It's been a busy year for Redmond. Windows 10 has been released in three major releases and has managed to gain 350 million active users. Let's take a look at some of the major milestones and challenges that have been encountered, and see if Windows 10 will meet Redmond's ambitious goal of having it on a billion devices.
In a few weeks, Microsoft will release the next update (Anniversary Update) of its Windows 10 operating system, marking the third major OS release in a year.
By the company's traditional standards, this is almost unheard of, just as much of what has happened in Redmond over the past year would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
The Windows Insider program changes the data
Windows chief Terry Myerson seems very excited when he talks about the Windows Insider Program that was announced with Windows 10.
“The Insider program has changed the way we do everything. It has changed how we develop Windows and how we interact with customers and friends of the company.”
He's right. Previous versions of Windows typically took years of private testing before finally being released to the public in a limited preview build. Windows 10 fundamentally changed that model, as anyone can now sign up to access preview builds. This provides a public feedback mechanism, allowing other Insiders to add features or report bugs.
The program came after the company's disaster with Windows 8, when the company decided it would be a good idea to listen to the customer.
Microsoft faces privacy fears
One of the biggest changes in the new operating system is the “Windows as a service” model. This model uses telemetry to collect anonymous information about how the company’s customers use Windows, especially when the operating system fails in a process.
Microsoft has been criticized in the past for releasing too many flawed updates. With accurate error data delivered in real time, the company can find and fix any problems much faster than in the past.
But here, it seems, the end justifies the means again. The arrogant Microsoft that developed Windows 8 without listening to the voices of its customers, has once again appeared with a feature that has many critics.
Windows VP Yusuf Mehdi said, “Our customers as we were releasing Windows were asking us: Tell us about privacy, tell us about telemetry. I don’t expect there will ever be a day where everyone says it’s perfectly fine. There will always be feedback, and we’ll listen to it.”
Encouraging, right?
The Windows Phone market has collapsed
Windows 10 Mobile is a full member of the Windows family, built on the same core code and can run many of the same universal apps that run on the desktop version. The Anniversary Update will be available for Windows Phones shortly after its release for PCs.
The problem is, there are no phones! Despite the platform's enthusiastic user base, Microsoft's revenue management department announced bad news before the official launch of Windows 10, with a $7.6 billion cut to the phones division's badge and massive layoffs.
In May 2016, new CEO Satya Nadella announced that "We are focusing our efforts on phones" but so far we haven't seen any new devices and there are no signs that we will soon.
Free upgrades mean impressive dynamics
Immediately after the release of the new operating system, Microsoft was not afraid to announce milestone numbers for the new version. After a month, the company proudly announced that it had 75 million active users.
In January, Windows 10 managed to pass 200 million. By May, it was 300 million, and the most recent picture we have a month before the free upgrade offer ended, the number had reached 350 million.
The numbers are falling, as the demystification is taking place and it seems that those who have Windows 7 and 8.1 and did not “take advantage” of the offer probably will not. Of course, there is the possibility of a last-minute upgrade, or the company extending the free availability of the operating system.
However, the adoption momentum that we saw at the beginning, which was truly impressive, has passed. So two days ago the company announced that it will not reach the goal of one billion devices with Windows 10.
GWX and Microsoft's aggressive promotion policy
If you set a goal like Microsoft did and you want to achieve it, you definitely have to be ready for anything. The company designed the Get Windows 10 program as a way to promote Windows 10 to the hundreds of millions of Windows machines that were eligible for the free upgrade. While it was convenient for those who wanted to upgrade in the first few months, it was very annoying for everyone else.
Then the company took it too far, with the notifications becoming increasingly persistent. In some cases, the GWX program would download several gigabytes of Windows installation files in the background without the user's knowledge. Some users reported that the upgrade started without their consent. Was it a bug or a feature?
Microsoft said in most of these complaints that it was due to a bug.
The GWX program kept changing its behavior throughout its first year, but it never offered an easy option for someone to decline the upgrade offer. So it took tweaks with registry changes or third-party software to say “No, thanks.”.
Fortunately, the offer expires on July 29, 2016. What happens after that? Will GWX disappear immediately? Unfortunately, this one does not have an expiration date and if it does, we do not know it.
What did you learn?
