With much of the massive Windows 10 development in the rear view mirror for Microsoft, now comes the time to sell its vision of computing to the masses. Selling Windows 10 to the public may prove to be a difficult endeavor after the reception Windows 8 received. Hopefully, this time around, Microsoft’s partners will offer the needed push to help Windows 10 wash away the dirt that became associated with Windows 8. PC manufacturers found it increasingly difficult to celebrate the virtues of Windows 8. Aside from touchscreen options, the OS offered little in the way of feature differentiation for hardware makers. Perhaps, Windows 8’s additional input method should have been enough. However, for a market that swelled with stagnation for so long, Windows 8 offered little to curb the trend.
While Windows 10 is being viewed as a return to more ‘traditional’ computing on PCs, the retooled OS will come with some bells and whistle, hardware manufacturers will be able to champion with new devices. Among the new features accessible to partners is the integrated digital assistant Cortana in Windows 10. There are reports of PC manufacturers designing brand specific implementations and interactions to help users engage with the service more.
At IFA 2015, OEMs will be able to showcase their integration of Windows 10 on their devices. OEMs will now be able to choose how they showcase Cortana, Windows Hello, a retooled tablet interface, fingerprint authentication support, virtual desktops, and other applications and service bundled into Windows 10. Nick Parker, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President responsible for device partnerships will take the stage at IFA in Berlin on September 4th to talk about ‘new devices’ for Windows 10. Parker’s keynote is titled ‘Windows 10 Lights up New Devices,” and should discuss Windows 10 on 2-in-1s, premium notebooks, gaming devices and all-in-ones.
While Microsoft has been withdrawn from the IFA conference the past couple of years, its Windows presence has remained. However, this year, Microsoft is making a personal appearance at the conference to help celebrate Windows 10 alongside the OEMs that will help shape the adoption of the new OS. It should also be noted, while Microsoft is “committed” to bringing flagship Windows 10 mobile devices to market, IFA will probably not be the place they announce them. Perhaps, other phone OEMs will finally step up and make an appearance for the Windows 10 mobile effort. However, phones with Windows 10 Mobile at IFA seem unlikely, as the Windows 10 team is still hard at work at finalizing the code.
