SEPTEMBER 2020 PCWorld 77version of the app, then
on the desktop, and
separately on the mobile
counterparts for iOS and
Android.) Microsoft
Teams—an app—has its
own apps (go.pcworld.
com/owap)! And let’s
not even talk about
PWAs, or webpages that
can be “saved” as
“apps” in your Start
menu. Madness!
Apple’s regimented
rollouts look very much like a Roman legion
taking to the battlefield in tight formation.
Apps within Windows sometimes remind me
more of a howling mob of barbarians
storming the gates.
- CHROMEBOOKS GAVE
US WINDOWS 10 S
Why do we have Windows 10 in S Mode (go.
pcworld.com/smde)? Why do we have
Windows 10X? The answer to both is the
same: Chromebooks. Microsoft may have
developed Windows 10X as the “next
Windows” for dual-screen devices (go.
pcworld.com/dlsc), but both operating
systems are now tasked with trying to crack
the low-cost American education market (go.
pcworld.com/edmk), where Google-
powered Chromebooks have a stranglehold.
If educators considered Windows 10 to
be a simple, easily-managed operating
system that a second-grader could navigate,
it’s possible that Windows 10 S would have
never come to be. But until Microsoft gains a
foothold in American K-12 classrooms, it’s
likely we’ll see Windows 10X positioned as
the next great education OS.- TOUCH, GAZE,
AND PEN INPUT
Compared to the number of times my fingers
tap my keyboard’s keys, the amount I touch
my laptop’s touchscreen is infinitesimal. Using
a pen? Eye tracking (go.pcworld.com/itrk)?
Even less. But yes, I do holler at Cortana
across the room. All of them have an
important place in my work, and all of them
are modalities Microsoft has steadily
prioritized throughout the development of
Windows 10.
You may not use a pen with Windows 10, but support is there if you need it.