Microsoft has announced the technical preview of Windows 10, which it is calling a re-invented operating system that embraces the connected world.
Zoaib Hoosen, country manager of Microsoft SA, points out that Windows currently serves about 1,5-billion people around the world.
“We all know the changes in the world and the impact those changes are having. Windows need to address these changes,” he says.
Connectivity, access, connectivity – people want platforms that just work. “When we were thinking about Windows we had to take these things into consideration and look at the way forward.”
Microsoft is releasing the code very early in its development cycle, and inviting input – inviting partners to take the development journey with the company.
“We have been talking to enterprise customers over the last months,” Hoosen says. “These customers have a business and a personal life. There is a human being in the middle of this.”
Anthony Doherty, Windows business group lead at Microsoft SA, stresses that Microsoft is starting the development journey of Windows 10 early, and hopes to share it with its customers and partners.
In the changing world, devices outnumber people, and connectivity has become pervasive. “Our consumers and business partners are demanding better productivity,” says Doherty.
“Microsoft is also changing, faster than ever before, to embrace the broader eco-system.”
What is needed in this changing world, he says, is a new Windows. “Windows is almost at a threshold. To satisfy the needs of our customers we have to re-invent Windows.”
Today is a departure point for the future of the product, he says, not least of all because the new version is Windows 10 – although Microsoft only weeks ago launched Windows 8.
“This is a new generation of Windows that lands on many screens, delivering a single operating system that can be secured and managed across all these screens”
The new platform delivers a unified development platform that lets the same app run across all devices, although developers can tweak how their app lands depending upon the device.
Windows for Enterprise delivers one universal app platform, one security model, one management system, one deployment approach and one familiar experience.
“We are heading to this one unified experience – this one Windows,” Doherty says.
As part of its philosophy of embracing input to the product’s development, Microsoft has announced the Windows Insider Program, where PC experts and IT pros can get access to a technical preview of Windows 10 for desktops and laptops. Within the next few weeks, the company will also release technical previews of Windows Server and management tools.
These Windows customers are invited to contribute their own opinions and needs to the development of Windows 10.
Launching the new product in the US last night, Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Operating Systems group at Microsoft, comments: “Windows 10 represents the first step of a whole new generation of Windows, unlocking new experiences to give customers new ways to work, play and connect.
“This will be our most comprehensive operating system and the best release Microsoft has ever done for our business customers, and we look forward to working together with our broader Windows community to bring Windows 10 to life in the months ahead.”
Windows 10 adapts to the devices customers are using — from Xbox to PCs and phones to tablets and tiny gadgets — and what they’re doing with a consistent, familiar and compatible experience, enabling even greater productivity.
Windows 10 will run across the broadest range of devices ever from the Internet of Things to enterprise data centres worldwide. Microsoft is also delivering a converged application platform for developers on all devices with a unified app store. Developers will be able to write an application once and deploy it easily across multiple device types, making discovery, purchase and updating easier than ever for customers.
Windows 10 builds nearly everything that businesses need right into the core of the product — including enterprise-grade security, identity and information protection features — in ways that can reduce complexities and provide better experiences than other solutions.
One area of advancement is in the work Microsoft has done with user identities to improve resistance to breach, theft or phishing. Windows 10 will also help advance data loss prevention by using containers and data separation at the application and file level, enabling protection that follows the data as it goes from a tablet or PC to a USB drive, email or the cloud.
Management and deployment have been simplified to help lower costs, including in-place upgrades from Windows 7 or Windows 8 that are focused on making device wipe-and-reload scenarios obsolete. Businesses will also have the flexibility to choose how quickly they adopt the latest innovations and influence continued improvements. In addition, organisations will be able to customise an app store specific to their needs and environment.
The intent is an app store that will allow for volume app licensing, flexible distribution, and the ability for organisations to reclaim or reuse licenses when necessary.
The early technical preview of Windows 10 demonstrates new levels of flexibility, navigation and familiarity through the Windows experience.
Features include:
* Expanded Start menu – the familiar Start menu is back, providing quick one-click access to the functions and files that people use most, and it includes a new space to personalise with favourite apps, programs, people and Web sites.
* Apps that run in a window – apps from the Windows Store now open in the same format that desktop programs do. They can be resized and moved around, and have title bars at the top allowing users to maximise, minimise and close with a click.
* Snap enhancements – working in multiple apps at once is easier and more intuitive with snap improvements. A new quadrant layout allows up to four apps to be snapped on the same screen. Windows will also show other apps and programs running for additional snapping, and it will even make smart suggestions on filling available screen space with other open apps.
* New Task view button – the new Task view button on the task bar enables one view for all open apps and files, allowing for quick switching and one-touch access to any desktop created.
* Multiple desktops – instead of too many apps and files overlapping on a single desktop, it’s easy to create and switch between distinct desktops for different purposes and projects — whether for work or personal use.
The business element of Windows 10 is the first phase of development. The consumer chapter will begin early In 2015, with the Developer chapter scheduled around the middle of the year, with launch set for later in the year – there is no launch date yet.
“This is a story, and we have only just started the story today,” says Microsoft SA’s Doherty.
“This will be a new Windows. It will deliver a consistent platform across devices. IT will give the developer one platform, and allow apps to be tweaked according to landing device.
“Importantly, there will be one Windows store for users to download apps. And enterprise customers will be able to build their own store – and provide license management for the enterprise.”
He stresses that this is a new approach from Microsoft to planning, building, developing and releasing products.
