Slashdot Mirror
Windows 10 Launches
An anonymous reader writes: Today Microsoft officially released Windows 10 in 190 countries as a free upgrade for anyone with Windows 7 or later. Major features include Continuum (which brings back the start menu and lets you switch between a keyboard/mouse UI and a touch UI without forcing you into one or the other), the Cortana digital assistant, the Edge browser, virtual desktops, DirectX 12 support, universal apps, an Xbox app, and security improvements. Reviews of the operating system generally consider it an improvement over Windows 8.1, despite launch-day bugs. Peter Bright writes, "Windows 8 felt unfinished, but it was an unfinished thought. ... Windows 10 feels unfinished, but in a different way. The concept of the operating system is a great deal better than its predecessor. It's better in fact than all of its predecessors. ... For all my gripes, it's the right idea, and it's implemented in more or less the right way. But I think it's also buggier than Windows 8.1, 8, 7, or Vista were on their respective launch days." Tom Warren draws similar conclusions: "During my testing on a variety of hardware, I've run into a lot of bugs and issues — even with the version that will be released to consumers on launch day. ... Everything about Windows 10 feels like a new approach for Microsoft, and I'm confident these early bugs and issues will be addressed fairly quickly."
Oh you're allowed to say it. Just don't expect a totally reasonable response.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a difficult battle. - Plato
...before I even consider switching from 7. For crying out loud, I just switched from xp. I'd like to get actual work done.
I've been using Windows 10 for quite a while. The thing that's going to really change on the "enterprisey" side of things is the need to buy the Enterprise version so you can get the Long Term Stable servicing branch, and thus you'll be forced into volume licensing rather than OEM licensing. If you don't, you run the risk of Microsoft introducing a new change in the Current Branch for Business that breaks your applications, with a ticking clock counting down to the time you're forced to accept it. Unlike phones, PCs in businesses typically run applications that, for whatever reason, can't easily be upgraded. I've worked in end user computing for years, and it happens everywhere, in large and small businesses. Entire departments live and die by Excel macros and Access databases. Web applications that are too expensive to upgrade have to keep working. And on and on...
I think the biggest thing that Microsoft needs to get right is stability. Rolling out new features all the time sounds like a really great idea, more Agile, etc. etc. The problem is that to do this with an operating system, those feature changes need to be solid and not break existing functionality. If they got rid of all their QA staff, I hope they're not relying on Windows Insiders to test key functionality. Insiders are generally not running the legacy junk applications that businesses need to keep supported and alive. Insiders are running their general Office workstations, maybe some web browsing, but usually not legacy applications.
One of the things from the past that was nice about a definitive "RTM" line in the sand was that the code was declared feature complete, and most showstopper bugs were squashed before the OS was allowed to be released. Back in the day, it was because you were pressing a million DVDs and your customers couldn't easily download patches, so it had to work. Now, the "ship it, we'll just rush out a patch later" mentality is dominant everywhere. The other nice thing was that when Version X came out, features didn't change until X.1 was ready. With this continuous upgrade cycle, I can see some problems. Maybe this is part of Microsoft's long term strategy -- just kill desktop applications and make everyone run VDI in Azure.