Thisismuchlessuseful,althoughitdoesavoidthescenario
where yougetona planethinkingyou’vegota file,onlytofind
outthatyouhaven’t locallysyncedit.
OneDriveisanproblem,andsoare someoftheothercritical
apps,includingtheverypoorMailappandMicrosoft’s new
browser, Edge,whichdoesn’t haveanyplug-insupport.
TheMailappisespeciallybad,consideringthatthis
universalappdoesn’t evencontainsomeofthefeaturesofits
phonecousin.
Thatwe’vegotsofardownthelinewithWindows 10 and
thesethingsare stilla problemisa concern,anditmakesthis
writerwonderexactlyhowmanypeopleare workingonthe
standardappselectionforthistobethecase.
Microsofthaspromisedtobeingadd-onstoEdgein2016,
andtocontinuallyimprovetheotherapps,butatthistime
they’re nota compellingreasontomovetothisOSorthe
UniversalAppmodel.
10.Windows10IsUnfinished
AsI writeaboutthesethingsI havea machinewithWindows 10
onit that’s partoftheInsiderProject,andit getsallthepatches
aheadofwhenthey’re releasedintothemainstream.Andsince
July, there havebeena continuousstreamofpatches.
Someaddfeaturesthatare missing,othersfixproblems,and
somecreatetotallynewproblems.Theoverallimpressionisa
‘workinprogress’,ratherthana finishedandpolishedproduct
forsale.
Goingbacktotheinitialrelease,it’s quiteworryingtoconsider
whatconditionitwasinwhenMicrosoftlaunchedit.Today, it’s
more stable,hasmore featuresandsomeofthedefaultapps
are better, butit’s farfromfinished.
There are stillerrorsthatI noticedthefirsttimeI everused
itthatremain,eitherbecausethey’re notconsidereda high
priorityorthere are somanyofthemthatthey’re waydown
thefixlist.
Ifcustomerswere payingforWindows10,they’dprobably
becausingmore ofa stinkoversomeproblems,butbecause
it’s free,theyseemtobegettinga passfornow. Butinabout
sevenmonthsfromnow, Microsoftwillbeaskingformoney
forWindows10,andatthecurrentrateofdevelopment,itstill
won’t becompletedtothelevelthatWindows 7 is,anditmay
neverbethatpolished.
IfI wantedtoseethedevelopmentofanoperatingsystem
slicebyslice,I’doptintoa Linuxdistrothatissuesnightly
compiles.Thisis‘Windows’,andit’s meanttolaunchmostly
working,andthenbeallthere whenthefirstservicepack
arrives.Windows 10 hashaditsfirstmajorupgradealready,
anditisn’t closetobeinga unifiedandcompleteOS.
Conversely, Windows 7 isasgoodasit’s evergoingtoget,
andthat’s substantiallymore polishedthanWindows 10 isat
thistime.FinalThoughts
ReadingthethoughtsofanotherwriterinMicroMartrecently,
I don’t reallyseethatupgradingjustbecauseMicrosoftwants
ustodothatisactuallyanysortofjustification.It’s a business,
nota personwe’re tryingtoplease.WhatMicrosoftwantsisin
itsbestinterest,andnotnecessarilyidenticaltotheneedsofits
customerbase.
Likea sharkalwaysmovingforwardinwatertosurvive,
MicrosoftmustconvinceustobuyWindows,Officeand
whateverservicesithastoremaininbusiness.
It’s takinga massivegamblethatgivingWindowsawayfor
thefirsttimeeverwon’t justconvinceusallthatoperating
systemsshouldbefree,likeAndroid,andcalltimeonthe
companyasa commercialentity.
Diditsuserswantactivationorfeaturesremoving,Bobor
Bing?No,theydidn’t,andwehaveonlyMicrosoft’s assertion
thatWindows 10 isthefuture – somethingitsaidabout
Windows8.x,whichitsubsequentlyretracted.
Whileitlaunchesitsproductsinthehopewe’lllikethem,
there isn’t anyloyaltyprogramwe’re allinvestedthatmakeit
compulsorytogoalongwithWindows 10 oranythingelseit
makes.
Becauseofthatconflictofinterest,andthecostandtime
implicationsoftransition,thisisa choicethateveryWindows 7
or 8 userneedstomakeforthemselves.Andtheydon’t really
needMicrosoftsatontheirshoulderlikethedemonicoffspring
ofClippyaskingeveryfiveseconds‘Are wethere yet’?Or‘I
canseeyou’re usingWindows7.Wouldyoulikemetoscrew
thatupforyou?’
WeeachcaneitherseethevalueofMicrosoft’s proposition
orwecan’t.Goingalongwithitforanyotherreasonthan
it’s decidedit’s rightforusisa ludicrousidea,howevermuch
proddingandpushingMicrosofttries.
Nextweek,I’llsendthenegativethinkeraway, andcome
upwithsomegoodreasonswhyyoushouldupgrade,other
thanhowmuchMicrosoftbadlywantsit.Ifyoucanresist
thetemptationtoupgradeinthemeantime,thatwould
behelpful.mm