Microsoft to unveil details of Windows 10
19 Jan 2015
Microsoft, will unveil details about Windows 10, a new operating system for PCs, at an event at its headquarters outside Seattle, The New York Times reported.
According to the company, the operating system, would help developers more easily adapt PC applications to mobile devices. The company hoped it would also increase the availability of applications for - and lift sales of - the company's smartphones.
The move was the biggest effort yet by Satya Nadella, who took over as chief executive nearly a year ago, to salvage the company's moribund smartphone business (See: Satya Nadella named Microsofts 3rd CEO).
Nadella had so far put the company's overall mobile offerings on a more practical path. He released, last year, the company's Office suite of applications for Apple iOS and Google Android devices, and also improved tools for developers of nearly all device brands.
The tactics had helped propel the company's stock to a near 15-year high and according to Ben Thompson, an independent technology analyst who once helped manage Microsoft's relationship with Windows developers, he was ''pleased with Microsoft's strategy for the first time in a long time.''
However, he said the company's attempt to make Microsoft's mobile platform relevant, remained a challenge. Microsoft could not make that happen, Thompson said. He added it was up to developers and he thought the situation was pretty hopeless from that perspective.
Meanwhile, ComputerWorld reported that when Microsoft would unveil the consumer editions of Windows 10 next week, key questions about the OS would be on the table. The event at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters would be a high-wire act for Microsoft, but this time there was no safety net.
The event would be focused on the consumer, although businesses would also be watching the proceedings, which would be webcast and feature top executives including CEO Satya Nadella.
Though a number of reasons had been given for rejection of Windows 8 by businesses, the main reason was retraining employees came at a considerable cost, so Microsoft would need to to produce, borrowing a legal phrase, a plea for continuance: a reason for users to keep believing in the potential of the product until at least next fall.
To achieve that Microsoft would need to prove to its customers that the Windows 10 usage model could be both familiar and new. Usage model meant not only the methodology but also the philosophy, behind using the product. Facebook had a usage model that was fundamental to its entire platform on all devices and Microsoft needed to have a similar usage model in mind for Windows 10.
