Microsoft delays Windows 10 'Redstone 2', now expected spring 2017
Microsoft is currently working on the next version of Windows 10, codenamed Redstone, and we’ve been seeing the results of this labor in the form of new Insider Preview builds arriving on the Fast ring at a rate of around one a week now.
The updated OS will include new features, tweaks and general improvements and should, finally, introduce extension support to the Edge browser. It will also bring the different Windows 10 devices -- PC, Xbox, Mobile -- closer together.
'Redstone', like 'Threshold' last year is set to be released in two waves. The first, currently expected in June/July, will be timed to encourage Windows 7 and 8.x users to upgrade while the OS is still free. The second wave, Redstone 2, was set to follow that towards the end of the year, and be a continuation of RS1. In other words, features that fail to make the first update will likely land in the second.
However, sources at Microsoft now say Redstone 2 won’t be released until spring 2017. The reason?
According to Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley, this delay is due to the software giant deciding to wait for a next wave of Microsoft branded devices to arrive -- new PCs, tablets and phones -- and that would make sense. Intel is expected to introduce its next processor family, dubbed Kaby Lake, by the end of 2016, and it’s a safe bet we’ll see a new Kaby Lake powered Surface Pro from Microsoft shortly afterwards, possibly in the spring.
Delaying Redstone 2, so it arrives at the same time as the new hardware, would be a sensible move, and give Microsoft further time to fine tune the OS update.
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