Microsoft CEO Nadella Teases Next-Gen Windows Experience Coming For 1 Billion+ Users

Nadella made the comments today at Microsoft's BUILD developer conference, but it's unclear what precisely he is referring to. Is he talking about an all-new Windows operating system, or perhaps the Sun Valley update that is supposed to bring significant visual updates to the entire Windows 10 UI? We're placing bets on the latter interoperation.

During his keynote, Nadella stated the following:

Soon we will share one of the most significant updates to Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators. I have been self-hosting it over the past several months and I'm incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows. Our promise to you is this: we will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative, new, open platform to build, distribute, and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more very soon.

Interestingly, Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay made similar comments about the next generation of Windows in March. He didn't even refer to it as Windows 10, and instead stated, "I haven't talked about the next generation of Windows and what's coming next, but I can tell you I am so pumped."

If both Nadella and Panay are indeed referring to Sun Valley, what will be interesting is if Microsoft attempts to pivot away from the Windows 10 branding. With such a "significant" update to Windows, maybe six years is long enough for Windows 10 name. We know that the Windows 10X branding is already out of the question, as the company abandoned those efforts to incorporate many of its features into the mainline Windows 10 operating system.

Microsoft is also rumored to make some pretty significant updates to the Windows Store. Microsoft is looking to reinvigorate the Windows Store with a new user interface, and these three changes according to Windows Central:

• Allow developers to submit unpackaged Win32 apps to the Store
• Allow developers to host apps and updates on their own content delivery network (CDN)
• Allow developers to use third-party commerce platforms in apps

We're eager to see what Microsoft has in store for the 1.3 billion Windows 10 users (and counting) out there, and we anticipate hearing more about the next-generation Windows experience sometime this fall.