What it is: Windows 10 is the latest version of Windows designed to correct the flaws of Windows 8 and provide a more seamless operating system for both desktop PCs and tablets.
During the Steve Ballmer era, Microsoft released two horrible versions of Windows: Vista and Windows 8. Why nobody at Microsoft could see how awful these versions f Windows were upon release remains a mystery. In hindsight everyone can see what was wrong with both versions, but at the time of the official launch, Microsoft was touting each as the greatest version of Windows ever. Now with Windows 10 officially released, what are the chances that Windows 10 will return Microsoft to its former glory?
Basically there’s no chance and it has nothing to dow with the benefits and features of Windows 10. Microsoft thrived when there were no choices. If you wanted a computer that could share files and connect with other computers, you had to choose a Windows PC. As long as there was no other option, sales of Windows PCs could thrive, even through the initial awful release of Vista. Then the world changed.
PCs require knowledge about using and maintaining a computer, so that barrier also stopped a large number of people from using a computer regularly. When Apple introduced the iPhone, they ushered in the smartphone era along with the iPad that defined the tablet era. Together the iPhone and iPad helped the world shift from PCs to mobile computing devices. Not only are smartphones and tablets much easier for more people to use, they require far less maintenance as well. That means more people can use a smartphone or tablet without special training or books.
Far more people are buying and using smartphones and tablets to access the Internet with each passing day. No matter how wonderful Windows 10 may be, it can only thrive if there are no choices. Even if Windows 10 manages to succeed in smartphones and tablets, both iOS and Android already have a huge head start. Most people aren’t going to abandon either iOS or Android just to go back to the frustrations of Windows again. Windows has a reputation for being something you have to use. Android and iOS have a better reputation of being something you want to use, and that’s the whole basis for the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) movement where employees buy and use their own devices instead of using company issued Windows PCs and Blackberry phones.
Windows 10 could be the best version of Windows in the world and it still won’t matter because the world has already embraced mobile computing where Windows 10 is the weakest. Windows 10 can keep people from abandoning Windows on PCs in favor of Linux or OS X, but it can’t keep people from using Android or iOS on smartphones and tablets. With the Apple Watch defining the wearable computing market, Windows 10 is at a disadvantage because it can’t run on wearable computers, shattering the Microsoft delusion of a single operating system running on multiple devices. What operating system is the Microsoft Band using? Chances are real good it’s not Windows 10 and standard Windows 10 programs won’t run on the Microsoft Band.
Will standard Windows 10 programs like Photoshop and AutoCAD run on a Windows 10 smartphone? Theoretically, but who wants it? Anyone really going to do serious CAD creation on a smartphone screen? Anyone planning to use the full version of Photoshop on a Windows 10 tablet?
If you look at software that runs on OS X, you can often find similar mobile versions that run on iOS. Yet these mobile versions are optimized for smartphones and tablets while the OS X versions are optimized for desktop and laptop computers. Given a choice between using software optimized for a particular device or software designed to run on wildly different devices, can you guess which type of software will be easiest to use?
Windows 10 can work perfectly and it still won’t matter. The desktop/laptop PC market is stagnant because people now have choices with mobile computing devices. Making Windows 10 run on smartphones and tablets isn’t the answer. Making software run efficiently is always the answer, and Vista and Windows 8 proved Microsoft couldn’t even get that right when running on desktop/laptop PCs.
There’s nothing wrong with Windows 10, but it’s no more the future than buggy whips and slide rulers are the future. If you’re happy using Windows 10, enjoy your decision. If you’re a developer, putting your hope that Windows 10 will become a massive success like Windows XP in the computer market is a fantasy that will never come true. The Windows era is slowly ending. It won’t disappear overnight, but it’s never going to regain its former glory, and that means the future lies in the world of mobile computing led by iOS and Android.