Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

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

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Legislative overhaul on the cards for South Africa’s ICT sector

      14 July 2025

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      Trump tariffs could wreck South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing industry

      14 July 2025

      Microsoft South Africa to get new MD as Lillian Barnard moves to regional role

      14 July 2025

      Zuckerberg used open source to scale AI – now the lock-in begins

      14 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Duncan McLeod » Windows 10: will you upgrade?

    Windows 10: will you upgrade?

    By Duncan McLeod7 June 2015
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Duncan-McLeod-180-profileIn a little over seven weeks, Microsoft will deliver what is set to be the last big version upgrade to its flagship Windows operating system. It will mark the end of an era of packaged operating systems.

    On 29 July — the launch date was revealed this week — consumers will be able to download Windows 10 to their PCs and tablets.

    Those running legitimate copies of older versions of Windows — 7 and 8.1 — will get the new software free of charge (XP and Vista users are excluded from the free upgrade deal).

    Windows 10 is set to be starkly different to how consumers have installed and experienced Windows in the past.

    Firstly, most users will get the new operating system through Windows Update rather than buying a boxed product on DVD at a retail store. (However, given South Africa’s broadband constraints, consumers will also be able to take their computers to selected IT retailers to have the upgrade done in-store.)

    Secondly, Windows 10 will begin a significant shift away from the way Microsoft has historically sold its software. Windows is set to become a service, where updates and improvements are delivered more frequently, more in line with the way smartphones work. It’s possible there never will be a Windows 11. That doesn’t mean this is the end of the line for Windows — far from it. It’s just that the business model has shifted. Don’t be surprised if at some point in the future, Microsoft asks Windows users to pay an annual subscription fee in return for getting the latest updates, much like it does today with Office 365.

    Microsoft has also changed the way it’s building the latest version of Windows. It has made technical previews available to anyone interested in running the pre-release software. More than 4m people are already running the software ahead of its launch. This has helped Microsoft interface directly with both business and retail users, getting valuable feedback on what they like and don’t like about the operating system. According to Anthony Doherty, who heads the Windows Business Group at Microsoft South Africa, Windows 10 developers have received more than 800 000 individual feature requests and other feedback from users of the technical preview.

    Those already running the technical preview won’t have to upgrade to the final version and can simply elect to continue running the pre-release software. There are risks associated with this — the software is not deemed sufficiently bug-free to warrant commercial release — but millions of more technically minded users (read: geeks) are likely to go for this option to be first to get to tinker.

    Windows 10 includes a range of new features. Chief among them is a new Start menu (ditched controversially in Windows 8), which marries the interface design elements of Windows 7 with the much-loathed tile-driven design of 8. Where Windows 8 felt like a rushed and forced reaction to tablet competitors — the iPad was ascendant at the time — Windows 10 looks at home on both tablets and on traditional keyboard-and-mouse-driven PCs.

    Windows-81

    Also included in Windows 10 is a new Web browser, called Edge. The much-maligned Internet Explorer is still there, mainly for corporate users with legacy business applications only supported in IE. But Edge is the new default browser. With Edge, Microsoft is hoping to reclaim some of the market share it has lost in recent years to Google’s Chrome and the open-source Firefox browser.

    The new software also includes Cortana, Microsoft’s voice-driven personal assistant and rival to Apple’s Siri and Google’s voice search tools.

    Unfortunately, Doherty says Cortana will not be available in South Africa at Windows 10’s launch and won’t say if Microsoft has any plans to introduce it here. What he will say is it’s not imminent.

    Users can, however, change their computer’s region settings to the US or the UK to get access to a limited set of its services.

    This issue is, however, unlikely to hold back many South African users from upgrading. Microsoft will be hoping to get as many Windows 7 and 8 users onto 10 as quickly as possible. With the free upgrade offer, it surely will. Convincing the hold-outs still running the 14-year-old Windows XP could be trickier.

    • Duncan McLeod is TechCentral’s editor. Find him on Twitter
    • This column was first published in the Sunday Times


    Anthony Doherty Duncan McLeod Microsoft Windows 10
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleTelkom full-year results: what to expect
    Next Article Telkom full-year revenue up

    Related Posts

    Microsoft South Africa to get new MD as Lillian Barnard moves to regional role

    14 July 2025

    AI gold rush propels Nvidia to record $4-trillion market cap

    9 July 2025

    Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

    30 June 2025
    Company News

    Obsidian Systems makes the case for Linux in modern infrastructure

    14 July 2025

    Banking on LEO: Q-KON transforms financial services connectivity

    14 July 2025

    The future of business calling: Voys brings your landline to the cloud

    14 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

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

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

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