How Windows As A Service concerns could be dealt with for IT.
I'm not really sure how much of the core OS Microsoft is truly willing to do this with, but they have shown that they understand at least part of their problems in how they will be dealing with their web browser on the Phone in Windows 10.
Historically, the IE browser in Windows Phone has been coupled with the OS. This meant updates were impossible without pushing out an OS update which also meant dealing with carriers and OEM's in many cases. And that of course means they couldn't guarantee all users would even get it, let alone in a timely fashion. By shipping their new browser as a regular Universal App, they can get around the carriers.
So, how does this help IT? Inherently it doesn't. But the strategy does if applied more broadly. If more and more of what makes up Windows migrates to Universal Apps then OS updates can be limited to security and bug patches with a rare API change to enable to new features.
IT departments (generally) have no qualms rolling out security and bug fix updates. Where they get squeamish is when they don't know or trust what the update changes or when it is known to affect functionality. The more functionality that lives in Universal Apps the less impactful OS updates become. Then, all you need to give IT department is the ability to control the rollout of app updates.
Not saying that this will definitely happen, and also not implying that it completely eases the pain and fears of IT departments. Even Universal Apps leverage a common platform and even security and bug fixes there have the potential to destabilize apps. The apps also run on top of the OS, so while less likely, even seemingly unrelated OS patches CAN break apps without even touching the platform directly.
But, what it does mean is that many bug fixes that used to come through as OS updates could now come through as app updates. And that is a benefit when and where it happens.
Historically, the IE browser in Windows Phone has been coupled with the OS. This meant updates were impossible without pushing out an OS update which also meant dealing with carriers and OEM's in many cases. And that of course means they couldn't guarantee all users would even get it, let alone in a timely fashion. By shipping their new browser as a regular Universal App, they can get around the carriers.
So, how does this help IT? Inherently it doesn't. But the strategy does if applied more broadly. If more and more of what makes up Windows migrates to Universal Apps then OS updates can be limited to security and bug patches with a rare API change to enable to new features.
IT departments (generally) have no qualms rolling out security and bug fix updates. Where they get squeamish is when they don't know or trust what the update changes or when it is known to affect functionality. The more functionality that lives in Universal Apps the less impactful OS updates become. Then, all you need to give IT department is the ability to control the rollout of app updates.
Not saying that this will definitely happen, and also not implying that it completely eases the pain and fears of IT departments. Even Universal Apps leverage a common platform and even security and bug fixes there have the potential to destabilize apps. The apps also run on top of the OS, so while less likely, even seemingly unrelated OS patches CAN break apps without even touching the platform directly.
But, what it does mean is that many bug fixes that used to come through as OS updates could now come through as app updates. And that is a benefit when and where it happens.
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