All versions of Windows are based around its registry. While the idea of a 'registry' (linking all programs and functions together so that, for example, different programs can share the same fonts) may have seemed a good idea when Windows first saw the light of day, it's now obvious that it presents lots of security risks and means (for example) that a problem with a single program or device can cause no end of other problems for the system as a whole.
Apple's operating systems have never used a registry and Linux was specifically designed to avoid having one. The suggestion appears to be that the next operating system from Microsoft will ditch the registry. In the long term that's a great idea but it does, of course, mean that existing software for Windows machines won't run under the new operating system.
Some people are also suggesting that, along the lines of Office 365 and many high-end professional programs (such as Photoshop CC), Microsoft might adopt an annual licensing system for Windows, meaning that users will have to keep forking out money every year rather than making a one-off payment.