Meet Windows 10, a Throwback With Upgrades in Software and Security
Windows 10, the next version of Microsoft’s
operating system, arrives on Wednesday, and it will have a familiar
look and feel to the more than one billion people who have touched a
Windows computer in the last two decades.
That
is a stark change from the last time Microsoft made a big revision to
its operating system, in 2012 with the release of Windows 8 — a release
that didn’t go so well. Many customers were confused by the flurry of
changes that were designed for so-called hybrid devices that doubled as
PCs and tablets. Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, said last
year that the company “got a few places wrong in Windows 8.”
With
Windows 10, Microsoft is offering something of a throwback to the
earlier versions. The software also comes with an enticing price tag for users of Windows 7 and 8: free. But perhaps more than anything, there are a handful of new features that might make users consider making the switch.
The Trusty Start Button
Back
is the classic Start button, the one-touch access to a main menu,
including shortcuts to a user’s list of apps and documents. Like old
times, it can be opened with the click of a mouse or by pressing the
Windows shortcut on a keyboard. (The Start button was still available in
Windows 8, but some users were confused because it was hidden from
plain sight.)
Microsoft
made efforts to modernize the Start menu with a fresh design. Clicking
on the Start button brings up groups of tiles that can be tailored to
your preferences. For example, I easily created a group of tiles labeled
“Productivity” and pinned some of my most frequently used software for
work, including apps for email, web browsing, Twitter, a calculator and
Microsoft Word. Removing unwanted apps from the group is easy — you just
choose to “unpin” the tile.
For
longtime Windows users, the more intimidating part to get used to will
be tablet mode. With hybrid tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface, you
can detach the keyboard from the screen and switch into a different
software interface optimized for tablets. In tablet mode, apps consume
the entire screen; the tiles of the Start section are enlarged to be
easier to see and touch.
Fortunately,
interacting with Windows 10 on a touch screen is generally the same as
with most modern touch-enabled devices. Pinch outward to zoom in, swipe
up to scroll down, swipe left to pan right. And even in tablet mode, the
trusty Start menu remains there to remind you this is still Windows
you’re dealing with.
A Virtual Assistant
A
new addition right next to the Start button is Cortana, Microsoft’s
virtual assistant. A user can do a search by typing in a query or
speaking a command into the microphone. Saying commands like “Remind me
to buy milk on Tuesday” sets up a reminder notification that will alert
you on that day, and “Schedule meeting tomorrow at 3 p.m.” creates an
appointment in your calendar.
On other questions, like finding a place to eat, Cortana often falls back to doing searches on Bing.com,
Microsoft’s search engine, which is less proficient than Google’s
search engine. In tests, Cortana generated mixed results. Asking Cortana
to look up a place to eat nearby retrieved a list of Bing search
results for the term “Find me places to eat nearby,” which included the
website places-to-eat-near-me.com,
as opposed to showing a list of restaurants. (By contrast, the same
query on Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, brought up Yelp listings of
popular restaurants within half a mile from me here in San Francisco.)
On
the other hand, Cortana did respond adequately to some other commands,
like “Show me showtimes for ‘Trainwreck,’” which loaded a schedule of
movie theaters showing the movie nearby.
A
big hole in Cortana is the mobile phone experience. Cortana is built in
to Windows phones and the problem is, you probably don’t own one. To
date, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has 3.5 percent market share in
the United States, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Microsoft
says that Cortana will eventually be available as an app on devices
running Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile software. For now,
though, Cortana will primarily live on computers and tablets, limiting
its usefulness.
It’s
difficult to imagine that while on the go, people will yank a Windows
tablet or computer out of their bag to ask Cortana to schedule a
calendar appointment or create a reminder. In addition, the idea of
using a voice assistant on a stationary computer in a typical office
environment, where colleagues will overhear you over their cubicle walls
yapping to Cortana, seems off-putting. As a result, in its current
state, Cortana is a promising start, but it’s far less useful than its
direct rivals, Siri and Google’s Now, which are widely available on
smartphones worldwide.
More Built-In Security
Microsoft
has made some bold promises about improvements to security in Windows
10. Chris Hallum, a senior product marketing manager for Microsoft, said
in an interview that because of all the security enhancements in
Windows 10, consumers and businesses won’t have to install additional
security software to protect their machines. “We include a full-fledged
antivirus solution in Windows,” he said.
Microsoft
has been including these deeper security features since Windows 8. But
with Windows XP and Windows 7, far more popular versions of the
software, it was practically a requirement to buy and install
third-party antivirus software from McAfee or Norton, unless you wanted
to be eaten alive by hackers.
Mr.
Hallum said Microsoft was taking a multifaceted approach to protecting
user identities as well as blocking malicious software. For one,
Microsoft Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, includes a feature
called SmartScreen, which can identify malicious websites by scanning
them for suspicious characteristics. The Edge browser also keeps some
add-on software for the browser, like Adobe Flash, up-to-date to
safeguard you from the latest vulnerabilities. Another feature, Windows
Defender, can identify potentially harmful software you’ve downloaded
and warn you before you run it.
Are
you really safe not installing additional antivirus software? As we
should all know by now, almost all computer systems have some
vulnerability. Still, Charlie Miller, a security researcher, said
Windows 10’s security features should work as well as other antivirus
software. He noted that Windows Defender had been a strong security
program for some time.
The Upgrade Process
Beginning
Wednesday, Microsoft will be releasing the operating system over the
Internet in waves, starting with people who signed up to test early
versions of the software as part of its “insiders” program. Later,
Windows 7 and Windows 8 users who receive alerts notifying them of the
upgrade will be able to download it.
At
the time of my testing, ahead of the public release of Windows 10, I
encountered a number of bugs. To name just two examples: In one
incident, Microsoft’s Edge browser blocked me for an entire night from
using Google Mail, after mistakenly identifying it as a malicious
website — though the next morning I was able to log in. I also had a
frustrating time trying to compose a document inside Google Docs, when
the Edge browser occasionally failed to detect when I was hitting the
space bar; Microsoft confirmed it would fix the issue shortly after
release.
Combine
the early bugs with the spottiness of Cortana and the fact that
third-party app developers are still updating their Windows apps for
Windows 10, and the operating system still has a little ways to go
before it becomes a solid all-around upgrade. But the improvements to
security, along with the familiar user interface, should be reasons to
grab this upgrade sooner than later (especially if you’re on Windows 7
and lacking up-to-date security tools). The upgrade will be free for up
to a year — after that, Microsoft may begin charging for it.
For
to-be switchers, Microsoft offers a web tool where users can check if
their apps are compatible with Windows 10 before making the switch. If
you’re eager to get in line for an upgrade, you can reserve a download
on Microsoft’s website.
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