When it updates it automatically creates a restore point.

More to the point, will it end Windows 11... or should I say 12, given the 8 to 10 jump in numbering.

Yes, another article on Windows 10 suggests that it will be Microsoft's last OS... as in there will be no more new editions, ever.

Apparently, Windows 10 is it, and any new OS developments in future willl be delivered as updates.

And no, this is not mere speculation.  Microsoft's Jerry Nixon, Windows lead developer, announced it during the Ignite conference in Chicago. May 4 - 8 2015

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/microsoft_says_windows_10_is_the_last_version.html

Nothing stays the same... otherwise we'd never have invented the wheel or be talking computers now.

Makes me wonder what the annual maintenance fee will be.  I wouldn't expect it to be free.  If I had Win8 I'd want to know that before I took the free upgrade to 10, that "free" upgrade might end up costing a lot in terms of [Useful remaining life of Win8] vs [Cost of maintaining Win10].  All depends on when they'd start charging and how much.

There is that point/possibility... perhaps.  However, I think Microsoft will implement a method similar to Apple's that delivers software and its updates via the Store, at a cost.  We have already seen that Windows Media Center will not be a part of Windows 10, but I believe that it and other MS software will be made available through the Store.  So it won't just be Apps for the 'Metro" interface, it will be Microsoft's entire catalogue on sale.  I believe that's how they intend to keep the sales/income stream going... by incorporating everything within a 'walled garden'.

[e digicons]:'([/e]

Ya that's kind of what I'm thinking, or an annual fee like pay anti-viruses.  It makes sense to me that they'd do it that way, no reason really to do all that cd/dvd burning and packaging.  Would be an environmental boost   .  Works for me, as long as they don't get too greedy.

As were you.... being the most senior supervisor, while I was just a mere child looking on.

As for the future of Windows, I believe that we will physically have it on our machines for a while yet, and that we'll purchase other MS software through the store, much like Apple customers do.  Windows on the Cloud for rent, well that will come... eventually. 

For now, though, too many older users and businesses do not trust the Cloud, and then there's all those Windows 7 and 8 users who will simply hang on to their OS for grim death until 2020 - 2025 and beyond.  It's a hurdle I do not see Microsoft being able to jump or go around for at least another 10 years or so. 

Though the Cloud is imminent/inevitable, selling the concept hasn't been/won't be so easy when you have a largely distrusting public and hackers breaching Cloud securiry at will almost every day.  Before people truly warm to the idea of the Cloud, much work has to be done, particularly in the areas of privacy and security... and then there's the billions who still do not have high speed internet, with a rather large percentage on woefully slow connections.  An operating system on the Cloud would not even work for them, even if they did accept/approve of the idea.

Another potential barrier to a Cloud based OS would be those countries with certain provisions and/or censorship based bans, etc.... like the EU, China North Korea and the like.  True, MS could put up several regional editions - at a cost - but with hacking the way it is, people accessing prohibited versions and features, I don't see China and others accepting the idea  at all.

Like I said, muck work needs to be done if Cloud based OSes are to become commonplace..

All I want in Windows 10 is background updating.

I hate when I want to shut the PC off, and Windows & tells me "1 of 12 updates are loading. please do not shut your computer off".

And then I wait and wait...

I'm not sure if that's a typo, a Freudian slip, or an astute observation 

Jim, if you have 8.1 it's a good deal to upgrade to 10 for free, though I wouldn't recommend doing that on day 1.

However, I wouldn't recommend doing that for W7 users. W7 is an eminently stable OS and would use it to the end of its life.

For enterprise networks, it might not be so simple. In reality patches sometimes break things. Unmanaged patching creates headaches for those tasked with ensuring availability of corporate network resources. So companies may opt to create artificial patch cycles so patches can be managed.

That's probably wise advice for users of Win 7 and 8/8.1.... Vista, too.  Patches in the past have been known to break things in all OSes, so I download them automatically but install them manually a few days later, just to be on the safe side.  For the most part, patches have been tested and are found to be safe, but given the different configurations of hardware and software across the board, there may be exceptions to the rule.... hence the 'wait and see' approach.

Automatic anything is no bargain...Murphy's Law is applicable for everything and at every level.