Windows needs to catch up with how we’re using laptops

I WAS READING our Business Focus ( see p96) on end point protection – tools for IT admins to keep smartphones, tablets, laptops and PCs protected, in non-business speak – when it struck me what Windows really needed. It’s so obvious that I wonder why I didn’t think of it before, and that Microsoft hasn’t already done precisely this already.

What we need is the ability for more knowledgeable folk to have control of our household’s laptops. Not only which security suite is running on devices, but similar levels of management that IT managers have over their employees’ systems. Think of it as Group Policy for the masses.

I realise this may cause difficulties. My teenage children barely let me step into their bedroom, and I suspect that me controlling what they could or couldn’t install on their computers would go down like an order to wear school uniform at weekends. So, I’m not suggesting that you or I turn ourselves into a household god.

At the same time, if you read PC Pro then you’re almost certainly the first port of call for family and friends when they hit IT problems. If they’re running Windows laptops, we can safely assume that they’re also using a Home variant of the operating system. Therein lies a problem, as it’s an order of magnitude more difficult to remotely solve problems on Home due to Microsoft’s business decision to make Pro much more expensive. For example, I’ve just bought a Surface Book 3 ( see p48), and the stated price difference between the Home and Pro editions was £80.

Now, my teenagers wouldn’t want me controlling anything on their systems, but my mum is a different matter. She simply wants her computer to work properly when web browsing, answering email and typing in Word.

And she wants to feel secure. Knowing that I had control over what happened on her system, and that I was looking after boring-yet-vital admin stuff such as backups, would be a weight off her mind.

I could get around many of these problems by installing Windows 10 Pro ( see p34) on her system and managing it just as an IT manager would, but there are two huge issues with this. First is that I would have to do some serious learning to find out how such management works, as it’s a subject I’ve read about but not actually done. And then I’d have to upgrade everyone’s system to Pro, which is a challenge in this socially distanced world.

Besides, Group Policy, Domain Join and Active Directory are heavyweight tools that belong in corporate environments. People like me, and many small businesses where the most tech-savvy person is nominated as the IT guy, need friendlier tools with more limited feature s, but that still allow us to take charge of Windows updates, security settings and who can install what.

Microsoft must realise that Windows in 2020 is very different to Windows in 2000. Our laptops have become powerful everyday tools that also offer cybercriminals too many opportunities to attack. Never mind our ability to cause harm with an unthinking click on the Next button.

So, while I welcome all the lovely new features in the May update ( see p26), what I’d really like to see in the next update is, as the politicians love to say, something to give us back control.

Tim Danton Editor-in-chief