Microsoft's Windows 10 PC OS keeps evolving, but its future is uncertain

Microsoft's Windows 10 OS for PCs feels complete, yet the expectations for yearly feature updates seems to be underdelivering. Is it time for a change in strategy?

The Windows Insider Program is one of the most exciting and interesting things Microsoft is doing with Windows in 2017. It's a bold program to permanently open-beta an OS even across various levels of development (Slow, Fast, Skip Ahead), but while the program made a lot of sense in the early days of Windows 10, where is the OS heading in 2018 and beyond?

I ask the question because all OSes – including iOS, macOS, and Android – can suffer from "feature fatigue." That is, after a while, it seems we are being given features for the sake of something new. Windows 10 – especially with the Fall Creators Update – is starting to feel that way.

Fixed update schedules set lofty expectations

Part of the problem with modern OSes in the commercial arena, especially in mobile, is the continued expectation of being wowed on a yearly basis. Each year, Google, Apple, and Microsoft need to come out with something new to keep people talking about their platforms.

A lot of the innovation is legitimate, often focused on new hardware technologies. This year, augmented reality (AR) for mobile appears to be the "next big thing." It's not that everyone just decided this is the year, but rather the hardware, including cameras, sensors, battery life, and processors, has reached a point where AR makes sense.

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