Windows as a service

Windows as a service is the development model Microsoft has adopted for Microsoft Windows after the release of Windows 10. Instead of releasing a major version of Windows every few years, the company instead releases smaller feature updates in shorter intervals.

Compared to the previous model, the new model uses development cycles as the base milestone unit rather than Windows releases. Until Windows 10 May 2020 Update, one development cycle was equivalent to one feature update, although nowadays Microsoft doesn't always release a feature update in the end of each cycle.