BackWindows 1 to Windows 10: Mouse to touch
Microsoft says Windows 10 will provide familiarity and consistency across devices, areas in which Android has stolen a clear march
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Microsoft Corp. changed the lives of many of its users in November 1985 when it introduced the Windows 1 operating system (OS), where you could use a mouse button to click and perform tasks which were done so far by typing text on an MS-DOS (disk operating system) screen. Released by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the OS has seen several versions in the last 29 years, notable among them being Windows 1, Windows XP and Windows 7.
On 30 September, Satya Nadella, the India-born chief executive officer of Microsoft, unveiled the next edition of its flagship OS, but called it Windows 10 even as analysts were expecting it to be christened Windows 9. Microsoft aims to deliver the OS, widely expected to be the last major version of Windows that also explains the “10", to consumers in mid-2015.
If you are not part of the Windows Insider Program, which enables one to get all the latest Windows preview builds, you will have to make do with what Microsoft says about the latest version.
There is a lot riding on Windows 10 for Microsoft in the enterprise segment, especially given that computer users are rapidly moving from desktops to notebooks, tablets and smartphones—segments where the Windows OS does not have a monopoly. Even on desktops, as on June 2014, India had 26.9% users running Windows XP, according to a 20 August note by Kaspersky Security Network. This, despite Microsoft discontinuing support for this OS in April.
And according to a 29 September note by Forrester Research Inc. analysts, “Only about one in five organizations is offering Windows 8 PCs to employees right now and, with Windows 7 extended support running until January 2020, Microsoft needs to give enterprises reasons to move to a new version before it becomes a crisis."
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