While stocks took another beating yesterday broadly speaking, Microsoft (MSFT) at least provided a little comic relief.
How so? Well, the company announced an update to its Windows operating system and, instead of going with the traditional progression of numbers, skipped from Windows 8 to … well, Windows 10.
It’s not hard to see why, of course. Windows 8 was a downright disaster, if you recall, as the company tried to merge a touchscreen OS with a traditional desktop one. This go-around, Windows did a few things, including admitting it was wrong, moving back to the desktop-centric approach and skipping a number … either in an attempt to remove itself from the Windows 8 pain or in a “no press is bad press” approach to generating buzz.
If the goal was the latter, it definitely worked — although that buzz didn’t mean jack for shares of MSFT stock. They moved slightly lower, likely thanks to the pull of the broader market more than anything else. But if the goal was the former … well the Twitterverse sure caught on fast. In fact, I’ll let the tweets speak for themselves …
Meet Windows 10. 8 was so bad we just skipped 9.
— Ron Miller (@ron_miller) September 30, 2014
Someone already did the seven ate nine joke on Windows 10, right? — Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) September 30, 2014
wtf windows 10 — Alex Wilhelm (@alex) September 30, 2014
Windows 10? Really? — Tom Merritt (@acedtect) September 30, 2014
Windows 10. Seriously. — Ed Bott (@edbott) September 30, 2014
But yes. Seriously. The new operating system is called Windows 10. And moving past that absurdity, most of the Twitterverse seemed to like the general announcement. A few things to know about it:
- Windows 10 won’t be publicly released in its final form until mid 2015
- Today you can download an unfinished technical preview if you are so inclining.
- Again, the focus is moving back to a standard desktop approach, which included bringing back the Start menu, adding the ability to run Windows Store apps in a window, and more.
Longer term, there’s a chance that Windows 10 could be good news for Microsoft stock. Last week, we mentioned that FBR & Co. believed Windows 9 (as it was supposed to be called) could be a “game changing” release for the company. They reiterated their bullish position on MSFT stock in a note published during the lead-up to yesterday’s event.
Only time will tell whether or not that’s true. But for now, just take some time and bask in the name itself — especially considering most investors could use some comic relief. Heck, for the cherry on top, take this in: Back in 2013, Pete Babb wrote an InfoWorld column for April Fool’s Day that was about Microsoft doing just this.
Windows 10? Really? InfoWorld’s Pete Babb guessed this — as an April Fool’s joke! http://t.co/GhIBDUqWd5@infoworld
— Eric Knorr (@EricKnorr) September 30, 2014
In summary: Yes. Windows 10. Seriously this time.
As of this writing, Robert Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
