HoloLens provided the wow factor at the Windows 10 pre-launch
By Will Goodbody, Science & Technology Correspondent
Such was its excitement about unveiling Windows 10, it took Microsoft more than two whole hours to tell us all about it on Wednesday night. That’s a very long time to show off what essentially is one, unfinished product. But then, Microsoft has a lot riding on its new operating system.
When most people think Microsoft, they think Windows. It’s been a fundamental part of the company’s family of products and services for the best part of three decades. It’s the operating system most people used when they first learned to use a PC. It’s at the centre of Microsoft’s software ecosystem, and is the platform upon which many of the company’s other services run.
Yet the company has run a rocky path since the release of the ill-fated Windows Vista in 2007. It proved far from popular, and was followed two years later by Windows 7 which managed to undo some of the damage inflicted by its predecessor. But then Microsoft went and did it again, releasing Windows 8 which infuriated many users on multiple levels, not least through the removal of the Start button and Start Menu. A quick and embarrassing u-turn saw some of those issues addressed in the release of Windows 8.1. But by that stage the damage had been done.
And so today, according to Netmarketshare, Windows 8 runs on just over 13% of PCs worldwide. Considerably less than Windows 7, which runs on 56% of desktops and laptops. And even less than the 14 year old, no longer supported Windows XP, which is loaded on 18% of computers.
The idea behind Windows 8 was laudable. A single operating system that looked and felt familiar across devices, from mouse and keyboard driven desktops, to touch controlled tablets and smartphones. But in reality the execution didn’t live up to the vision, and Windows 8 ended up alienating rather than evangelising potential users, and pushing them towards Apple and Google.
It’s against that challenging backdrop that Windows 10 will be released. Some have questioned whether Microsoft’s starting point for Windows 10, which was effectively to identify the bad bits of Windows 8 and change them, rather than looking at why other mobile operating systems were eating their lunch, wasn’t exactly the best strategy.
Also, instead of encouraging integration with other platforms, the company’s focus seems to be aimed at convincing everyone to ditch their existing mixture of Mac OS/iOS, Android and Windows powered devices and adopt a Microsoft only ecosystem – a risky strategy in a world where loyalty towards technology is driven by just two things, price and quality.
Nevertheless, the details released about the new (still unfinished) OS seem to be promising and suggest the Redwood headquartered company may have got closer to successfully bridging the divide between PC and mobile.
The Continuum feature will see the software automatically adapt to the manner in which the device it is running on is being used – be it a tablet with keyboard attached or a tablet being used as a handheld touch driven device. Cortana, Microsoft’s voice controlled digital assistant, is to be embedded into the desktop version for the first time. The Start Button and Menu will be back where they should have been left all along. And a new web browser, Spartan, will be released alongside (and hopefully ultimately replace) the increasingly dreadful Internet Explorer.
The new HoloLens contraption – a headset that projects holograms into the real world view of the user – provides a missing wow factor to Windows 10, and evidence that Microsoft is still willing to spend money on innovating and trying new things. Though it may well prove to be yet another wearable device that’s not useful enough to convince those wearing it that it is worth the ignominy of looking like a prat.
The fact that Windows 10 will be free for those currently using Windows 7, 8/8.1 and Windows Phone 8 is important. It signals a shift in Microsoft’s pay per upgrade pricing policy, as it catches up with the free model adopted by rivals Google and Apple and will encourage quick take-up of the new software, as existing users opt to ditch Windows 8 for the hope of something better.
But ultimately the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And the extent of the uptake of Windows 10 when it launches later this year will be down to one major factor – the quality of the experience. Microsoft has a reputation for doing just enough to keep its existing customers satisfied. The question this time though is whether it can go one step further and secure its future, by actually making people want Windows 10.
Comments welcome via Twitter to @willgoodbody