Microsoft Build Conference.

Well cx2 I'd be scared.
I say the next bit a bit bluntly.
ms really stuffed up big time and I don't mean this just to swear here.
The idea for a touch system was a good interface and its worked rather well.
But Microsoft in my opinion pushed it out to quick and to fast.
Worse, in terms of it catching on, while on a tablet it worked as you can expect helped in no small term by android and ios, the fact is, right now anyway, your average desktop user really does not want touch.
Unless they have a touch tablet and lets face it those are getting cheaper and cheaper.
Point is even if I do get a tablet or small phone where I can I am going to use a keyboard, its easier to handle, faster to type on etc.
One thing I don't agree is the cloud ms is using the fact you have to log in to use your system on the cloud takes away some control I really like.
the ability to save on my own storage.
I don't mind colaberative projects but to be honest bar email, putting all my passwords and bank info online just doesn't sit well with me I don't care how secure it is its just not sitting with me.
Ok maybe as a backup but ffor active use.
There is server uptime network uptime and the like.
What is the use of a computer if you can't hope to keep things working when you well need to go online and have no net.
Also if I am outside my network in a location I can't use the net or I don't want to then I shouldn't need to login to the net to get access to my computer.
I'd like the option to logon locally, and do whatever.
Granted I may loose some live tile app updates and the windows store.
Excuse me tablet users but us desktopers have managed without the cloud for ages and ages.
I'll save the cloud for my own tablet.
Its different if I do have a tablet of different type.
I am not sure about windows being a service.
But I do like the idea of what computer world says of a long time 10 year support release, Linux has had something like that for ages.
But if I were ms I'd be scared, vary scared.
Vista had people on xp and to be honest I would still have stayed on xp if it hadn't gone out of support because it served me well.
Windows7 with uac off and everything including security set to make it close to xp as possible is something I really like.
However saying that when win10 comes out, I will be updating my dad's i5 64 bit quad core to 10.
I am not sure about my brother's i3 and I am not sure about my Toshiba unless the licence can be transferred if it can I'll take it not sure if I will use it but I will take it.
I think ms is making a good idea by making windows as a service in the aspect that you won't have to ever upgrade your os unless there is something you want.
Or unless you get a new bit of hardware obviously.
My prime hope though is to have windows running on all my devices, I want to be able to run all my stuff anywhere so I don't have to stick by my laptop all day long.
I just really hope Microsoft have learned their lesson because if they havn't I swear, I'm going to get whatever works installed.
that's win7 right now but it could easily be xp,
I don't need the latest hardware and I want choices about how I login etc.
Even if I get a cloud, I may set autologin on a local account and keep the cloud for when I really do need it like using the store.
I had to upgrade someone's system from win8 to 8.1 and I hated the interface of 8.
Once I got it to 8.1 and entered the right codes and stuff which I had to get, I then went and got it running.
I was going to run through its powerfull stuff and take a week or 2 but I was so pissed with how disgusting win8 was that I worked all night without sleeping finished the unit and gave it back  and hope to never see it again.
I do like the fact you can switch from touch to keyboard with a simple device connection but apparently any touch games using windows you can't take control from the device unless you close another program controlling it like your screen reader.
So unlike other touch devices and such the ms one is useless unless you run one program at a time with it.
If I do get win 10 I am going to install classic shell and disable my touch device perminantly with a hammer if I have to to stop all the silliness.

Short answer is I don't know, office is the costly thing the versions unless you do online subscription are to expensive unless you want basic.
windows is relatively cheap at 200 dollars straight which is not to bad.
its when I have to pay over 300 bucks for something that I really start to foam who has the 600 for pro office or the 400 for premium office.
the home version is almost 200 bucks.
And buying separate programs costs as much as basic office ever cost.
I'd like the ability to choose what I brought when windows came out.
I'd buy the desktop and standard start menu, if I had to sacrifice cloud and basic stuff I'd do that.
Saying that, maybe I could get a package where I could pay so much a month for windows and office.
And another thing I was looking at most web hosting plans and figure if I spend around the same amount I can get for a website heck I may as well spend the 20 or so bucks a month for ms office and 1tb of storage google has that for 10 bucks, dropbox has it for about the same.
So in short its  almost better for a home site to have a domain, and pay for cloud space.
I hope things get better but I said that with vista no doubt the next version of windows after 10 will be just as bad as vista was I have lost confidence in ms.
I use windows because all my stuff is windows and everyone else uses it but it doesn't mean I have to always like it.
If I were ms I'd support win7 and xp, and leave it at that.
I'd personally like a choice what I loaded who knows.
I wander who will take up the upgrade offer ms has.
I may take half of it up.
Or  I may not.
if windows is a service and they will continue to support it then maybe they will continue to support windows 7.
That suits me.

The way I understand it, Windows 10 is the infrastructure of windows 8 with the layout of windows 7.
So your desktop will be back, your start menu will be back, all your simple stuff will be back, you just will have better integration to the cloud and the same layout will be both on the phone and the desktop.
BTW, I wonder if we will be able to have NVDA on our phone?

Whatever.

Look, I'm sorry, I just can't say anything nice on the subject, so I really shouldn't be writing this, but about the _ONLY_ thing I see here is the "Universal" apps. That's the sort of thing Apple should have done, but no, of course it has to be another competitor.

Edit: oh, OK. SMB3. I'll have SMB3, and the tickless kernel. And while you're at it, the disk mounting support. And, er, any other nice things that don't require learning a new f***ing interface, again.

Oh without doubt it's a gamble, but then it's got to the point that every new release of Windows is a roll of the dice.

I think the hardware refresh issues are more related to the majority of users who wouldn't know how to upgrade their version of windows even if they wanted to, or don't even know it's possible in the first place.  A fair amount of this is undoubtedly due to the abortions that were Windows Vista and Windows 8, but the sheer lifespan of XP and the stubbornness of non technical people *cough*Dark*cough* (no offence) means prying people off of XP would have been an achievement in the first place. Now yes that plays into what they said about reducing hardware refresh lifecycle in a sense, except I believe they have it backwards.  People aren't uninterested in new computers, people would probably be interested to buy new ones if they came with XP even so it isn't down to the specs required for newer versions of Windows. It's not a lack of interest in hardware because Windows isn't appealing, it's the negative connotations of Windows that's holding back hardware sales in at least some cases. People make do with crappy or half broken computers because they're so afraid that the newer versions of windows will mean they have to learn everything completely from scratch all over again, and for many non technical people that wasn't an easy experience in the first place.

Back to Microsoft, if they don't regain some momentum they're dead. They can either keep going the way they have been and slowly dwindle away, or at best become a second or third place behind someone else, or they can take a shot at recovery. They might blow it but I don't think that's as likely, though of course still possible. I think they'll probably end up at worst slipping a little ground or at best clawing back at least some of their market share, I don't see this being a fix for them so much as an effort to stabilise their situation, but in my opinion it won't be any worse than another Vista or 8 would be and there's always that chance we might be surprised. I know if 10 ends up any good I'll strongly encourage my mother to move off of my old XP laptop which she insists on still using even though the keyboard's half broken.

I think we might have ended up with this freebie year even if 8 hadn't been a dud, MS are losing market share and not all of it is down to the horrors of Vista and 8 though they were certainly large contributors. Apple's success with mobile devices has led to an increasing number of people buying macs, both because they were impressed with the mobile device and decided to give Apple a try for a laptop or desktop and because they were looking for the extra interoperability.

The update changes are welcome. I don't know how Apple has handled Mavericks or Yosemite but from Snow Leopard through Mountain Lion, or with iOS, they're still using infrequent updates even for security which may give MS a slight edge here. It's something I think operating systems need to move towards anyway and it's good to see Microsoft start the ball rolling where Windows is concerned.

The question mark though is how much are MS hoping to make out of their windows app store. Apple for example already had experience and a solid server platform from their iTunes music sales, both convincing people to sign up to yet another digital store and the possible birthing pains inherent in a relatively new service which has as yet seen little load could cause them large problems. There's also the fact that they will need a good selection of software to convince people to use their platform, and developers may not use their platform unless they have a certain volume of sales to prove it is worth their time. Apple again had large numbers of people with Apple IDs from their music service, and the way they force developers to use the app store for iOS apps means many developers probably figured they already had the account to upload software to the mac app store so they might as well use it. Android has the benefit that many mobile device users weren't necessarily sure how to install software manually on Android, and even those that were had the issue that it was a new ecosystem and there weren't any large brand names in the android software market making buying directly from developers less than viable. Windows has a user base which is relatively used to installing software manually and a variety of large brand names many of whom sell their products by digital download thus making the convenience of having a library of software packages to peruse less relevant. Sure MS could force you to use the Windows app store for Office but people will probably just use it for that then forget it exists, they're going to need some products that truly captivate people's interest rather than making it an "oh great I have to use the bloody MS app store to reinstall Office again." It needs to be something people want to use, not a chore people have to put up with.

The issue really is that most people on Windows use the major branded software packages, and these brands will likely be unwilling to share their profits with Microsoft via their app store. Like I said with iOS for good or ill the app store is necessary, and for the Mac there have been enough users unfamiliar with the ecosystem to make it worthwhile combined with the number of people who already have an Apple ID from the iOS app store or from the iTunes store. The problem I see is the Windows app store potentially being full of nothing but odds and sods, and they really need to get the big names on board. Chances of them doing this with games is slim because of Steam as well so that's doubly awkward.