My Windows 10 event predictions? Pretty darn good!
I'm getting good at this.
Things went off very much like I felt they would. There were some surprises, but nothing big enough to change the overall outcome. This event, like the Android L and iPhone 6 events amounts to little more than a rallying of the troops. Very little in the way of truly new and nothing ground breaking.
Continuum got a bit of exposure, as did Cortana on desktop as predicted. Windows 10 for Phone was shown but won't be available in the extremely near future, though it coming available next month is much sooner than I would anticipate. As if to balance the earlier than expected release of the Phone preview, the desktop preview is not available immediately. Instead it is a week off. Not bad. But as expected.
Xbox got mentioned but no real OS demos or dates which I predicted.
Office demoed, but no solid dates.
Pricing was sort of what was leaked. Basically, for the first year after launch Windows 7, 8.1 and Phone 8.1 will all get free upgrades to Windows 10. What they do after is still in the air.
And now onto the things of moderate interest...
Windows 10 seems to effectively be the "last" "version" of Windows. Lots of quotes there. But the explanation will clear that up. Windows 10 will delivered like a service with perpetual updates and support. So, once you're on Windows 10, you will always have access to the latest version. None of this really means that there will never be a Windows 11.
Some new Universal Apps are incoming. Microsoft looks to be doing more than just the basics and trying to deliver both upgrades to existing apps which are now universal and also net new apps which showcase the Windows platform. There is an image app that looks really neat.
There was some talk about some new Xbox features with some uber staged demos that look interesting.
Spartan browser was basically as expected from leaks.
In the realm of things that they tried to pass off as huge but will likely have little impact is the new hardware. Firstly was the Surface Hub. This is an 84" devices which is basically a Windows tablet on steroids. Has whiteboard support. Clearly aimed at offices. Isn't going to be a game changer. I want one. But I definitely won't ever actually be able to afford one.
The other hardware unveiling was one of the coolest things that will likely disappear a month after it goes public which is their holographic headset. Holograms look SUPER cool. But I don't think even the idiot tech writers covering this think this will actually take off. It is like ApplePay, with the exception that journalists were deluded enough to think that the Apple brand could make Pay viable.
Basically, the event was exciting and the news was good. If you're in the MS camp. If you're more a fan of Apple or Google you'll see just another Windows OS and some far out tech ideas that will flop. I'm happy with what I saw and heard. But the event was not necessary.
As I speculated before the event, the valuable information was leaked ahead of time. Fewer leaks meant less progress, hence Windows 10 for Phone being later than desktop for preview and Xbox having no timeline mentioned and the big surprises were things that aren't likely to make a difference. As much as I enjoy these things as a tech enthusiast, I don't really feel these events are necessary.
Things went off very much like I felt they would. There were some surprises, but nothing big enough to change the overall outcome. This event, like the Android L and iPhone 6 events amounts to little more than a rallying of the troops. Very little in the way of truly new and nothing ground breaking.
Continuum got a bit of exposure, as did Cortana on desktop as predicted. Windows 10 for Phone was shown but won't be available in the extremely near future, though it coming available next month is much sooner than I would anticipate. As if to balance the earlier than expected release of the Phone preview, the desktop preview is not available immediately. Instead it is a week off. Not bad. But as expected.
Xbox got mentioned but no real OS demos or dates which I predicted.
Office demoed, but no solid dates.
Pricing was sort of what was leaked. Basically, for the first year after launch Windows 7, 8.1 and Phone 8.1 will all get free upgrades to Windows 10. What they do after is still in the air.
And now onto the things of moderate interest...
Windows 10 seems to effectively be the "last" "version" of Windows. Lots of quotes there. But the explanation will clear that up. Windows 10 will delivered like a service with perpetual updates and support. So, once you're on Windows 10, you will always have access to the latest version. None of this really means that there will never be a Windows 11.
Some new Universal Apps are incoming. Microsoft looks to be doing more than just the basics and trying to deliver both upgrades to existing apps which are now universal and also net new apps which showcase the Windows platform. There is an image app that looks really neat.
There was some talk about some new Xbox features with some uber staged demos that look interesting.
Spartan browser was basically as expected from leaks.
In the realm of things that they tried to pass off as huge but will likely have little impact is the new hardware. Firstly was the Surface Hub. This is an 84" devices which is basically a Windows tablet on steroids. Has whiteboard support. Clearly aimed at offices. Isn't going to be a game changer. I want one. But I definitely won't ever actually be able to afford one.
The other hardware unveiling was one of the coolest things that will likely disappear a month after it goes public which is their holographic headset. Holograms look SUPER cool. But I don't think even the idiot tech writers covering this think this will actually take off. It is like ApplePay, with the exception that journalists were deluded enough to think that the Apple brand could make Pay viable.
Basically, the event was exciting and the news was good. If you're in the MS camp. If you're more a fan of Apple or Google you'll see just another Windows OS and some far out tech ideas that will flop. I'm happy with what I saw and heard. But the event was not necessary.
As I speculated before the event, the valuable information was leaked ahead of time. Fewer leaks meant less progress, hence Windows 10 for Phone being later than desktop for preview and Xbox having no timeline mentioned and the big surprises were things that aren't likely to make a difference. As much as I enjoy these things as a tech enthusiast, I don't really feel these events are necessary.
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