Microsoft Windows still reign over desktop and laptop users as the choice of operating system. With Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 8/8.1 getting 90% share of the pie (Mac OS X gets 7.21%, Linux at 1.34%), Windows is still no doubt the choice of the majority. With the upcoming release of their newest creation, the Windows 10, adaptation to the new OS will probably be higher because for the first time, they are offering FREE upgrades for customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1. This move to upgrade for free was probably made to try integrate the segregated market using different version of Windows. To give you an idea, according to Net Applications research (December 2014), out of the 90% using Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista users combined is only at 21% so the rest of the 90% are qualified for the free to upgrade to Windows 10 for the first year.
Some of the features that are worth to be excited about Windows 10:
> Cortana, Microsoft’s personal digital assistant comes to PC and tablet
> Windows 10 will be available for both phone and tablet (Seamless interaction)
> New web experience (Code name Project Spartan, a next generation browser built with greater interoperability, reliability and discoverability.)
> Office universal apps (Consistent user experience across phones, tablets and PCs)
> New universal applications (Music, Maps, Videos, Photos, Mail, Calendar etc)
> Xbox Live / Xbox App (Access your extensive Live gaming network on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One)
> Continuum mode (Move easily from keyboard to touch mode for devices that swtitch from tablet to laptop)
> Holographic feature with Microsoft HoloLens (3 dimensional hologram computing experience)
> Microsoft Surface Hub (Group computing feature from no screen to 84″ screen)
Windows 10 will release a Technical Preview for PCs and phones this February and if you’d like to be one of first to experience the new generation of Windows, you can join the Windows Insider Program (https://insider.windows.com/). Follow Windows Blog at http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/ and visit http://news.microsoft.com/windows10story/ for more on the Windows 10. Exciting times for Windows users this year. 🙂