way of software development, which allows it to target as many platforms as possible.
This includes mobile devices that run on Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, as well as IoT appliances that scale all the way from tiny microcontroller-based smart light switches to smart appliances, video streaming devices, smart TVs, and video game consoles.
Microsoft is targeting everything, not just PCs
What Microsoft now recognizes as its target platforms for its software products and services is effectively everything, not just personal computers.
To quote its CEO, Satya Nadella:
“Digital technology, pervasively, is getting embedded in every place: Every thing, every person, every walk of life is being fundamentally shaped by digital technology — it is happening in our homes, our work, our places of entertainment… It’s amazing to think of a world as a computer. I think that’s the right metaphor for us as we go forward.”
None of this should come as a shock, as Microsoft has been doing quite a bit of organizational shuffling to de-emphasize its Windows teams and put much more emphasis in higher-growth areas such as the cloud and AI.
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This is not to say Windows is unimportant to Microsoft and as an overall technology. It continues to be a very important fixture of not just desktop but also server-based computing in the enterprise.