Windows 10: free upgrades, and holographic working?

[Brian G Turner]

Some good coverage from the BBC about the coming Windows 10 release:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30924022

Interesting to see that Windows 10 will allow free upgrades for a year. While that offers a financial incentive, I think like a lot of other people I'd be personally worried about crashes, hardware/software problems and incompatibilities, and data loss.

Even still, it's an intelligent move to have one OS for all devices, and it sounds like xbox owners may especially benefit.

I'm not sure how well Windows 10 will be able to compete with Android for devices, though - Microsoft still don't understand the internet, let alone mobile devices - though the suggestion of ditching Internet Explorer might be a step in the right direction!

 

[markpud]

Free upgrade is great, but their hand has been somewhat forced by Apple doing the same for a while now..

I got Win 8 for peanuts when it came out, but the update to 8.1 definitely ironed out many glaring issues. I'm sure I'll jump to 10 pretty quickly, allowing a month or so for any major issues to get sorted!

I can't imagine my phone will change from Android though. Not even HTC's lovely Win phones could so far tempt me from their equally lovely Android ones! If they can get the ecosystem thriving then their may be a chance, but it's a bit chicken and egg I think with people reluctant to jump to Win phones because of a lack of apps, and devs unwilling to prioritise app development due to lack of userbase... We shall see if MS can overcome this.

 

[Nick B]

I will go with this but will wait maybe six months before switching. My lappy runs 8 and my desktop 7 so will switch both. I really do not like windows 8 so am glad they are ditching it. I haven't used IE for years so, makes no odds to me if they ditch that too.
I can't see me realistically moving away from android mobile and tablet though to be honest.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

And loads of charges from subscription services when you forget to cancel after free period.
1981 - 2005 I was a massive user and promoter, installer of MS. They have lost the plot. Last 10 years has been merely eye-candy.

Windows Phone is practically dead. They need to make sure Win10 Desktop/Laptop works sensibly, that is their only profitable market, which they alienated by trying to make it like Windows phone.

 

[Glitch]

Microsoft seem to be following their usual strategy of every other OS being the one that works.

What I've seen of Windows 10 is much closer to Windows 7 than it is to 8. I don't see Microsoft expanding outside the desktop/laptop market anytime soon. Xbox may be one area, but I don't use consoles so can't really comment on that side. I for one won't be looking to get a Windows tablet/phone.

 

[Michael Colton]

The whole augmented reality thing has never appealed to me. I hope this sort of thing continues to get developed purely for the sake of progress, but I have no interest in wearing anything on my head besides my regular glasses. Why do I care if a Skype video is on my screen versus a wall? Why would I want to play Minecraft on my coffee table? It does not compute for me, but more power to developing new things.

As for the OS, I will upgrade whenever it comes out. Regardless of what I am using, I never fail to update to the newest simply because I hate the complications of not doing so. As for phones, I am locked into my iPhone plan for quite a while. After that, I will be going purely for cheap. I keep getting 'nice' phones that have a ton of features I never use. I don't take pictures, I don't record video, I don't use apps. I text. That is all my phone is used for. I don't even use it as a web browser.

 

[Dave]

It must be cheaper for them to support one operating system. Few people liked Windows 8 over Windows 7, and although 8.1 just about does it, many haven't bothered to upgrade. There has been no recent great leaps in memory or processing power in laptops, so people have stayed with their old machines for longer than before. When they stopped supporting XP they upset a lot of people who liked it, and I think some people think that (like Football Shirts) they change the OP too often for no good reason other than to make money. It is only free for a year, but by that time no one will be going back again. I think it therefore makes business sense for them to offer it for free. I doubt it will help them break into the smartphone market very much. There are simply too many Apple apps already out there. Like Betamax vs. VHS, iPhones, iPods and iPads are just ubiquitous.

 

[Culhwch]

There are simply too many Apple apps already out there. Like Betamax vs. VHS, iPhones, iPods and iPads are just ubiquitous.

I don't now about that. I'd imagine there's pretty much an equal market share with Android. But Windows definitely is the poor cousin.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

usual strategy of every other OS being the one that works

That's actually a myth.
NT 3.1, NT3.5, NT3.51, NT4.0 Win2K(NT 5.0), Win XP (NT 5.1), 2003 Server (NT 5.2) all worked.
Win 3.1, WFWG3.1, WFWG3.11 Win 4.x (Chinese Win 3.1x), Win95a, Win95b, Win98, Win98SE all poorer than NT, they were all more less OK. Win Me was junk (A sort of Win98SE Millennium Edition)
Of DOS 1 to 7, only DOS was really really bad and DOS5 poor. DOS 2.11, DOS3.3 and DOS 6.22 were the "best"
Vista was junk, =NT6.0, the Win 7 is Win6.x a fix of Vista. Win8 is just annoying, you can add a classic shell and turn off stupid Metro and then it's OK.
The Really bad Windows 1.x, 2.x, Win286, Win386, WinME
Win3.0 and Vista poor

So it's not alternate versions.

 

[Dave]

You might be right. I have never had an Android. I've already ditched my Blackberry for an iPhone though.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Windows 10 is much closer to Windows 7 than it is to 8

Just on the GUI.
Underneath it's more like Win8.1 except more so. So apart from vague desktop GUI "impact" Win 10 isn't much like Win7 at all. Win7 and Vista are almost identical, Win7 really is only a bug fix and it's a disgrace it wasn't free to Vista owners as NT3.51 was to NT3.5 owners and all SIX service packs of NT4.0 were.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I'd imagine there's pretty much an equal market share with Android

No!
Android is now 85%!
Apple is a premium product* and very few new phone models to choose

http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp


Blackberry is near death since Q3 2013
iOS (Apple) about 12%
Windows phone is near flat at a few percent

Apple has x3 to x5 % profit margin compared to others AND on average sells a more expensive product. Hence Apple makes most money. But World wide (i.e. out side California) the Apple iOS is outsold by Android by about 7:1

Probably the world market for Phones is nearly saturated. Tablet sales have fallen about 7% and Android is by far the leader there. MS is almost non-existent on Tablets. They've written off $2Billion I think.

 

[Lenny]

I'm probably going to upgrade as soon as I can, with my backups to hand in case something goes pear-shaped. I kinda dig the desktop aesthetics of Windows 8 and 8.1, but have been really put off by the focus on touch, so Windows 10 is going to be very tempting.

---

I don't now about that. I'd imagine there's pretty much an equal market share with Android. But Windows definitely is the poor cousin.

Last I read, Android had about 80% of the market (and had even managed to get ahead of Apple in tablets, by a hair or so), with iOS hovering at 12%.

EDIT: Ray got there ahead of me.

 

[Michael Colton]

Another thing that came to my mind with visors (whether the Windows 10 thing or the VR visors) is motion sickness. In many video games I have to turn off motion blur due to how easily I can start to feel ill when I already have a headache. I imagine visors will have a similar problem. I will be curious about any articles describing their ways of fighting that.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Android had 68% of Tablets in March 2014. The 7% to 8% recent drop (Phones are still increasing) affected everyone.

Android overtook iOS on Tablets I think in 2013. Now more than 2:1, I expect 3:1 or more in coming year.

More likely figures on Tablets, taken from an IDC report

Operating System     2014 Shipment Volumes     2014 Market Share     2014 YoY Growth
Android              159.5 million              67.7%                16.0%
iOS                   64.9 million              27.5%               -12.7%
Windows               10.9 million               4.6%                67.3%
Other                  0.5 million               0.2%               -70.6%


The weak global tablet market is even affecting Apple, whose iPad accounts
for nearly 28 percent of the market. According to the report,
Apple’s year-over-year iPad shipments will decline, which means it made
and sold more iPads in 2013 than it will in 2014
— even though the company will ship nearly 65 million iPads in 2014.
That lines up with Apple’s own iPad sales figures, which have indicated for
the past few quarters that the company has been selling fewer iPads this year
than in 2013.

It's easy to have 67% growth from nearly nothing. I suspect most of the Windows tablets are not ARM, but vertical niche market x86-x64 corporate tablets. Really almost no retail Windows Tablet sales at all. After all, MS was selling OS for Tablets based on XP in 2003 and various people were selling the hardware to specialist markets. I have a legit disk of XP for Tablets Edition here!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

visors will have a similar problem

The latency is too high and resolution too low.
They need to track eye and head movement. Most only track head.
Ideally they need to track eye focus and vary the apparent distance away the image is and change the graphics point of focus, none do.

I know how to make (in vague terms) a decent VR rig. It's horribly complicated, needs laser projectors to eyes and something to measure the eye's lens/focus. Eye movement is a lot harder than head movement but a camera can do it.

 

[Michael Colton]

All of this sounds like so many ways to give me a headache. But as I said, props to everyone working on this sort of thing. I shall support the progress, just probably not use it.

 

[J-Sun]

That's actually a myth.
NT 3.1, NT3.5, NT3.51, NT4.0 Win2K(NT 5.0), Win XP (NT 5.1), 2003 Server (NT 5.2) all worked.
Win 3.1, WFWG3.1, WFWG3.11 Win 4.x (Chinese Win 3.1x), Win95a, Win95b, Win98, Win98SE all poorer than NT, they were all more less OK. Win Me was junk (A sort of Win98SE Millennium Edition)
Of DOS 1 to 7, only DOS was really really bad and DOS5 poor. DOS 2.11, DOS3.3 and DOS 6.22 were the "best"
Vista was junk, =NT6.0, the Win 7 is Win6.x a fix of Vista. Win8 is just annoying, you can add a classic shell and turn off stupid Metro and then it's OK.
The Really bad Windows 1.x, 2.x, Win286, Win386, WinME
Win3.0 and Vista poor

So it's not alternate versions.

I think there's some validity as a figure of speech when you talk about general opinions of "major" consumer WIndows OSes vs. the details of all MS systems. "8 sucks; 7 less so; Vista sucked; XP less so; ME sucked; 98 less so. [Not sure you can say 95 sucked relatively, though.] 3x less so; pre-3 (which doesn't merit even being differentiated) sucked." Good enough for the cheap Star Trek thumbnail sketch. But I agree that, in detail, it's not as simple as that.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I like to play old PC games that were made for Windows 98 or XP. I've had trouble running some before (Microsoft's own Age of Empires 2 still glitches on colours) - so I need to be wary of "upgrading" if I still want to play them.

Especially as I don't really need an upgrade, and Windows 7 didn't seem to add much in practical terms over XP - except higher RAM requirements.

So I'd personally struggle to justify upgrading to Windows 10, especially as I use Android/Apple and a PS3, so have no need for consistency between different Windows devices.

 

[Glitch]

That's actually a myth.
NT 3.1, NT3.5, NT3.51, NT4.0 Win2K(NT 5.0), Win XP (NT 5.1), 2003 Server (NT 5.2) all worked.
Win 3.1, WFWG3.1, WFWG3.11 Win 4.x (Chinese Win 3.1x), Win95a, Win95b, Win98, Win98SE all poorer than NT, they were all more less OK. Win Me was junk (A sort of Win98SE Millennium Edition)
Of DOS 1 to 7, only DOS was really really bad and DOS5 poor. DOS 2.11, DOS3.3 and DOS 6.22 were the "best"
Vista was junk, =NT6.0, the Win 7 is Win6.x a fix of Vista. Win8 is just annoying, you can add a classic shell and turn off stupid Metro and then it's OK.
The Really bad Windows 1.x, 2.x, Win286, Win386, WinME
Win3.0 and Vista poor

So it's not alternate versions.

I think there's some validity as a figure of speech when you talk about general opinions of "major" consumer WIndows OSes vs. the details of all MS systems. "8 sucks; 7 less so; Vista sucked; XP less so; ME sucked; 98 less so. [Not sure you can say 95 sucked relatively, though.] 3x less so; pre-3 (which doesn't merit even being differentiated) sucked." Good enough for the cheap Star Trek thumbnail sketch. But I agree that, in detail, it's not as simple as that.

It was just a tongue-in-cheek reference to the last few versions 98-ME-XP-Vista-7-8-10?

Just on the GUI.
Underneath it's more like Win8.1 except more so. So apart from vague desktop GUI "impact" Win 10 isn't much like Win7 at all. Win7 and Vista are almost identical, Win7 really is only a bug fix and it's a disgrace it wasn't free to Vista owners as NT3.51 was to NT3.5 owners and all SIX service packs of NT4.0 were.

Yes I know it's more of 8 than 7 underneath, but from a usability point of view it feels more like 7 than it does 8.

Windows 8 on a desktop with multiple large monitors is practically a joke. Unfortunately a lot of the criticism levelled by consumers after the release of Windows 8 were also pointed out by developers in the beta versions. What's the point of putting out a beta if you're not going to listen to the feedback!