Windows Blue upgrade not an admission of failure

Windows 8 should not be considered an admission of failure because it is being upgraded less than a year after launch, Microsoft has warned.

The software giant is expected to debut a raft of enhancements in its Windows Blue update, next month at its Build conference.

Of the new functionality Microsoft is planning to introduce with the release, it is the reinstatement of Start button a feature the firm axed with the release of Windows 8 that has attracted the most attention.

The decision has been seized on by a number of media outlets as an admission by Microsoft that some of the changes it made with Windows 8 were a mistake.

However, in a blog post, Frank X. Shaw, corporate vice president of corporate communications at Microsoft, refuted the suggestion that product improvements are ever a sign of failure.

Citing figures released last week, which revealed 100 million copies of Windows 8 have been sold to date, Shaw said listening to customers' feedback should be considered a good thing.

"Let's pause for a moment and consider the centre. In the centre, selling 100 million copies of a product is a good thing. In the centre, listening to feedback and improving a product is a good thing," he said.

"Heck, there was even a time when acknowledging that you were listening to feedback and acting on it was considered a good thing."

He then goes on to reiterate that Windows 8 "is a good product" that's "getting better every day" and moving the "entire industry" towards a new future of touch and mobility.

"We are going to keep improving Windows 8, as we do with all our products, making what's good even better. There will be new devices, new use cases, new data that makes us think," he said.

"There will be people who agree, strongly. There will be those who disagree, equally strongly. All good, all expected," he added.