Three Years (Premium)
Steven Sinofsky once observed that three years is “about right” for each release of Windows. He may have been onto something if a new rumor is true: after a strange seven years of indeterminate updating, Microsoft appears to be moving back to the three-year release model again. Sort of.
It used to be so easy. Microsoft would release a major Windows version every three years, support it for ten years, with five years of mainstream support and five years of extended support. And despite its antitrust and Longhorn troubles, the software giant pretty much held to that schedule in the 21st century with Windows XP (2001), Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2, 2004), Windows Vista (2006/2007), Windows 7 (2009), and Windows 8 (2012).