Microsoft wants to ‘fundamentally change the way Windows is shipping’

By Konrad Krawczyk September 17, 2014

microsoft promises an end to era as patch tuesday taken the shed windows update

A Microsoft job post says that the company wants to change the way it delivers updates to Windows, and alter how Windows is released altogether, Neowin reports.

A Software Engineer opening in the company’s Operating Systems Engineering division states that the tech giant is making a new way to rapidly deliver software and updates to the masses.

Related: Microsoft is expected to reveal Windows 9 in less than two weeks

“We are creating a new system that will fundamentally change the way Windows is shipping to put the ecosystem at the center of Windows,” the job post reads. We want every engineer to get an immediate view of how he/she is affecting the Windows ecosystem by providing qualitative and quantitative information that will allow them to take the necessary decisions in real time.”

This engineer would be part of a squad of Microsoft developers dubbed the Mission Control team. Issues they would tackle, according to the notice, include problems with video drivers, bugs with the Windows Start menu, and more.

Just as notable as the problems this engineer would help address, are the hypothetical timelines for issuing fixes included in the opening. For instance, Microsoft cites a duration of “less than two days” for the video driver fix example, and “less than a week” for solving a problem with the Start menu on every Windows PC.

Related: Here is everything we know about Windows 9

This job opening matches up with a rumor which suggested that Microsoft was looking to change the way it delivers updates to its OS.

This “new system” could roll out alongside Windows 9, which is the company is expected to unveil during an event on September 30.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Konrad Krawczyk

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…

Computing

Microsoft just teased its next big Windows 11 update

Windows 11 22H2 Tablet Taskbar YouTube screenshot

Microsoft has given us a glimpse of a feature that "Moment 2" may bring as early as January 2023.

Since Windows 11 version 22H2, the Redmond, WA company has dedicated to releasing smaller feature updates, known internally as "Moment." The first one gave us the much-requested tabs in File Explorer (along with its Context IQ tech). The next Windows 11 version 22H2 "Moment" is currently slated for early 2023, according to sources, after it undergoes testing throughout 2022.

Computing

It’s not just you — Microsoft admits its patches broke OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive files can sync between a PC and a phone.

If you’ve been experiencing OneDrive crashes and error messages, before digging too deep for a solution, note that it might be Microsoft’s fault. Common solutions like restarting, or signing out and back in won’t help because the issue is with the latest Windows 10 update.

Apparently, the problem begins after installing the 22H2 update for Windows 10 that was released on October 18, 2022. Today, Microsoft confirmed that after updating Windows 10, OneDrive might “unexpectedly close,” a nice way to describe a crash. This problem isn’t affecting Windows 11 computers and it’s still possible to use OneDrive via a browser.

Computing

Did Microsoft accidentally leak the next version of Windows?

a view of the strange new windows from ignite 2022

A brief glimpse of a desktop. Just a moment to take in what you were looking at. But then it hits you. Did Microsoft accidentally leak its next version of Windows during the company's Ignite event? Many watching the event are asking the same question.
Zac Bowden at Windows Central has done a great job of breaking down what, exactly, you saw. For a moment, there was a Windows desktop with a floating taskbar along the bottom and a Mac-esque Dock along the top, and a floating search box in the center of the screen.

This is not the first time we’ve seen this design. Microsoft is working on a three-year update cycle and the next version of Windows is known internally as "Next Valley." The user interface shown off briefly at Ignite matches up with what we know about Next Valley. Of course, the update is not due until 2024.
For starters, the floating taskbar along the bottom of the screen takes direct inspiration from macOS, down to the rounded corners and the frosted glass background. The icons look bigger and brighter, a la macOS.
Next, the toolbar along the top featured a battery icon, Wi-Fi icon, the date on the right, and weather on the left. All of this was on the same frosted glass background as the taskbar. If you didn’t know better, you might think this was actually a MacBook running Windows.
But the giant floating search bar in the upper-middle of the screen belies that notion. It was pure Microsoft from the icons to search and close to the font in the search box. What it was doing there on the screen is a big question.
Is Microsoft planning on adding a big floating search box to Windows? If so, it could work a lot like Apple’s new Dynamic Island on iPhone. In fact, we’ve seen a leak for Dynamic Island on Mac, and we were not fans. It would take up a lot of usable space, slow the system down with needless animations, and while not being terribly useful. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft plans to handle it.
This brief glimpse of a strange Windows operating system may have been nothing more than a mock-up of somebody’s idea for Windows. It could have been an experimental concept that accidentally made it into the presentation. Or it could have been an intentional leak of what Microsoft has planned in Next Valley, giving us a glimpse of what's to come.