Windows Mobile is making a comeback. Windows-based phones will now be Windows 10 Mobile devices, CNet reports.

Microsoft is dropping the Windows Phone brand. Windows Phone was a brand that lagged behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android for the last five years. Microsoft announced the name change Wednesday in a blog post.

Microsoft started doing away from the Windows Phone name, as well as the Nokia brand of its Lumia phones last fall.

Windows 10 Mobile will be released this summer. It will run Micrsosoft's universal apps that will allow users to use the apps on multiple devices. A new feature called Continuum will be used by Windows 10 Mobile to let a user plug their phone into a PC monitor and use the PC versions of Microsoft apps like Word and Excel.

Before Apple's iOS and Google's Android took over as the most popular mobile operating systems, Windows Mobile enjoyed years of success. Most people accessed Windows Mobile from personal data assistants (PDA), handheld devices that came before smartphones.

Microsoft wants to regain a customer base that will enjoy the convenience of being able to use Windows on multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets and PCs. Executives at Microsoft want more than one billion devices to run Windows 10 by 2018.

To get more users over to Windows 10, Microsoft will offer the new operating system as a free download to PC, tablet and smartphone users.

"We designed Windows 10 to deliver a more personal computing experience across a range of devices. An experience optimized for each device type, but familiar to all," said Tony Prophet, Microsoft's Windows marketing chief. "Windows 10 will power an incredibly broad range of devices -- everything from PCs, tablets, phones, Xbox One, Microsoft HoloLens and Surface Hub."

When Windows 10 is released there will be several versions of it. Windows 10 Home will be the most basic version of the operating system. A Windows 10 Pro will include more features than Home. There will also be a Windows 10 Enterprise for businesses and a Windows 10 Education for schools and universities.