Windows 10 entices millions in first day

WASHINGTON—Some 14 million people installed the Windows 10 operating system in the first 24 hours following its release, Microsoft said, calling the response “overwhelmingly positive.”

The company said its new operating system aimed at computers, mobile devices and other gadgets got off to a strong start toward its goal of reaching one billion devices.

“We’re humbled and grateful to see the response to Windows 10,” corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post late Thursday.

“We have seen unprecedented demand for Windows 10, with reviews and customer feedback overwhelmingly positive around the globe.”

The stakes are high for Microsoft as it pushes out the new operating system for both traditional computers and mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

The company is hoping the new system can help it gain traction in mobile, where it lags behind Google Android and Apple iOS, and in emerging technologies for computing.

Windows 10 — Microsoft skipped directly from Windows 8, which got a lackluster response — is being offered as a free upgrade for most devices, making it possible to be available quickly on billions of devices.

It will allow for voice, pen and gesture input, and in some cases biometric identification for improved security.

Mehdi said the company is rolling out the software in phases to make the transition easier.

“Our top priority has been ensuring that everyone has a great upgrade experience, so, we are carefully rolling out Windows 10 in phases, delivering Windows 10 first to our Windows Insiders,” he said.

“While we now have more than 14 million devices running Windows 10, we still have many more upgrades to go before we catch up to each of you that reserved your upgrade.”

In one sour note, the chief executive of Mozilla, which makes the Firefox Web browser, complained that Windows 10 imposes the new Edge browser as the default option, overriding choices made by users.

“The update experience appears to have been designed to throw away the choice your customers have made about the Internet experience they want, and replace it with the Internet experience Microsoft wants them to have,” Mozilla CEO Chris Beard said in an open letter to his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella.

Beard said the new operating system makes it more complicated to choose a competing browser such as Firefox.

“It now takes more than twice the number of mouse clicks, scrolling through content and some technical sophistication for people to reassert the choices they had previously made in earlier versions of Windows,” Beard said.

“It’s confusing, hard to navigate and easy to get lost.”

Beard urged Microsoft to “respect people’s right to choice and control of their online experience by making it easier, more obvious and intuitive for people to maintain the choices they have already made through the upgrade experience.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Microsoft skips Windows 9 to stress advances

SAN FRANCISCO — The next version of Microsoft’s flagship operating system will be called Windows 10, as the company skips version 9 to emphasize advances it is making toward a world centered on mobile devices and Internet services.

The current version, Windows 8, has been widely derided for forcing radical behavioral changes. Microsoft is restoring some of the more traditional ways of doing things and promises that Windows 10 will be familiar for users regardless of which version of Windows they are now using.

For instance, the start menu in Windows 10 will appear similar to what’s found in Windows 7, but tiles opening to the side will resemble what’s found in Windows 8.

Joe Belfiore, a Microsoft executive who oversees Windows design and evolution, said Windows 10 will offer “the familiarity of Windows 7 with some of the benefits that exist in Windows 8″ to help business users make the transition.

Microsoft offered a glimpse of its vision for Windows at a San Francisco event Tuesday aimed at business customers. Microsoft is making a technical preview version available to selected users starting Wednesday. It plans to unveil details about consumer features early next year, with a formal release in mid-2015.

Analysts consider the success of the new Windows crucial for Microsoft and new CEO Satya Nadella, who must show that Microsoft can embrace mobile devices without sacrificing the traditional computing experience.

The new software represents an attempt to step back from the radical redesign that alienated many PC users when Windows 8 was introduced two years ago. But it’s not a complete retreat from Microsoft’s goal of bridging the gap between PCs and mobile devices: It still has touch-screen functions and strives to create a familiar experience for Windows users who switch between desktop computers, tablets and smartphones.

Microsoft executive Terry Myerson said Windows 10 will be “a whole new generation” and, as expected, will work across a variety of devices — from phones to gaming consoles.

Microsoft currently has three main systems — Windows 8 for traditional computers and tablets, Windows Phone 8 for cellphones and Xbox for its gaming console. By unifying the underlying systems, software developers will be able to create apps for the various devices more easily. Consumers will also be able to switch devices more easily and avoid having to buy the same apps multiple times.

That doesn’t mean the apps will look the same on the various devices. Developers will still be able to adapt apps for the various screen sizes, but won’t have to start from the beginning for each version.

User interfaces on the various devices may also differ, even as they share underlying technologies. For now, Microsoft plans to keep the current Xbox interface on the game console.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Microsoft launches ‘reimagined’ Windows

BARCELONA—IT giant Microsoft on Wednesday delivered its answer to Google and Apple, through a new-generation Windows operating system designed to run seamlessly on computers and portable tablet devices.


“Windows 8 is a generational change in the Windows operating system,” said Windows president Steven Sinofsky.

“It’s Windows reimagined,” he added, launching the consumer preview of the operating system at the world’s biggest mobile fair in Barcelona.

The operating system is Microsoft’s riposte to Google’s Android platform and Apple, which has dominated the tablet market it ignited with the release of the iPad.

Like its two competitors, Microsoft is adopting the “app” style in its reinvented operating system.

Unlike previous generations of Windows, which has a taskbar pulling up a list of software, the latest version has a selection of applications or “apps” tiled on the start page.

For devices with touchscreens, apps are selected or moved around in the same way as on a smartphone — by hand, swiping to switch between pages or screens, pinching to enlarge or shrink and tapping to select.

For those without touchscreens, the same could be done using the drag and drop functions, or clicks of a mouse.

“Apps bring to life the operating system. The more apps you have, the better your experience,” said Sinofsky.

For those who have several devices, they will be connected through a “cloud”, a resource that pools a user’s data online rather than on a user’s computer disc.

“This connection through cloud is very important in how we thought of Windows 8 in the beginning,” said Sinofsky.

It enabled what is seen on the screen of a tablet device to be replicated on a regular computer if the user signs in with a Windows ID.

Microsoft also announced on Wednesday the test opening of its Windows Store, where users can buy apps online.

Although it is a heavyweight in the computer market, Microsoft has lagged behind in getting a share of the smartphone and tablet pie.

Windows has teamed up with Finnish giant Nokia to make smartphones to try to win back a share.

On Monday, Nokia announced that Windows phones have now been made compatible with Chinese mobile operating networks, allowing it to bring its smartphones to that massive market.

It could also challenge the dominance of Blackberry in the corporate market, as companies may opt to go with Windows as their computers are already running on that operating system.

“We have a wild card on this subject because we are very active in enterprises’ IT systems” and companies “realise that it would provide better integration and a better experience,” Microsoft’s mobility division director Laurent Schloesser told AFP.

“The enterprise market will take up Windows Phone,” he added.

Gartner research analyst Roberta Cozza said that it remained unclear how Windows 8 would be integrated with the Windows phone.

“But it will definitely make the user interface (UI) that we have seen today more familiar with consumers.

“The tiled UI is new but if it gets adopted on PCs and tablets, it will resonate more and become more familiar to users, and this could in turn help the Windows phone,” she added.

The Windows 8 preview is available for download at preview.windows.com.

During the preview period, apps on the Windows Store will be available to users to test for free.


source: http://technology.inquirer.net/8787/microsoft-launches-reimagined-windows