For those not familiar with the term Microsoft Blue, it is Microsoft’s upcoming OS upgrade program that will bring low-cost yearly updates to it’s desktop, mobile operating system, and the Windows Services (like SkyDrive, Hotmail, etc). Blue focuses on product teams to focus on incremental yearly upgrades to the platforms instead of two-to-three yearly bigger upgrades. Microsoft Blue was scheduled to be released later this year, but a recent job posting by Microsoft is the first real sign that the Blue initiative is beginning to gain momentum.

We’re looking for an excellent, experienced SDET to join the Core Experience team in Windows Sustained Engineering (WinSE). The Core Experience features are the centerpiece of the new Windows UI, representing most of what customers touch and see in the OS, including: the start screen; application lifecycle; windowing; and personalization. Windows Blue promises to build and improve upon these aspects of the OS, enhancing ease of use and the overall user experience on devices and PCs worldwide.

The wording of the job advert seems to suggest that Blue will focus mostly on the Windows UI around how customers experience and interact with the touch interface in the OS, as opposed to the familiar under-the-hood improvements we’re used to seeing with updates.

MicrosoftA further job posting for a Senior Development Lead reveals that Blue will be released on Windows Phone:

As a development lead you will hire and manage a team of top-notch developers, be personally involved in designing and coding features, and work closely with PM and Test counterparts across multiple orgs to help realize the vision of building high quality excel app for Windows Phone Blue.

Hopefully the introduction of Microsoft Blue will pave the way for regular incremental updates that benefit the user experience, optimising features customers have fed back to Microsoft, ultimately improving their product across the desktop and mobile platforms.

But what do you think, do you think Blue will make that much difference?