Windows rebooted
Microsoft gets its mojo back with its new operating system.
At a worldwide fan event which took place in 13 cities around the world including tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, New York and Clarke Quay, Singapore, Microsoft launched Windows 10, the company’s most important operating system ( OS) in recent times.
Indeed, the July 29 event was in part to thank the more than five million users who took part in the Windows Insider Program to help steer the direction of Windows 10 while it was in beta or testing phase.
Getting Windows 10 just right is critical, especially after the negative consumer reactions to Windows 8, which took away the Start menu, the mainstay of the OS since Windows 95.
In the rush to make Windows 8 touch- friendly to appeal to tablet users, the company made many design choices that left its traditional desktop users in the cold.
Microsoft largely fixed many of the shortcomings with Windows 8.1 but Windows 10 is a more complete and unified redesign to keep both worlds happy.
Back is the Start menu which now also features the Live tiles introduced in Windows 8, along with Microsoft Edge, a redesigned web browser that adds nifty new features not found in other browsers on the market.
It’s free
Microsoft is giving out Windows 10 for free to users who own Windows 7 or Windows 8/ 8.1 and the offer is valid for a full year starting from the July 29 launch date.
there’s no catch – you can download it for free and get continuous updates for the lifetime of the PC.
While Microsoft has been using the term “Windows as a service” for Windows 10, the company confirms that there will be no subscription fee for updates and security patches after the free period lapses.
Even non- genuine copies can be updated to Windows 10 but once updated the computer will nag the user to purchase a valid licence.
there are two versions of Windows 10 – Home and Pro – and which flavour you get will depend on your current edition of Windows 7/ 8/ 8.1. Users building a new PC will have to purchase the boxed editions of the OS.
As of press time the local prices have yet to be announced for the boxed editions which are launching today. they are expected to cost about the same as in the US where Windows 10 Home retails for US$ 119 ( RM460) and Pro for US$ 199 ( RM770).
Missing out
Despite touting many new exciting features, Microsoft will make Malaysians wait for some of them. For example, Cortana, the intelligent virtual personal assistant, will be disabled by default.
the company says it’s still working to bring the full experience of Cortana such as being able to ask it for restaurant recommendations and other related features.
However, users who want to try out Cortana can enable it by changing their location to the United States in the region setting.
Cortana will allow you to perform searches for files within your PC or to turn settings on and off ( such as Bluetooth) by simply using your voice.
Similarly, the Xbox app, which makes an appearance for the first time on the desktop PC, doesn’t have a local Xbox Live store for buying console games. However, if you have an Xbox One, you can take advantage of the app to stream games from the console to the PC.
Guenter Weimer, general manager for Windows and Surface for Microsoft Asia Pacific, confirmed that there will be no Windows 10 upgrade for the Surface and Surface 2 hybrid tablets which run Windows Rt.
However, they will continue to get feature and security updates.
Microsoft says it’s still on track to launch Windows 10 for smartphones sometime in the fourth quarter.