A big Windows 10 update called 'Redstone' is coming next year - and it's named after Minecraft
Windows 10, scheduled to arrive this summer, will still see regular system updates throughout the next year, but ZDNet says Redstone will be something bigger, designed to "provide new functionality and support for new classes of devices that aren't already part of Windows 10."
The report is likely referencing upcoming Microsoft hardware such as the HoloLens, Microsoft's "holographic" augmented reality headset, and the Xbox Surface Hub, its 84-inch touchscreen designed to replace the whiteboard. For these devices and their software to work well with Windows 10, a larger update like Redstone may be necessary.
Interestingly enough, Microsoft has chosen to continue its tradition of choosing a codename for its software that references its first party video games. Windows 10, codenamed "Threshold," is a direct reference to the planet of the same name in the "Halo" universe.
With Redstone, Microsoft is referencing a virtual ore used in the game "Minecraft," which Microsoft now owns after it acquired the game studio behind "Minecraft," Mojang, for $2.5 billion in September.
Microsoft has a habit of naming software and products after its video games: both Microsoft's Siri-like virtual assistant Cortana and its new Windows 10 browser, codenamed Project Spartan, are based off of "Halo" characters.
Interested in learning more about Windows 10? Check out what you'll be able to do with Microsoft's new operating system by clicking here.