Apple may return iOS to its original 'iPhone OS' name at WWDC

Makes sense to bringing the naming into line, I suppose.

Surprised this didn't happen last year.

Splitting your operating system into device specific versions is easy. Making one single operating system that works everywhere is hard. Microsoft has been trying (and failing) to do that for decades. Apple had a real chance with iOS. They could have had Apple OS that worked on iPhones, iPads, Macs, the Apple Watch and future devices like their AR glasses. Each device could have tailored the UI to its own needs. But that would have been hard. Instead now we have iPhone OS, iPad OS, Watch OS, Mac OS and soon Glass OS. Such a missed opportunity.

OutdoorAppDeveloper said:

Splitting your operating system into device specific versions is easy. Making one single operating system that works everywhere is hard. Microsoft has been trying (and failing) to do that for decades. Apple had a real chance with iOS. They could have had Apple OS that worked on iPhones, iPads, Macs, the Apple Watch and future devices like their AR glasses. Each device could have tailored the UI to its own needs. But that would have been hard. Instead now we have iPhone OS, iPad OS, Watch OS, Mac OS and soon Glass OS. Such a missed opportunity.

Missed opportunity to be able to make an interesting, but ultimately irrelevant, claim.  Personally, I trust that Apple knows best which approach is easier/better to maintain.

OutdoorAppDeveloper said:

Splitting your operating system into device specific versions is easy. Making one single operating system that works everywhere is hard. Microsoft has been trying (and failing) to do that for decades. Apple had a real chance with iOS. They could have had Apple OS that worked on iPhones, iPads, Macs, the Apple Watch and future devices like their AR glasses. Each device could have tailored the UI to its own needs. But that would have been hard. Instead now we have iPhone OS, iPad OS, Watch OS, Mac OS and soon Glass OS. Such a missed opportunity.

You've got that backward.

Making a single operating system that works everywhere is easy. 

Deciding that doing so would compromise your customer experience so you're better off building three operating systems derived from the same base … that's hard.

Windows Mobile failed because Microsoft believed that their customers wanted the Windows experience on a mobile device. They were wrong.