Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen explained why the company abandoned the common naming for Windows 10 releases and is using H1 and H2.
The reason, according to Chen, was that Microsoft realized that naming the releases “Spring” and “Fall” didn’t make sense in all parts of the world. Not only is “Fall” a meaningless term in markets like the UK, but also that Spring in some parts of the world isn’t necessarily Spring.
Chen explained that the issue came up during a meeting where they were discussing whether Microsoft had unconscious biases.
“One of my colleagues raised his hand,” he said.
“He grew up in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are opposite to those in the Northern Hemisphere. He pointed out that naming the updates Spring and Fall shows a Northern Hemisphere bias and doesn’t include our Southern Hemisphere customers.”
And so the names became much more general H1 and H2.
The change makes sense, although calling something “Creators Update” or “Creators Update” – as it was used between 2017 and 2018 – is probably a lot friendlier than a letter and a number.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
