Microsoft builds a universal Windows 10
PUBLISHED ONMay 07, 2015 1:24 AMByVincent ChangOo Gin Lee
By Vincent Chang in San Francisco
Forget Big Bad Microsoft. The 2015 version embraces everyone, especially those who build apps for Microsoft's competitors.
More than two decades since the software giant from Redmond was first investigated for abusing its desktop operating system monopoly, the company has opened its doors to developers that create mobile apps for rivals Apple and Google.
At its annual Build developer conference last week in San Francisco, Microsoft introduced new software tools to help developers bring their existing iOS and Android apps to Windows 10. The company also spoke about how to bring Web apps and desktop-class Windows apps, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, to Windows 10.
The announcement was cheered on by the 5,000-strong audience, mostly developers. Among them was Singaporean app developer Jason Chee, 21.
He observed: "Not only do apps port over with minimal changes, they have the ability to leverage on all the Windows features, like Xbox's achievements, which opens up great opportunities for developers on other platforms and consumers of Windows 10."
Microsoft aptly calls these tools "bridges" and revealed that Candy Crush Saga was ported to Windows with minimal effort using these tools.
The company's objective is to attract more developers to Windows, a radical move that it hopes will help it achieve its ambition of having Windows 10 on a billion devices within the next two or three years.
Its CEO, Mr Satya Nadella, spoke about this strategy when he briefed analysts: "We believe that is what will help us deliver more value. It will help developers come to our platform. It makes the entire ecosystem of Windows much healthier."
Windows remains the dominant force in desktop computers and laptops, although the most recent version, Windows 8, holds just 15 per cent of the market. Still, it is doing better than its mobile counterpart, Windows Phone, which has a minuscule 3-per-cent share.
With such a low adoption rate, Microsoft has found it hard to attract developers. It had resorted to paying them to build apps in the past. The lack of apps discouraged buyers from choosing Windows mobile devices.
This chicken-and-egg dilemma is set to change with Windows 10, which is expected to be available by mid-August.
Contrary to expectations, the company did not announce an exact release date at Build, though it is known that the upgrade will be free for the first year for existing Windows 7 and 8 users.
As Mr Nadella put it: "Windows 10 is not just another release of Windows. It is actually an entirely new way for us to think about our hardware OS."
Central to Windows 10 is what Microsoft dubs the Universal Windows Platform. This means that Windows 10 will run on all kinds of devices, from phones to Microsoft's holographic smart glasses.
Windows 10 apps will adapt to the device, with the interface scaling to show the right amount of information for the screen size, or even no screen at all, in the case of embedded computers such as the credit-card-sized Raspberry Pi.
Unlike competing platforms from Apple and Google, which have separate mobile and desktop operating systems, developers will be able to write one version of their apps for Windows 10 to be published in a unified Windows Store.
This new, open and collaborative spirit is not restricted to Windows. Microsoft said at Build that it is releasing Linux and Mac versions of its .NET programming platform.
Of course, whether users will bite after being burned by Windows 8 is still unknown. But at least Microsoft is trying and it has laid out a coherent vision that extends across its Windows, Office and Azure cloud platforms.
What is new in Windows 10
Return of the Start menu: Windows 10 brings back the Start menu, though it now looks like a mash-up of the Windows 8 Start screen (with the Live Tiles) and the traditional Start menu of Windows 7. The power button is also back, so you will know how to shut down the device properly.
Multiple desktops: As with other modern operating systems, it is now possible to have multiple desktops in Windows 10. This is useful for those who need more desktop real estate for short cut icons, or who prefer to organise their stuff for a clean, uncluttered desktop environment.
Windowed Modern apps: Remember those tile-based apps in Windows 8? In Windows 10, they can look more like traditional desktop apps, with a windowed form and the familiar Minimise, Maximise and Close buttons.
Notifications: Windows 10 adds a new notification centre where the Charms sidebar used to be. Besides aggregating messages from apps, the bottom of this sidebar has commonly used settings such as Display and Wi-Fi.
Latest updates of the operating system
So what did we find out about Windows 10 at the Build conference?
One of the more impressive demos was by Microsoft's corporate vice-president, Mr Joe Belfiore, who showed off the Continuum feature on a Windows 10 smartphone.
Continuum is a feature that smooths the transition between touch and non-touch interfaces for users. Microsoft had illustrated this idea before, using a Windows 10 hybrid device.
When the keyboard is removed, the interface switches to a touch-friendly version and a virtual keyboard pops up when required.
Continuum for Windows phones
It turns out that Continuum works for smartphones too. In the demo at Build, a Windows 10 phone was connected to an external display via HDMI. It was also paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Windows 10 was able to detect these changes and adjust the interface accordingly. The mobile apps on the phone scaled up to fit the larger display and looked almost like desktop apps. Even keyboard short cuts - Ctrl-C for copy and Ctrl-V for paste, for example - worked, despite the fact that this was all running on a tiny phone.
As Microsoft's chief operating officer Kevin Turner eloquently put it: "Think about it, your phone can now become your laptop. All you need is a place to have a big screen and a keyboard and you have all of your technology, all of your data, with you wherever you go."
However, Windows 10 for phones will require new hardware and and will be launched much later than the PC version.
New billing for Windows Store
Microsoft has been tweaking its Windows Store. It had previously added movies, music and TV shows. The new Store is now a universal app and should look and behave the same across all Windows 10 devices.
The other major change is the inclusion of carrier billing for the Windows Store for all devices.
Users without credit cards will be able to buy apps and content from the Store. Carrier billing is supported by all three Singapore telcos and 90 carriers worldwide.
For developers, Microsoft is introducing new monetisation options, including the ability to accept paid subscriptions for their apps along with video advertisements inside their apps.
The biggest change will probably be the number of apps in the Store, about 650,000 apps currently.
But with new software tools being launched to help developers port their Web, desktop, iOS and Android apps to Windows 10, the number of apps in the Store can only increase.
Interface tweaks
Microsoft has continued to refine Windows 10, based on feedback from the Technical Preview. The latest version 10074 was released during the Build conference and comes with tweaks to the user interface.
For instance, the Live Tile in the Start menu now gets some spiffy animations. The Start menu also gets the translucent Aero Glass theme last seen in Windows 7.
The Cortana personal assistant is now apparently able to answer more types of questions, including telling you the status of a flight and the weather at a certain location. It gets a hamburger menu that opens up to let you access Reminders and other key features quickly. But Cortana does not work in Singapore.
Microsoft has added more functionality to the Windows 10 lock screen. Spotlight can customise itself and change over time, based on how you interact with it. For instance, the screen displays beautiful images taken of the planet, but you can determine what images show up in the future by indicating your preferences.
In time, Spotlight can even recommend certain apps that you should check out, depending on the ones you use. This feature can be disabled, if you feel it is too intrusive.
Finally, Microsoft says that it has added some new system sounds in Windows 10.
Members of the Windows Insider programme can update to the latest Windows 10 build now. ISO images are also available for those who prefer a clean install.
Windows 10 is expected to be released in mid-August in more than 190 countries.
vinchang@sph.com.sg
Microsoft's fightback long overdue
By Oo Gin Lee
Finally, it seems Microsoft does have a plan.
For years, it seemed incapable of responding effectively to the whirlwind of changes brought about by its rivals. Apple created the App Store and, with it, the ease of discovering, buying and installing mobile apps from a central location. Plus a new revenue windfall as Apple takes a 30 per cent cut from app sales.
Microsoft could have done this years ago with its dominance over the PC world then, but it never bothered to create a universal store for its programs. Perhaps it was untenable then. Feared by the industry for its hegemony, it would have been tough to get software developers to cede such control over the distribution of their products or to give Microsoft a cut of their sales.
To be fair, Microsoft did try it for PC games, with the Games For Windows Live initiative, but that half-hearted attempt is now moribund. Yet, the idea of an app store for desktop programs is not unrealistic. Look at Steam, which now has solid leadership in the central marketplace for retailing PC games online.
It seems ironic that Microsoft had tried to build a new app store for its Windows 8 mobile apps, while failing to bring together the millions of PC programs in the traditional Windows universe. It created utter confusion because you ended up with three types of apps - apps for Windows 8 Phones, apps for modern Windows 8 tablets plus the traditional Windows desktop software for the PC.
Going after the modern mobile world was a mistake for Microsoft because its rivals Apple and Google were already light years ahead. Aware of its limitations, Microsoft came up with Windows 8, a bid to apply its brand in the Windows desktop arena to push for new hybrid PCs that could run both traditional Windows desktop software and new apps from its new Windows app store.
It was a disaster, as loyal Windows PC users like me absolutely hated the unfamiliar "modern" tiled interface which was designed for touchscreens. Microsoft also hid the familiar Start button and kept the menu hidden away in a screwed-up attempt to make users adapt to the new interface.
But with its new chief executive Satya Nadella now a year in the hot seat, Microsoft is finally coming up with a coherent fightback. The best thing about the upcoming Windows 10 is that it will bring back the familiar Start button and menu.
There are still some minor adaptations that a Windows 7 user would need to figure out, but they are relatively easy to make sense of. There are also many other new features in Windows 10, but honestly, if you ask me, they are just incrementally better than Windows 7.
The big deal is that Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 as a free upgrade to any Windows 7 or Windows 8 user within the first year of the launch.
Obviously, everybody will upgrade to Windows 10 simply because it is free and it is so malleable that it can be customised to feel like Windows 7 or 8.
The second bold move is that Microsoft is pulling out all stops to create a new platform for developers to build new "universal Windows apps", which they can build once and run across all Windows 10 devices, including phones, tablets, PCs, the Xbox One game console and even the upcoming HoloLens augmented-reality headset. Windows Phones and PCs will run on the same Windows 10 software core and have the same app store.
Last week, Microsoft announced yet another stunner - it will launch software for developers to port over their existing iOS and Android apps into the new Windows 10 universal apps world, just as Microsoft showed Candy Crush running on a Windows 10 device last week. Microsoft is even talking about how desktop PC apps can also be ported over hassle-free.
Microsoft no longer talks about how many PCs it wants to have installed with Windows 10. Its aim is to have a billion Windows 10 devices over the next two to three years - PCs, tablets, phones and more.
With that mega-sized install base, developers might finally find it sexy to code for Windows again. And with the tools to make it easy to build new universal apps or to port over existing apps, Microsoft does seem to have a winning strategy in its hands.
The only question is whether it will really be as easy to do so as Microsoft is claiming it will be. We will know soon when Windows 10 launches later this year. But Microsoft can no longer afford another failure. It's do or die.
ginlee@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on May 6, 2015.
Get a copy of Digital Life, The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.