PC users all over the world are awaiting the release of Windows 10 keenly, and Microsoft has recently indicated how it intends to roll the software out. Windows 10 will be an absolutely massive software release for Microsoft, and consequently testers, consumers and business purchasers will all be given equal credence by the company when the software is released.
Windows Insiders grows vastly
The scale of this release is pretty staggering, and the number of Windows Insiders, who essentially assist with the building of Windows 10 alongside PC experts, IT pros, and developers around the world, has increased significantly. Microsoft claims that there are now 5 million Windows Insiders acting as beta builders of the project, with this figure having increased from 3.7 million just a few months ago.
Undoubtedly there is a lot of excitement and anticipation about this software, and to reflect this Microsoft has also been talking about pre-orders of the operating system. According to comments made by Microsoft in the last few days, it has managed to collect millions of reservations for Windows 10 among the general public. Although Microsoft, and companies in general, are prone to exaggerate certain figures in order to make their products appear favourable, industry experts believe that the numbers reputed for Windows 10 seem feasible.
Recovering from Windows 8
With Windows 8 having been little short of a total disaster for Microsoft, the world’s largest software company has announced sometime ago that it will offer Windows 10 as a free upgrade to the existing Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. Microsoft experienced particular problems with the business community, which was extremely reluctant to upgrade to Windows 8.
Microsoft has thus announced that it will significantly improve Windows 10 in order to attract the corporate sector, and numerous user-friendly aspects of the operating system have been reinstated for this Windows 10 release. Microsoft made several baffling decisions when releasing Windows 8, and after a pretty disastrous 2014 it seems to have learned from its mistakes.
Nonetheless, some of the PR and practical blunders that Microsoft has made over the last couple of years have cost the company significantly. When you are of the gargantuan size of Microsoft, any such errors failed to really dent the status and iconic nature of the company, but they have nonetheless been financially damaging to the corporation.
Not only was Windows 8 extremely poorly received both commercially and critically, but Microsoft also made some massive public relations errors with regard to its video games console, the Xbox One. The unveiling event for the Xbox One has been widely mocked online, and it was announced this week that Sony controls somewhere around 80 percent of the European console market as a result. Although Microsoft has fared better in the United States, there is no doubt that Sony is dominating this console generation with the PlayStation 4.
Windows 10 and the shifting marketplace
By the same token, Microsoft is looking to Windows 10 to cement its market share in an increasingly complex desktop marketplace. One should not underestimate the power of Microsoft in this niche, after all Windows still remains installed in around 90 percent of the desktop computers in the world. The affordable nature of PCs compared to their Apple competitors pretty much ensures that the business community will always opt for Windows, and this is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.
However, not only is Microsoft experiencing competition from Apple and the iMac series, but other desktop operating systems are now being downloaded more frequently. As an older generation that was unenthusiastic about technology is replaced by a new tech savvy millennial generation, so the number of consumers willing to shop around in order to purchase the ideal operating system and computing set-up is steadily increasing.
This can also be coupled with the fact that Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 into an extremely complex device marketplace. Once upon a time, Microsoft could concentrate on its core market of desktop computers, with minimal consideration to any alternative platforms. Nowadays, the software giant has numerous mobile platforms to deal with, and has to deliver a Windows 7 operating system that is effectively all things to all people.
This can be problematical for Microsoft, as this is effectively what the corporation attempted to do with Windows 8, only to fail miserably. Although the Microsoft spin machine has been in full cycle since this release was initially panned by critics, there is little doubt that Windows 8 was a complete failure. It is in this context that many market analysts consider Windows 10 to be the most important software release in the exalted history of Microsoft.
So the excellent news that Microsoft has received regarding the number of Windows Insiders and pre-orders will be pleasing for the corporation. Microsoft is targeting 1 billion devices installations for Windows 10 in the next 2 to 3 years; hence, this is certainly an ambitious piece of software. Considering the wider bandwidth of devices that Microsoft is able to target nowadays, this 1 billion figure might be plausible, but it must be also said in mitigation that it is certainly a large number.
Windows 10 release schedule
According to Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s recently appointed Executive Vice President of Operating Systems, Microsoft will begin rolling Windows 10 out to Windows Insiders on July 29. So the first opportunity to play with Windows 10 will come later this month. Windows Insiders who have signed up to the software will apparently be notified in tranches, and these will be steadily scaled up as July 29 approaches.
Microsoft has vowed to listen closely to the experiences of users when Windows 10 is released to Insiders. It is critical that this process goes smoothly for Microsoft, as there is a general perception that the software giant failed to take the desires of consumers and the corporate sector into consideration when it released Windows 8.
Windows 10 will then be rolled out to partners, and eventually a build of Windows 10 will be distributed to retailers all over the world. There isn’t long to wait for those who wish to get their hands on Windows 10, and we should soon know wither Microsoft has been successful in this massive project.
