The arrival of Windows 10 is a bit of a sea change for business software. While no one is being required to switch over by Microsoft, there is a clear push for it to replace all previous Windows platforms. And while this will likely prove to be a serious benefit for your business in the long run, it could cause trouble in the short term.
Windows 10 is going to be updated in a fundamentally different way than previous Windows editions- rather than seeing a major function change/update with each version, 10 is planned to receive rolling updates, more similar to iOS or Android systems. That is, rather than a bunch of fundamental changes all at once, there will be smaller but significant changes made one at a time. This is going to force adaptation both at a corporate and an industry level, because it will require significant changes in the way business software is developed and, likely, to the way it is purchased.
Rolling updates will force software developers to continually update their base product, and that will mean they must continue to focus time and resources on maintaining basic function. This could prove unsettling for businesses that need to use these programs- in a continuous development process, it’s very easy for new errors to crop up. On the other hand, this continuous development process means that old problems can’t be left to rot- as errors are discovered, there will actually be a team capable of repairing them on staff and no excuse not to fix them.
This leads to the other likely change- more and more, software will likely be presented as a service rather than an asset. From the development end, this is pretty clear: the operational costs of maintaining frequent updates will require an ongoing income, rather than a single up-front purchase. From the purchase side, this is a little threatening in the long term, since a new bill generally adds up more than a one-time purchase. It does add a new tool to the purchaser’s box, though, since the developer must continually earn your money. The option to check out after a one-time purchase will be gone.