SourceCode: What to expect from Microsoft's Windows 10 announcement

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

We want to see an exciting flagship device from Microsoft, one that differentiates Windows Phone as a platform and which goes beyond the usual features of Office, OneDrive and Xbox integration which we have had for three years now.

Tomorrow’s Microsoft Windows 10 announcement is an opportunity for the Redmond giant to showcase its key technologies as well as get users excited about its various products, specifically Windows 10.

With Satya Nadella as CEO for over a year now, the grace period for adjustment to new leadership and orientation has elapsed and it is now time to see if the company can unveil anything of substance. While all the focus will be on Windows 10 and what it will bring across the line for all devices and for all users, many are curious to see if Microsoft can regain its footing as one of the leaders and innovators in the industry.

Windows 10 is front and centre and the new OS will likely be unveiled at tomorrow’s event with a firm release date for early Fall. Microsoft will no doubt highlight the new ‘old’ features, the much anticipated return of the Start menu as well as the relegation of the Tiled interface to a side-screen.

The Windows Desktop is back and while Windows 8 tried to usher in a new interface, it proved too frustrating for many users on legacy and non-touch devices. Windows 8 wasn’t strong enough to coerce the multitudes to go buy newfangled Ultrabook slash hybrid slash convertible devices either and this is one reason while the PC market as a whole continued a downward spiral into abysmal sales.

Windows 10 is expected to become a universal product so it will slide into the desktop, tablet and the phone ecosystems. The transition won’t be easy or quick, but some applications should enjoy the same codebase, user experience and tight integration if all goes Microsoft’s way. 

Just another desktop refresh is hardly enough for an entire event so there will be new features to show off. We might see the integration of the Cortana voice assistant across the various platforms. The ‘alpha’ of Cortana on Windows Phone was impressive. Specially since this was a voice assistant that came late to the party. Microsoft would do well to cultivate Cortana as an asset. She has the awareness of Google Now and some of the character of Siri but without the sass.

It will be very interesting to see what Microsoft announces for Xbox One. While the console has enjoyed  increased sales (mostly because of the debundling of Kinect and lower pricing), it still doesn’t feel as next gen or as life changing  as one would expect. While the game library has increased steadily, Microsoft pitched the console as more than just a gaming device and I’m crossing my fingers we will see substantial announcements for an update to the one-year old console.

It seems that there should be some mobile announcement from Microsoft. Now that Nokia is out of the picture, I am hoping that Redmond will at least show some new hardware and possibly a new flagship to rekindle interest in Windows Phone. One sure way to kill buzz during the event is to talk about cheap or entry-level phones which are slated for emerging markets, there’s too many of those out there already and very few of those matter to North America and Europe.

We want to see an exciting flagship device from Microsoft, one that differentiates Windows Phone as a platform and which goes beyond the usual features of Office, OneDrive and Xbox integration which we have had for three years now.

Even BlackBerry, who has half of Microsoft’s already piddling 2.7 per cent share of the mobile market, strives to release new handsets and features that bring excitement to their platform. Here’s hoping we see those expansive Nokia patents put to good use.

I’m personally crossing my fingers to see if there will be additional news for Surface Pro devices (with the Surface RT ARM-powered devices pretty much killed off), perhaps some software updates that will differentiate these devices from the competition. There needs to be some  benefit to a Microsoft made hardware, otherwise what’s the point?

We will be eagerly watching the announcements tomorrow from Microsoft.