Microsoft delays Windows 10 Redstone 2 update to next year

Microsoft has delayed the release of the Redstone 2 update for Windows 10 to cash in on the next wave of devices.

Redstone is the codename given to an update of Windows 10 coming this summer, and will be the second significant update to Windows 10 since its launch last year. A further update - Redstone 2 - was planned for a November timeframe.

However, Microsoft expert Mary Jo Foley has reported that the firm is planning to wait for spring next year to take advantage of the devices likely to make up the bulk of the CES class of 2017.

These devices will more than likely use Intel's next-generation Kaby Lake chip range which will be announced later this year.

Microsoft has a new policy of withdrawing support for specific chipsets after a set period, in a classic case of built-in obsolescence, so waiting for the next generation will maximise their lifespan.

Of course, behind the headlines it may be that Microsoft needs more time to refine its updates. The recent Fast Ring version of Redstone has caused problems with freezing on Surface devices, which is a small glitch, but all these small glitches add up and all need ironing out before public release, so more time can only be a good thing.

Speculatively, it could also give Microsoft a neat line in the sand to have one last stab at getting Windows 10 Mobile, and therefore Continuum, right.

The mobile platform has been dogged by problems and is still available only on a handful of devices eight months after the launch of the desktop platform. Engineers will want to iron out all these bugs before releasing Redstone.

As such, some sort of soft relaunch around Redstone 2 could be a smart move. It could even be the point when we quietly lose the numbering altogether, as Windows-as-a-service reaches the next stage of simply becoming Windows.

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• Operating Systems
• Windows 10
• Microsoft