Windows 10 Is Here, but Microsoft Needs a Miracle to Reclaim Its Throne

Friendlier and a free upgrade, but six years late

In the early hours of today, Microsoft unveiled the consumer preview of Windows 10, spending two hours walking through the features of the next version of Windows.

"We want to move people from needing Windows to choosing Windows to loving Windows," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at the event. To him, today is a big day for both Microsoft and Windows.

Windows 10 does matter. Apple and Google long ago changed what users expect of how an operating system works. In his 2014 open letter to employees, Nadella wrote that once phones, tablets, PCs and other computing devices are all counted, Windows accounts for only 14% of the total.

Windows 8, launched in 2012, was panned. Users even bought new computers and then reinstalled Windows 7, just as they had during the notorious failure of Windows Vista. For the past few years Windows 8's share stayed very low; only last November did it reach 16.8%.

That low share and those poor reviews also wore down PC makers' patience. Longtime partners such as HP, Acer and Lenovo turned to Google and built a number of Chromebooks and Android tablets.

On phones, Windows fares worse. Nokia's Lumia line did lift it, for a time, to third place among mobile operating systems. But Windows Phone's global share peaked at a pitiful figure below 4%, and it is now under 3%. In China, the largest smartphone market, it is below 1%.

For Microsoft, Windows 10 has two jobs:

• Lift the shadow Windows 8 cast over desktop users, so that Windows becomes an asset to Microsoft as a maker of productivity tools rather than a drag;
• Win a second chance in mobile.

So how does Windows 10 plan to win back both groups at once? Microsoft's answer is a series of new features:

The Spartan Browser

A new image starts with a new name. The notorious Internet Explorer is no longer Windows' default way online. Its replacement is code-named Project Spartan, after the soldiers of Halo, Microsoft's flagship Xbox game. But Spartan does not replace IE entirely; the two will coexist. Spartan takes over from the Modern version of IE, while the desktop version of IE stays.

Spartan has an entirely new design, with tabs above the address bar, which makes it look more like Chrome. Click the button at the top left and the tab bar slides up to show previews of the open pages.

Spartan has three core features: a reading mode, OneNote annotation and Cortana.

As Microsoft imagines it, when you search the web for something or for a restaurant, or log in to Facebook to check family and friends' plans, Cortana will chime in with prompts such as "I already have directions and opening hours," along with your own schedule.

OneNote is the second feature built into Spartan. Microsoft encourages manufacturers to support styluses on tablets, and now you can write notes with a pen directly on any web page open in Spartan; you can annotate with keyboard and mouse too. All annotations are saved to Microsoft's cloud, so you can see them later on your phone. You can choose to save these notes to OneNote or share them with friends.

Spartan's reading mode lets you concentrate on a page's content; click the reading mode button to the right of the address bar to enter it. Microsoft had already added reading mode to Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Within reading mode, you can use the built-in OneNote annotations.

Cortana, the AI Voice Assistant

Microsoft has finally built Cortana into Windows 10. In the leaked build 9910 of the Windows 10 Technical Preview, Cortana had already largely taken shape, but it could then handle only fairly simple tasks.

In the new preview, a search box sits next to the Start button. Click it, or simply say "Hey Cortana," and Cortana starts. Its white panel pops up above the search bar, showing your schedule, the local weather and the Notebook.

In Windows 10, Cortana is woven more deeply into the system. It can search documents, including content in OneDrive. In the new Maps app, you can call up Cortana to find a place you want to go. Cortana can also remember where you parked. That used to require the HERE Drive app; now Microsoft has built it into Cortana.

Cortana is now nearly everywhere in Windows 10.

The Start Menu

Windows 8 put a few huge tiles on a PC screen. Windows 10's tiles are instead optimized for the mouse and for large screens: in the live demo, up to 96 tiles fit on one screen.

Not everyone likes a screen full of squares. Windows 10's Start menu can be resized, so you decide how big it should be. In a world of so many screen sizes, this is a good idea. The tablet Start screen stays the same as in Windows 8. Here is a clear official comparison:

Touch Office Comes to Windows

After announcing Office apps for iPhone, iPad and Android, Microsoft has finally brought Office to Windows 10.

Office for Windows 10 will be a universal app. Microsoft says the new Office, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, will be part of Windows 10 on phones, tablets and PCs alike.

Office for Windows 10 uses the same interface as the iPad and Android versions, and its overall design beats the earlier Office for Windows Phone. On phones, Microsoft fits the traditional Ribbon interface into a secondary menu.

Microsoft also redesigned the old Mail and Calendar apps in Windows 10. It did not merge them, though; they are now called Outlook Mail and Outlook Calendar.

The Xbox Gaming Platform

The new Windows 10 preview adds a redesigned Xbox app. It shows your Xbox games, your and your friends' achievements, invitations from friends, and activity feeds.

The new Xbox app can record 30 seconds of gameplay; press Windows+G to start. Recordings are shared straight to your Xbox Live.

Through the Xbox app, you can play with friends across platforms. Windows 10 will bring more multiplayer games and let you unlock more Xbox Live achievements across platforms. It will support streaming Xbox One games to any Windows 10 PC or tablet, and you can also play together with an Xbox running Windows 10.

Microsoft also announced the DirectX 12 gaming API, which will be exclusive to Windows 10. Microsoft says DirectX 12 gives developers more efficient control over computing resources, boosting game performance by 50% and cutting battery drain when gaming on phones.

Windows 10 on Phones

Windows 10 is one operating system, built on a shared core, for every platform, spanning phones, tablets, PCs and Xbox. Microsoft has also updated Windows 10's apps so they run on both phones and tablets.

Sadly, most of the new features Windows 10 brings to phones are things the iPhone and Android phones have long had. Five years after launch, Windows smartphones are still catching up with rivals on the basics.

Skype: Skype is now built into the messaging app. Much like Apple's iMessage, you can choose within one app whether to message a friend by SMS or by Skype, and the color tells you which one you are using.

Notification center: Microsoft has added quick actions to the notification center. As with Android's notification center and Apple's Control Center, you can change device settings right there. Phones are also no longer limited to four quick actions.

Tile screen background: Judging from the live demo, the phone version of Windows 10 can now use a custom picture as the background, instead of only black or white as before.

New settings screen: The phone version of Windows 10 brings an all-new settings screen with redesigned icons and regrouped options. It is clearer than the settings screen in Windows Phone 8.1.

Notifications you can reply to: The phone version of Windows 10 lets you reply straight from a notification, without opening the app.

Two Pieces of Hardware

Microsoft also launched two hardware products at the event:

Surface Hub

If you remember Microsoft's earlier Perceptive Pixel giant-screen devices, Surface Hub won't seem unfamiliar.

Surface Hub is an 84-inch 4K smart TV with a built-in computer, a multi-touch, multi-pen touchscreen, advanced built-in sensors, two cameras, a microphone array and speakers.

Microsoft believes Surface Hub will play an important role in meetings, whiteboarding, video calls, note-taking and other office work.

HoloLens Holographic Headset

To everyone's surprise, Microsoft brought its own holographic headset to the event: Microsoft HoloLens.

Unlike devices built around virtual reality or augmented reality, Microsoft HoloLens projects holograms, which means the people around you can see the interface too:

In Microsoft's promotional video, HoloLens displays your schedule and information about objects. Even Skype calls appear as holograms, and if you ask someone for help with a technical problem, HoloLens can turn their advice into arrows showing you what to do.

For more on this product, see this QDaily article.

Release Date and Pricing

The new Windows 10 preview comes out next week. You can download the update through the existing Windows Insider program, and Microsoft will also release a new preview ISO image. The final release date has not been announced; Microsoft says only that it will come later this year.

Microsoft must badly need Windows 10 to win back the market: this time the upgrade is free, at least for the first year. Existing Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 users can upgrade to Windows 10 directly at no cost.

Windows 10, Six Years Late: Can It Save Microsoft?

In July 2009, Microsoft launched Windows 7. It swept away the shadow of Windows Vista and quickly became the most widely used operating system in the world. But while Microsoft was basking in Windows 7, the iPhone and Android were rising fast.

In the second quarter of 2014, of every 100 smartphones sold, more than 84 ran Android and 11 were iPhones. Fewer than 3 ran Windows Phone.

Microsoft knew it had missed its entry into the mobile era, but Windows 8, rushed in as a firefighter in 2012, failed. Users abandoned Windows 8, and Windows 8 led OEMs to abandon Microsoft. Former teammates such as Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer left one after another to build Android tablets and Chromebooks with Google.

Meanwhile, the Mac grew fast while Windows 8 floundered. Riding that growth, Apple became the world's fifth-largest PC maker in 2014.

Windows 10 is what Microsoft should have delivered after Windows 7 to answer Apple and Google. It is six years late.

In the enterprise market, Microsoft's traditional stronghold, Windows 10 paired with Office looks good. But Microsoft wants more: it also wants a place in the phone market.

Yet most of the new features Windows 10 brings to phones are ones the iPhone and Android already have. We saw no reason Microsoft gave anyone to choose Windows Phone over everything else. Today Windows Phone's market share is below 3%; few established companies launch their apps on Windows Phone first, and the apps already there often go a long time without updates.

In today's mobile market, optimism and a few "new" features are not enough for Windows 10 to succeed. Microsoft will have to hope for a miracle.