TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Fixing SA’s power crisis is not complex: it simply takes the will to do better

      12 August 2022

      Consortium makes unsolicited bid for state’s 40% stake in Telkom

      12 August 2022

      Actually, solar users should pay more to access the grid – here’s why

      12 August 2022

      Telkom says MTN talks remain on track

      12 August 2022

      Analysis | Rain muddies the waters with approach to Telkom

      11 August 2022
    • World

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022

      Huawei just booked its first sales rise since US blacklisting

      12 August 2022

      Apple remains upbeat about iPhone sales even as Android world suffers

      12 August 2022

      Ether at two-month high as upgrade to blockchain passes major test

      12 August 2022

      Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

      11 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Editor's pick»Windows 10 one year on

    Windows 10 one year on

    Editor's pick By The Conversation1 August 2016
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    windows-10-640

    This week marks one year since the launch of what is arguably Microsoft’s most ambitious — and possibly most controversial — operating system: Windows 10.

    Windows 10 represents a fundamentally different approach compared to the earlier versions of Windows that many of us have used, such as the highly popular Windows 7.

    With Windows 7, Microsoft understood what desktop users wanted and delivered a product to satisfy their demands. Windows 7 loaded quickly, it made media sharing easy, it was more secure than the earlier Windows XP, gamers loved it, it used less power and Windows Media Centre was a useful interface for watching media.

    But rather than being exclusively for desktop PCs, Windows 10 aimed to service three different platforms: PC, tablet and smartphone.

    In many ways, Windows 10 is an evolution of its previous iteration, Windows 8 (there was no Windows 9). Microsoft has taken the same cross-platform philosophy and refined it to remove some of the issues that proved unpopular with users.

    But Microsoft’s first attempt to appeal to the desktop and mobile market in a single OS failed badly in two ways.

    Firstly, Windows 8 never gained a significant market share in the mobile space. Secondly, it compromised the experience for desktop users by forcing them to use an interface system designed with touchscreen tablets in mind.

    The Start menu — a fixture since Windows 95 — was removed in favour of a start screen, which proved to be a disastrous move.

    Even experienced Windows users could not find the common functionality they regularly used. Microsoft’s app store was launched to compete with Apple and Google, but it failed to attract quality developers. This had a flow-on effect on the mobile/tablet market as many apps that people used were not available on Windows 8.

    Windows 10 was a result of the learning experience from Windows 8. The user interface is significantly improved as part of the “Continuum” concept, which senses the device you are using and adjusts itself accordingly.

    The Start button was back with the addition of Live Tiles, which display information at a glance without opening an app or program.

    Microsoft also introduced Cortana, which is couched as a virtual personal assistant, and a new Web browser, Edge.

    windows-10-640-2

    Who’s watching?

    However, one of the features that drew the most attention, and the most controversy, was the way Windows 10 tracked user data and provided targeted advertising in return.

    This was one way that Microsoft could afford to offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade from Windows 7 and 8 until July 2016.

    But many users did not welcome the tracking of their personal information. As some have said, Microsoft used to monetise its operating systems by offering it as a product and charging money for it, but with Windows 10, Microsoft is monetising its customers by gathering their data and turning that into a product to sell to advertisers.

    While many companies, such as Google and Amazon, regularly gather user data and target advertising at them through their online portals, many people objected to Microsoft using their entire operating system to track them.

    The feeling of your desktop tracking your actions and sending out this information is disturbing to many people. People strongly feel that their desktop belongs to them because they paid for it (even though Windows 10 was offered free to most users), unlike websites for which they did not.

    Microsoft has also had legal trouble in France over Windows 10 practices regarding privacy, security and user data collection. This may be the first case, but likely won’t be the last one.

    Out of 10?

    Despite the privacy concerns, Windows 10’s features have expanded over its first year. Cortana now shares maps, tracks lost phones and sends photos from phone to PC with voice commands.

    Edge now uses less power, allows note taking on Web pages and provides a reading view for distraction-free reading of Web content.

    In August 2015, Microsoft launched an Internet of things (IoT) framework to offer support for developing IoT apps on Windows 10 using Raspberry Pi, which is a miniature low-cost computer.

    In terms of security, Microsoft added Device Guard, which can ensure only permitted programs will run.

    It also disabled the controversial Wi-Fi Sense, which was included at launch and allowed shared users’ Wi-Fi passwords with Outlook and Skype contacts.

    Microsoft’s mobile strategy progressed further with Continuum, which now allows any monitor to be used as a computer by plugging in a Windows 10-enabled smartphone.

    Another change to Microsoft’s strategy is that there won’t be new standalone versions of Windows, but rather incremental functional updates to Windows 10.

    Overall, Windows 10 was a successful strategic move by Microsoft to leverage its desktop user base and guide them to tablets, mobiles and then to the cloud. It learnt from the mistakes of Windows 8 and developed an OS platform that has shown potential to be successful.The Conversation

    • Vidyasagar Potdar is senior research fellow, School of Information Systems, Curtin University
    • This article was originally published on The Conversation
    Microsoft Vidyasagar Potdar Windows 10
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleUber, Didi to merge to create $35bn firm
    Next Article It’s official: sitting is killing you

    Related Posts

    Gaming industry’s fortunes fade as pandemic ends

    11 August 2022

    The African tech start-ups eyeing global markets

    8 August 2022

    Businesses can now access essential software tools via the FNB App

    1 August 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Get your brand in front of TechCentral’s amazing audience

    12 August 2022

    Pricing Beyond CMYK: printers answer the FAQs

    11 August 2022

    How secure is your cloud?

    10 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.