Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday offered a deeper look at
Windows 10, the next generation of its flagship operating software that will be
able to work across computers, tablets and smartphones. The operating system
will include a new Web browser and enable broader social gaming, a co-working
big screen and a hologram-viewing headset.
The Web browser, called Project Spartan, will allow
users to take notes with a stylus and read content in a more streamlined
layout. It will include a version of Microsoft’s Cortana personal assistant,
first made available on smartphones in April. At its Windows 10 launch event,
Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore demos new Skype integration into Windows Messaging.
Microsoft demonstrated a new device aimed at the workplace
called Surface Hub, an 84-inch touch-screen computer with features such as a
stylus wipeboard, shared Web browser and video conferencing. And for a little
razzle-dazzle, the company closed with a vision for hologram computing called
Windows Holographic. Microsoft showed off a headset called HoloLens, whose
wearers can view and interact with augmented-reality holograms that appear in
natural environments, such as a living room or office.
A lot is riding on the new operating systems as the
current version, Windows 8, failed to gain traction. Fewer than 15% of Windows
computers run it, according to analyst Net Applications. Many users who tried
it on a computer with keyboard and mouse complained about the touch-screen
interface.
The company previously acknowledged it went off the rails
with some elements of Windows 8. Microsoft didn’t offer a Windows 9. The coming
software release would de-emphasizes a home screen offering smartphone-like
apps, introduced in Windows 8, that confused some users with its fusion of
mobile and PC conventions. Microsoft officials will continue to stress that
Windows 10 is more like prior versions of Windows.
The larger benefit of a cross-device operating system,
however, is creating a bigger base of users to appeal to software developers—a
crucial constituency for Microsoft’s flailing smartphone business. Microsoft’s
Windows Phone software is used on just three out of 100 new smartphones sold
world-wide, and one reason is a lack of popular or buzzy apps. Microsoft hopes
to burnish its Windows Phone’s allure to developers with the promise that apps
created for Windows phones will also run on hundreds of millions of Windows
PCs.
Windows’ role in generating revenue makes every new version
a high-stakes venture. The PC operating system accounted for about 19% of
Microsoft’s revenue in the year ended June 30, and it generates roughly 30% of
the company’s earnings, Nomura Securities Co. stock analyst Rick Sherlund
estimates.
Windows 10 may usher in some business-model tinkering.
Microsoft executives have hinted the company will experiment with new ways to
make money by pitching people add-on services or apps, such as Microsoft’s
Skype video-calling service, OneDrive file storage and digital video downloads.
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