Security
One of the biggestaspectsof Windows 10 that Microsoft may
have to look at more keenly in 2016 is the issue of privacy. In 2015,
Threshold 2 – the Novemberupdate – increased the potentialto be
spied on. In fact, Microsoft’s corporatevice president,Joe Belfiore,
admittedWindows 10 trackedhow users were operatingthe system
and that the data was being sent back to be analysed.It has led to
some pressure being put on Microsoft to educateusers to better
tweak the settingsso they can determinewhat informationis
collectedabout their activity.
In Microsoft’s favour, it does seem to be keenly aware of the issues
of privacy, which is why it pulled the update when it found that
some of the preferences were not being retained, openingpeople
up to issues surroundingbackground apps and advertisingID. It was
concerned that the privacy settingswere being overwrittenand took
action. But with a greater push in 2016 in the corporatemarket,
such things will be very importantto address. “Microsoft will likely
focus mostly on securityand managementas they move from a
consumermessageto a corporatemessageto continueto fuel the
long-delayedPC replacementcycle,” says Enderle.
Failing to address such things would hamperMicrosoft’s progress
which, according to Gartner, is set to be great. It says 50% of
enterpriseswill have begun to switch to Windows 10 before the
year is out. The first half of this year is therefore going to see many
enterprisesplanningto begin pilots for Windows 10 and “broaden
their deploymentsin the latter part of the year.”
“In the consumermarket,a free upgradecoupledwith broad
legacy device supportand automaticover-the-airupgrades
ensures that there will be tens of millionsof users familiarwith
the operatingsystem (OS) before the end of 2015,”said Steve
Kleynhans,research vice presidentat Gartner. “For enterprises,we
expect that implementationwill be significantlymore rapid than
that seen with Windows 7 six years ago.”BackTo TheFuture
This is how Windows10 got itself to this point:- 2011:AndrewLees,then chiefof Microsoft’s mobile
technologies,announceda plan to createa single
eco-systemlinkedby Windows. - 2012:Windows8 was released,bringingsomemajor
changesto the user interface.The Start buttonwas
scrappedand therewas an emphasison touchscreen. - 2013:Microsoftwas said to be workingon an update
to Windows8 codenamedThreshold. - 2014:AnotherOS was said to be plannedcalledBlue,
but that becameWindows8.1. It broughtback the
Start menu. - 2014:Thresholdwas finallyannouncedas Windows
10. It was, as Lees had said, a unifiedplatform,but
it shockedpeoplethat it wasn’t goingto be called
Windows9. - 2015:Windows10 was released,allowingthoseusing
Windows7 and Windows8/8.1 to upgradefor free.
The Start menureturned,and thereweretwo modes
for mice/keyboardcombosand touch-control.
Microsoftwilllikely
focus mostlyon securityand
management
iWindowsStoreis goingtobecomemoreprominent,especiallyforbusinesses,overthenext 12 months