What Windows 10 does wrong.
I have to admit, I generally seem biased in favor of Microsoft. And maybe, subconsciously, I am. But, I'm not so much so that I cannot also see their missed steps. I do generally feel that Windows 10 is an overall improvement on the Windows lineup. But, I also think it has a few fairly large issues they need to get sorted out.
To begin with, the security fears are total nonsense. Microsoft isn't stealing your data. They don't give a crap what you said, typed or inked and there is no frickin' key logger. Just getting that out of the way.
Where they goofed was a little more out in the open. I have 4 machines in my house that run Windows 10.
The first problem is Windows Update. I don't care that I'm being forced to update. I'm not running a stolen copy of Windows and I fully agree that continuous upgrades is actually something (effectively) all users should be doing. My problem is, it is super easy to throw a wrench in the update process. My 2 personal, daily use machines both have ongoing problems and that isn't excusable. These are both Windows 8.1 era machines that took the free upgrade.
Now... you might be thinking "well you updated hardware, so there was no guarantee it was going to be a painless experience". And historically, I would somewhat side with that. In the past I would have had to not only gone out of my way to get the update, but also pay way too much to get one. So, even when there are complications they should be rare. But, on the flipside, having paid for the upgrade I think I would then be more entitled to working software. That, is a different argument though.
With Windows 10, Microsoft gave Windows 7 through to Windows 8.1 machines free upgrades. And, as both of my machines were Windows 8.1 based they should have been the most ideal upgrade candidates. The hardware is closer to launch Windows 10 hardware than anything else. The devices themselves are still getting OEM driver updates. These SHOULD be freebies for Microsoft. And, if it were just one, or either were custom built I MIGHT be inclined to not bother complaining. But these are both stock OEM machines.
And that isn't the end of it. When these machines that have drivers to fail to update, they can block other Windows updates. Case in point, I just moved my desktop back into the Windows Insider. But WU wouldn't pull down the build because my audio driver continually failed to install. I had to go manually fix my audio driver to get WU to get rolling along again. And that too is just as inexcusable as the fact that such recent hardware is problematic at all. It breaks the promise of continual updates and it does through via a source Microsoft doesn't own. They don't write the drivers, so those drivers shouldn't be able to hold the update process for ransom.
And that STILL isn't the end of it. On more than one occasion I've had the entire Windows Update process jam up and refuse to continue until I manually go and delete files and restart services. Once again, a problem which the typical user can't resolve and which throws a wrench in the whole continuous update selling point of Windows 10.
Basically, the promise of keeping machines up to date was CORE to Windows 10. The process then either needs to be bulletproof or self-repairing. It is neither. As a result, many people out there are likely thinking that they are safe and up to date, when in fact their PC has been stuck in an infinite loop of not actually updating for a very long time. And, if they ever notice, they may not even have the technical skills to get it unstuck. For those people, they are actually less up to date and secure than they were in the past.
Speaking of updates, on a related topic, the Windows Store is a bag of faulty code as well. Not in the sense that it is generally broken. But in the sense that the experience is detrimental. A few things I've noticed;
1 - While preparing to install the latest preview build, the download and install process of apps through the store came to a complete halt.
2 - All Store errors are generic and useless.
3 - Many system tasks can degrade Store download performance to annoyingly slow speeds.
4 - Progress indicator for downloading and installing not updated near enough to real-time.
#1 is bad because I wouldn't have known to blame to update process if I hadn't triggered it myself and didn't have the screen open side by side to notice that the stopping and starting of my progress in Store coincided with steps in the update process. To most users it would just seem as though the Store app didn't work.
#2 is just lazy. Most errors are generally caused either exclusively or almost exclusively by a single condition. Giving a generic "Something went wrong" style of error and an error code destroys the user experience. I can tolerate an error if I have some idea why I'm getting it. All you need to make clear is if you need the user to do something or if they should just try again later. Giving error codes to the average user is just bad.
#3 irks me for a reason similar to #1. Something that the user hasn't explicitly done is impacting their experience in something which they are explicitly trying to do. In my case, Windows Update and OneDrive sync brought all other network activity to a virtual standstill.
#4 is just as bad as 1 and 3. I don't know how many times I've seen an app stick around at 0MB out of some huge file size for close to a minute and then just sky rocket to 100%. Excel for instance is something like 170MB. When I go from 0MB to 170MB is less than a second I know it wasn't just some delay. My internet simply isn't that fast. But, to the end user, it once again looks like the Store isn't working.
So, why focus so much on the Store? With free upgrades and attempt to make themselves relevant again, Microsoft needs users to use the Store. And if they want them to come back they need to make sure the experience is as ideal as humanly possible. All of these issues would give me pause about spending money through the Store app. Most purchases are impulse buys. Some of these issues might leave a user concerned in some cases that they would ever get their purchase downloaded. Others might lead to buyers remorse before the download even completes. Even something as simple as seeing the progress bar moving on the download ever few seconds makes a huge deal to how people perceive the Store.
For this one, the Store really needs to have priority second only to critical system processes. Store should be able to steal CPU cycles and bandwidth from other apps to give the user the best purchasing experience. If this is truly an important means of both monetizing the Windows ecosystem and making your product relevant again, it should be the part of the system which shows the best.
I know this article was really just 2 features... but they are important ones and they are the ones I regularly find myself feeling are where MS needs to invest more effort.
To begin with, the security fears are total nonsense. Microsoft isn't stealing your data. They don't give a crap what you said, typed or inked and there is no frickin' key logger. Just getting that out of the way.
Where they goofed was a little more out in the open. I have 4 machines in my house that run Windows 10.
The first problem is Windows Update. I don't care that I'm being forced to update. I'm not running a stolen copy of Windows and I fully agree that continuous upgrades is actually something (effectively) all users should be doing. My problem is, it is super easy to throw a wrench in the update process. My 2 personal, daily use machines both have ongoing problems and that isn't excusable. These are both Windows 8.1 era machines that took the free upgrade.
Now... you might be thinking "well you updated hardware, so there was no guarantee it was going to be a painless experience". And historically, I would somewhat side with that. In the past I would have had to not only gone out of my way to get the update, but also pay way too much to get one. So, even when there are complications they should be rare. But, on the flipside, having paid for the upgrade I think I would then be more entitled to working software. That, is a different argument though.
With Windows 10, Microsoft gave Windows 7 through to Windows 8.1 machines free upgrades. And, as both of my machines were Windows 8.1 based they should have been the most ideal upgrade candidates. The hardware is closer to launch Windows 10 hardware than anything else. The devices themselves are still getting OEM driver updates. These SHOULD be freebies for Microsoft. And, if it were just one, or either were custom built I MIGHT be inclined to not bother complaining. But these are both stock OEM machines.
And that isn't the end of it. When these machines that have drivers to fail to update, they can block other Windows updates. Case in point, I just moved my desktop back into the Windows Insider. But WU wouldn't pull down the build because my audio driver continually failed to install. I had to go manually fix my audio driver to get WU to get rolling along again. And that too is just as inexcusable as the fact that such recent hardware is problematic at all. It breaks the promise of continual updates and it does through via a source Microsoft doesn't own. They don't write the drivers, so those drivers shouldn't be able to hold the update process for ransom.
And that STILL isn't the end of it. On more than one occasion I've had the entire Windows Update process jam up and refuse to continue until I manually go and delete files and restart services. Once again, a problem which the typical user can't resolve and which throws a wrench in the whole continuous update selling point of Windows 10.
Basically, the promise of keeping machines up to date was CORE to Windows 10. The process then either needs to be bulletproof or self-repairing. It is neither. As a result, many people out there are likely thinking that they are safe and up to date, when in fact their PC has been stuck in an infinite loop of not actually updating for a very long time. And, if they ever notice, they may not even have the technical skills to get it unstuck. For those people, they are actually less up to date and secure than they were in the past.
Speaking of updates, on a related topic, the Windows Store is a bag of faulty code as well. Not in the sense that it is generally broken. But in the sense that the experience is detrimental. A few things I've noticed;
1 - While preparing to install the latest preview build, the download and install process of apps through the store came to a complete halt.
2 - All Store errors are generic and useless.
3 - Many system tasks can degrade Store download performance to annoyingly slow speeds.
4 - Progress indicator for downloading and installing not updated near enough to real-time.
#1 is bad because I wouldn't have known to blame to update process if I hadn't triggered it myself and didn't have the screen open side by side to notice that the stopping and starting of my progress in Store coincided with steps in the update process. To most users it would just seem as though the Store app didn't work.
#2 is just lazy. Most errors are generally caused either exclusively or almost exclusively by a single condition. Giving a generic "Something went wrong" style of error and an error code destroys the user experience. I can tolerate an error if I have some idea why I'm getting it. All you need to make clear is if you need the user to do something or if they should just try again later. Giving error codes to the average user is just bad.
#3 irks me for a reason similar to #1. Something that the user hasn't explicitly done is impacting their experience in something which they are explicitly trying to do. In my case, Windows Update and OneDrive sync brought all other network activity to a virtual standstill.
#4 is just as bad as 1 and 3. I don't know how many times I've seen an app stick around at 0MB out of some huge file size for close to a minute and then just sky rocket to 100%. Excel for instance is something like 170MB. When I go from 0MB to 170MB is less than a second I know it wasn't just some delay. My internet simply isn't that fast. But, to the end user, it once again looks like the Store isn't working.
So, why focus so much on the Store? With free upgrades and attempt to make themselves relevant again, Microsoft needs users to use the Store. And if they want them to come back they need to make sure the experience is as ideal as humanly possible. All of these issues would give me pause about spending money through the Store app. Most purchases are impulse buys. Some of these issues might leave a user concerned in some cases that they would ever get their purchase downloaded. Others might lead to buyers remorse before the download even completes. Even something as simple as seeing the progress bar moving on the download ever few seconds makes a huge deal to how people perceive the Store.
For this one, the Store really needs to have priority second only to critical system processes. Store should be able to steal CPU cycles and bandwidth from other apps to give the user the best purchasing experience. If this is truly an important means of both monetizing the Windows ecosystem and making your product relevant again, it should be the part of the system which shows the best.
I know this article was really just 2 features... but they are important ones and they are the ones I regularly find myself feeling are where MS needs to invest more effort.
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