After condemning Windows 10 to an imminent end, Microsoft continues to enrich its “old” operating system with small, unexpected functions. And could even integrate its famous AI assistant, Copilot!
Should we believe Microsoft’s big promises? Clearly, no! Even putting aside the countless Windows 11 updates that sow confusion among users, including platform experts – see our “rant” article or even more recently, the chaotic release of version 23H2 –, we wonder if there is really a driver controlling the editor, particularly for Windows development. And new proof is given to us with a promise that is astonishing to say the least concerning… Windows 10!
Windows 10: minor updates
Thus, at the beginning of 2023, Microsoft caused a very understandable panic (see our article) by announcing the withdrawal of the “old” system from its online store – but not among its commercial partners, fortunately! In the spring, the publisher definitively condemned Windows 10 to a slow death by announcing that its venerable – but much appreciated – operating system would only receive simple security updates before its official funeral, scheduled for October 2025 (see our article). In his blog post published discreetly on April 27, 2023, the Redmond firm made it clear that the next versions of Windows 10 would not benefit from any functional new features, having to settle for bug and vulnerability corrections, in particular via its traditional Patch Tuesday, delivered on the second Tuesday of each month. And for good reason: since the end of 2021, the publisher has sought, against all odds, to impose its new baby, Windows 11, the darling, the only one to be regularly entitled to new and “flamboyant” functions. I promised: Windows 10 would remain as is, in its 22H2 edition, until the end! And too bad for all those who cannot or do not want to move on to its much more demanding successor…
And unfortunately: as usual, Microsoft did not keep its word! Less than a month after this disastrous announcement, the publisher announced, in a blog post dated May 11, the arrival of a new version of Windows 10… with new functions! Certainly, minor – not to say anecdotal – new features concerning the search field or priority notifications (known as “toasts”). And, of course, this version promised to correct its share of problems – a long list, as often… In short, nothing that breaks the house in this version. But that’s not the important thing. Because this announcement clearly suggested, between the lines, that, contrary to recent official announcements, Windows 10 could still evolve at the margins before retiring in 2025.
Windows 10: a Copilot soon on board?
We were there in the fall of 2023, at the time of the – eventful – release of Windows 11 23H2, when we learned, via our colleagues at Windows Central, that Microsoft was preparing to integrate Copilot into Windows 10. Yes, you read correctly: despite its announced condemnation, the old system – and with it, nearly a billion users – would benefit from this enhanced “super assistant”. to artificial intelligence, like Windows 11 and Microsoft 365! A gift – free, therefore – which would arrive soon, via a functional update – no date has been announced at the moment.
This radically changes the outlook. For users who didn’t want to or couldn’t bring themselves to upgrade to Windows 11, due to the incomprehensible hardware requirements imposed by Microsoft. But also for the publisher, who seems to understand that last care “baby” is not meeting the success hoped for with only 400 million active users in the fall of 2023, two years after its release…
Better yet, at the same time, an online petition was recently launched to request the postponement of the end of support for Windows 10 (see our article). Proof that the old system still has a good number of followers. And if the initiative comes from the base, it is not impossible to think that Microsoft is sensitive to this “call of the people”. Several observers believe that the publisher should review its position so as not to lose its loyal base by forcing the transition to Windows 11, or its successor, Windows 12, expected for 2024.
If there is nothing official in all this, the fact remains that several consistent clues leave a little hope for the short-term future of Windows 10. And, as several recent reversals have proven to us , you can expect anything with Microsoft! Wait and see…