The company accelerated development, Dell says

Jul 7, 2015 05:45 GMT  ·  By
Windows 10 will launch on several devices, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones
   Windows 10 will launch on several devices, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones

Windows 10 will launch on July 29 as the first Windows operating system that gets to see daylight during the summer and not in the fall, as its predecessors did, and while this might raise some questions about Microsoft’s new strategy, it kind of makes sense to bring it out earlier in order to benefit from the back-to-school shopping season.

What’s interesting, however, is that Microsoft originally planned to launch Windows 10 in the fall of 2015, according to a Dell representative talking to Thurrott.com, but the company then accelerated development in order to bring the operating system to the market faster and benefit from the increased sales expected during the back-to-school season.

“This is the first Windows release I can remember that aligns with seasonal demand, with the back to school season. This is exciting, and while the US is at the forefront, we’ll have a worldwide rollout very quickly with more and more hardware appearing in Q3 and Q4,” Dell representative Peter Fontana is quoted as saying.

Windows 8 was launched on October 26, 2012, Windows 7 on October 22, 2009, Windows Vista on January 30, 2007 (after having previously reached RTM in November), and Windows XP on October 25, 2001.

OEMs pleased with the new strategy

The new date allows OEMs and manufacturers to hope for increased sales too, as they’re all supporting the launch of Windows 10 with new devices, be they PCs, tablets, or laptops, running the new operating system and coming at the right time before back to school.

“Because we started so early, back in late 2013, we knew what was happening with the product and were ready [from a hardware perspective. When Microsoft changed the date, we reacted very quickly with a comprehensive plan across the product side, technical support and customer service. So it wasn’t a drastic change, just an acceleration,” Fontana explains.

Microsoft has also worked with partners to make Windows 10 more affordable and is offering a Bing-branded version with lower licensing fees in search for devices that would cost less and thus increase sales not only for OEMs but also for Microsoft itself.

Redmond is on the look for huge Windows 10 early adoption, as it plans to bring its operating system on a total of 1 billion devices by 2017.