Microsoft Corp. plans to overhaul how it develops the flagship Windows operating system in a strategic shift aimed at keeping pace with nimbler rivals Apple Inc. and Google Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
Microsoft aims to upgrade the software more frequently, about once a year, rather than every two or three years as it’s done in the past, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the product plans are private. The company plans to unveil the first of these updates in 2013, one of the people said.
The world’s largest software maker has struggled as personal computers, where it has long dominated, have lost ground to the smartphones and tablets championed by Apple and Google.
The new approach could help Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft respond to industry changes and integrate new technologies more quickly.
Microsoft hasn’t yet figured out whether the upgrades will be offered for free, or for a low price to current customers, said one of the people.
Catherine Brooker, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, declined to comment.
Separately, Microsoft said its Surface tablet computer running the new Windows 8 Pro software will go on sale in January, the first versions of the machine that run on Intel Corp. chips.
Surface tablets running Windows 8 Pro will cost $899 for a version with 64 gigabytes of memory, and $999 for a 128-gigabyte model.
They come with Intel’s Core i5 processor, giving the machine a graphics boost, the company said in a blog post.
