A Tech Industry Without Windows?

Imagine a world without Microsoft’s “Windows” operating system. Sounds weird, no? But that’s exactly one of the rumors floating in tech circles as of late. The question then is whether Microsoft will drop the “Windows” brand and replace it with something else.

I myself cannot see an end of the “Windows” brand. It has become so entrenched in the world of tech that for some time in the past and arguably up until now, “Windows” was and is always associated with PCs and in general, the tech industry.

However, recent reports point to the possibility of the “Windows” brand being thrown out the window.

The rumor started and grounds itself in Microsoft’s own Worldwide Partner Conference 2011 the company hosted in Los Angeles. On July 12, Andy Lees, President of Microsoft’s Windows Phone Division, kept talking about a “single ecosystem”.

At one point he said:

“One of the key important things here, though, is the change that’s yet to happen, but it’s about to happen, and that is the bringing together of these devices into a unified ecosystem, because at the core of the device itself it’s possible to be common across phones, PCs, and TVs, and even other things, because the price drops dramatically. Then it will be a single ecosystem. We won’t have an ecosystem for PCs, and an ecosystem for phones, one for tablets. They’ll all come together. And just look at the opportunity here.”

[Emphasis added]

A unified system actually makes sense since integrating the many platforms Microsoft maintains into one platform which gives a consistent user experience whether you’re on a PC, a tablet or a smartphone will definitely be an improvement. Some experts say that this will likely see Microsoft rolling out a single core for its platform where developers can start from whether they’re interested in building for PCs, phones or tablets. The key then for Microsoft is how best to do this without ruining the outcome. However, the dropping of the “Windows” brand is a shock.

And in comes the write-ups saying that dropping “Windows” in favor of a new name for the new “single ecosystem” to replace the many platforms Microsoft has is a definite possibility.

One of those write-ups is from Nilay Patel who wrote the article for This Is My Next.

“Turns out that almost exactly describes something we heard from a source the other day, and we’ve got some more details that point to a far more radical plan within Microsoft,” Mr. Patel wrote, talking about what the Microsoft exec revealed.

The This Is My Next report then reveals that Microsoft will try and “harmonize” Windows for PCs, Windows Phone and the Xbox gaming console in a span of four years. “That would mean Microsoft’s next next OS will run on PCs, tablets, phones, and the next-gen Xbox when it hits sometime in 2015 / 2016,” the report says.

However, that is not the most shocking revelation Mr. Patel had.

He revealed that their “sources” confide that “Microsoft is seriously considering ditching the ‘Windows’ brand name in favor of something new” as they move to a single ecosystem. However, he says that that could change as the company goes through with its plans. He says the name change for when Microsoft moves to a single ecosystem is “apparently at least on the table”.

I just can’t see, however, what they might choose to replace the “Windows” brand. It’s like Apple dropping the “i” from the names of their gadgets and trying to come up with a name as better as it is. You’re left then with Pod, Phone and Pad, which just doesn’t have the zing iPod, iPhone and iPad have.

If this is true, what’s running through Microsoft’s mind? And what will they replace “Windows” with? “Doors”?