Windows 10 is announced and its partly a blast from the past

windows-10-start-menuWindows 10 has been announced. It is largely a departure from its recent versions, that is windows 8 and 8.1 which tried to bring together mobile touched based devices and traditional personal computers. But this move proved to be widely unpopular move on there part, because operating the touched based apps proved to be a clunky and unpleasant experience for the user also these versions of the os were highly confusing to navigate. The abolition of the start screen did not help matters. Microsoft a year later released Windows 8.1 as an attempt to win customers back, they made some  navigational improvements such as giving the user the option to boot strait into desktop mode and by putting the Power and Search Buttons next to the start Start button. These subtle changes to the os and some other minor tweaks were not enough to effectively win people back.  The poor user uptake was reflected in the poor interest from app developers. 

Windows 10 is a departure from the previous two versions of the os.Its going to come with a newly named browser and it will bring back some of the best aspects of Windows 7 such as a start menu which makes navigating the os less of an headache. Windows 10 is also very intuitive it adapts to what device you are using, if for example you are using a tablet it will make the touch based tile apps centre stage but if your using a desktop or laptop it will make the desktop mode the centre point of the os like it did in Windows 7. Its worth noting that its the first os to port a voice assistant to its desktop os. Apples Mac os have not got around to it yet but expect it soon.

Windows 10 will merge all the competing software platforms into a single platform, so this means that every app will work on every device running the new os.This will make everything simpler for app developers and it will give the user a wider selection of apps to choose from. Windows 10 will be able to even run universal apps on the xbox that will also be able to run on all other newer windows devices. These apps will offer a sort of follow you anywhere computing experience across phone and PC: a mobile version of Microsoft’s Inbox app for email, using Outlook, Calendar, a Photos app, a People app, Maps, and more. Basically they’re core apps that will cover the entire bases for everyday communication and the bad news is that it looks like they are only going to work on the new Xbox One. Xbox users will also have the ability to stream the content of the xbox to your laptop in Windows 10 which will open up even more possibilities for the end user.

Microsoft have another thing up its sleeve its called HoloLens. Its a headset that allows you to see holograms overlaid in the real world, that will integrate with your physical places, spaces, and things

The good news is that previous customers going back as far as Windows 7 will get a free upgrade to Windows 10. But after a year if they don’t upgrade they will lose that privilege. In practice it should be offered free for all its customers like Apple does for its Mac os customers. This move could further alienate older users and it could even encourage them to move to competing operating systems such as Linux, Mac or Android.

Windows 10 will be released later this year. But if you want to try it now its available in beta mode, which means its has not had all its bugs ironed out of it and it has not been fully finished, so don’t expect everything to work,heres the link