There’s been a lot of coverage in the Windows trade press around Windows 10’s tenth birthday. It made its debut on July 29, 2015. As I’m pondering Windows 10 turns 10 — and its upcoming EOS on October 14 — I asked myself “How does a 10-year lifespan compare to other Windows versions?” Obligingly enough, Copilot provided me with a text-based histogram that lays things out as far back as Windows 1.x versions. It serves as the lead-in graphic for this post.

Pondering Window 10 Turns 10: Lifespans Compared

Here’s what I see when I look at that chart:

• Only two versions have had longer runs than Windows 10 — namely, Windows XP (13 years) and Windows 7 (11 years). Both are arguably the Windows champs as far as versions go, and I used the heck out of them during their heydays.
• I’d have to say that a life span of under 7 years pretty clearly separates winning Windows avatars from losing ones. That group includes Windows 1.x, 2.x, 95, ME, Vista, 8 and 8.1. Of those, Windows 95 is the only one I remember fondly, but I moved to 98 long before it got close to EOL.
• Over this set, the distribution is pretty scattered and broad. The min is 2 years, the max is 13 years, the mean is 7.25 years, and the median is 6 years. Given my preceding observation about lifespans under 7 years, does that mean Windows is rather less than more successful? Interesting question, but I don’t think the answer is “Yes.” Arguably, Windows 7 persisted because neither 8 nor 8.1 could really pick up and run with the ball.

It’s interesting to step back and look at how many versions have come and gone and how each one has had its own lifecycle. My gut feel is that Windows 10 deserves to be in the same cohort as XP and 7. I’d argue further that Windows 11 could be in the same company — but of course it’s too early to say just yet. After all, it’s only just a bit over 4 years old.

I learned some new Windows-speak this morning, I think. First, I read stories at WindowsLatest and Thurrott.com that mention “inbox” and “in-box” apps respectively. Then, I read the MS Tech Community post that inspired their interesting assertions. Seems that Thurrott’s use of “in-box” is probably the most appropriate nomenclature. What’s under discussion is the update status of MS Store apps as a new install of Windows runs for the first time. Indeed, a new 24H2 install includes up-to-date Store apps, for ISOs and installers (e.g. the Windows 11 Installation Assistant)  dated June, 2025, or later.

Why 24H2 Install Includes Up-to-date Store Apps Matters

In earlier Windows 11 installs, one of the first post-OOBE tasks the OS undertakes is a full-scale update of built-in Store apps. This occurs via the Store’s update facility. WindowsLatest observes this means that up to 36 apps are covered. In turn, that saves time and bandwidth. Under this new regime, apps included in the OS image get newer versions. Here’s what the afore-linked blog post says:

…newer versions of the inbox Microsoft Store apps [come] preinstalled instead of the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version. This includes updated ISO images, virtual hard disks (VHDs), and Azure Marketplace images.

Basically, this means that MS now provides images with more up-to-date versions of Store apps. My take is that the actual update count depends on when download images got built.  MS replaces them on at least a quarterly schedule. Thus, this means fewer Store updates than in earlier Windows versions (23H2 and lower).

Good news, of a singular and restricted sort, here in Windows-World. I’ll raise a small cheer, and a word of thanks, to the Windows team in response.YAY!

I’m working my way up, slowly, to rebuilding a 5800X AMD desktop (on an Asrock B500 Extreme4 motherboard). The current build lacks a second M.2 NVMe SSD, so I’m also thinking about what kind (and how much) SSD to emplace in that currently open slot. Based on a teaser from NeoWin this morning, I’m also pondering US$200 4TB SSD availability, and its potential impact on that refurbishment.

Why Am I Pondering US$200 4TB SSD Availability?

Other than the obvious — amazing price for decent performance — I’ve got lots of reasons to think about choosing my second drive for this rebuild. Here’s a list:

• I’ve got 3 or 4 good 1TB NVMe SSDs already in hand, all with 3K+ MBps read/write capability, plus 1 2 TB that’s PCIe Gen 4 and on par with the cheap-o 4TB item.
• The B550 manual says the max capacity of SSDs it handles tops out at 2TB. So a 4TB unit might not even work.
• I am trying to contain myself on this redo, price-wise, so I’m not sure I want to fork out another US$200, even though it’s a pretty potent price/performance combination.

Then I Started Thinking About HDDs

You can still buy a Seagate 5TB 2.5″ 5400 RPM hard disk for between US$140 and $160. That puts cost per TB on a roughly equal footing, though it does significantly impact performance. Indeed,  the HDD’s 450 MBps read/write is a decimal order of magnitude slower than this SSD’s reported 4,500 MBps or better. FWIW, I already own two of those so I could easily emplace one as a backup or archival drive in that build. Backup/archival space won’t be an issue, for sure.

So you see my situation: I have to think about what I want from the rebuild, and manage the expense versus capacity/capability ratio. I’ll keep thinking, and keep writing about it here. So far I’m leaning heavily toward “use what I’ve got, keep it cheap.” But that could change: Stay tuned!

MS has started a new design blog under the general heading of “Behind the Surface.” It’s entitled “Start, Fresh –Redesigning the Windows Start menu for you.” The “Windows Design Team” is named as the author, rather than one or more specific individuals. It’s an interesting read, if a bit too breathless and wonder-struck for me. Indeed although this Windows Start soliloquy gets fanciful and overdone, IMO, it’s still worth your perusal.

Where (and How) Windows Start Soliloquy Gets Fanciful

In a list of so-called “guiding stars” the blog states four key principles driving Start Menu design. These serve as the lead-in graphic above, so I don’t repeat them. MS makes much of the work it took to rework the Start Menu. Those efforts presumably fit into the upcoming release of Windows 11 25H2 later this year. Here’s a representative quote from the post, likely from a user interaction during that process (note the tone and diction, please):

Help me find my apps faster. Let me bend Start to fit the way I work. And please—keep the magic, don’t lose the soul.

You’ve got to read the post and check out its images, tables, and language to really make sense of what it says. The key conclusions (and design changes) should include (each bolded item below is quoted verbatim from the blog post, sans quotation marks):

• Dynamic recommendations: “files and apps” that “surface exactly when they matter.”
• More and better views for all apps: Repositioned at the top of the Start Menu, you can choose “between logical categories, a neat grid, or the familiar A-Z list.”
• Mobile content, gently blended: Integration with mobile devices mentions both Android and iPhone and stresses how you can reach out from the desktop to a mobile device.
• Personalization, elevated: Stresses user’s abilities to zoom in on, or ignore, individual Start Menu sections, and to size it to match available screen real estate (bigger on big monitors, smaller on littler ones).
• Under-the-hood speed: A commitment to making Start an “accelerator of your day” that loads “in a snap” not “dragged by lag.:

Generally MS makes an ongoing commitment to keep listening to user input and adjusting to what users have to say. Overall their goal is to meet their mantra for what the Start Menu should be:

Everything you need, right here, ready when you are.

This Should Be Interesting…

The rah-rah nature of the blog post and its overall tone and language aside, MS is putting itself out there. In the broadest of strokes they’re promising to improve the Start Menu, and to keep making it better. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in upcoming Insider Preview releases — and ultimately, in 25H2 itself. I’ll be watching — and sharing my observations — along that path. So will lots of other Insiders and other users. Stay tuned!

Note: here’s a shout out to Sergey Tkachenko at WinAero.com, whose story this morning pointed me at the MS blog post. Thanks! For a vastly different take on what’s going on here, see what Paul Thurrott has to say about this blog post.