Operating System |

Microsoft Windows 10, the Number Nobody was Expecting

October 1, 2014 By Daniel Giordano 1 Comment

Last week we took a look at the latest Microsoft Windows rumors and we saw how some were saying that Windows won’t be called Windows anymore. Now, Microsoft has released their new operating system and we can see that the voices were just half right. The new operating system from Microsoft isn’t called Windows 9, as it was expected, after Windows 8, but it is called Microsoft Windows 10.

Microsoft Windows 10 – Why the Change?

The first thing that came to people’s mind when they heard Microsoft’s new name for their operating system, Microsoft Windows 10, was Where’s Windows 9? Microsoft just skipped a number, without any concrete reason. It’s their product and they’re free to do with it as they please, but you can’t just throw numbers around willy-nilly, can you?

Some are saying that they’ve done this in an attempt to distance themselves as much as possible from Windows 8, which was Microsoft’s biggest flop in history. So many people hate Windows 8, that Microsoft thought they shouldn’t put a number next to their OS that is close to the number 8. Or maybe they’re counting the Microsoft Windows 8.1 and 9.

What Does Microsoft Windows 10 Bring?

Well, Microsoft Windows 10 is an operating system that’s designed to run across all device form factors. This means that you can have Microsoft Windows 10 on your tablet and even smartphone.

They put back the start menu and if you listen carefully, you can actually hear the world whisper Thank God! You’ve also got better keyboard and mouse integration and a feature that is called virtual desktops.

The virtual desktops feature (this is not the official Microsoft name, but this feature doesn’t have a name, so we’re going with it) is exactly what it sounds like: a feature that allows you to open a new desktop and jump between more than one desktops.

There is still a lot Microsoft hasn’t revealed about the new Microsoft Windows 8, but if you follow us, we’ll make sure to give you the latest news, as soon as Microsoft releases it.

What’s New in Windows 8.1 Update 1

March 10, 2014 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

If you have a desktop computer, a laptop or a touchscreen laptop, such as the Toshiba Satellie NB 15T with Windows 8, then you know there are some bugs and things that get you and most people pretty frustrated.

Microsoft will make available a Windows 8.1 update 1 on April 8^th 2014 and it’s free. It offers important improvements for both keyboard and mouse users overall and in store apps.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 Will Boot to Desktop

As you may very well know, Windows 8 does not allow you to boot to the desktop because in this new OS, Microsoft considered the desktop to be just another app you launch from the Start screen. That’s a pretty outrageous and uncomfortable new feature, because all those years of people running different versions of Windows, they’re grown accustomed to the Desktop as being their main access gate to their computer, not just an app. The Windows 8.1 update 1 will allow you to boot to the desktop and not the Start screen, making the new updates OS more user friendly.

Power and Search Icons on Start Screen

In this new Windows 8.1 Update 1 the Start screen will feature the Search and Power icons in the top-right corner making features more accessible for users who don’t know where to look, allowing to restart, for example, without opening the charms bar. I mean, how many times you’ve sat there wondering how to do something in Windows 8 and came up with nothing?! Microsoft’s biggest mistake was that it didn’t include any help features in Windows 8.

Other important improvements are:

Store apps now have a desktop taskbar. Right now, if you move your mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen while in Store Apps, your taskbar will appear (only if you’re using a mouse) – it will function as an auto-hide taskbar.
Desktop applications as default apps on PCs and laptops without touchscreens.
Context menus instead of app bars when you utilize a mouse.
You can pin store apps to the taskbar and many other useful updates.

What do you think of the Windows 8.1 update 1? Is it useful and will you update?

Google cleaning up Android with almost 50 percent running Jelly Bean

October 4, 2013 By Micheal Baptiste Leave a Comment

Android has went through a lot of versions and for the past two years most have been stuck on the redundant Gingerbread 2.3, without a hope of grabbing an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean.

The pace has started to move in the direction of new updates in the past year, with Google and partners making sure Android devices are upgraded every six months and users get a better experience even with an older device.

It has come to the point almost 50 percent of Android smartphones are running Jelly Bean, the latest name change on Android. The other fifty percent continue to use Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich.

Jelly Bean is split into three main versions, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3, with the next in line KitKat 4.4. The majority of users on Jelly Bean actually use 4.1 instead of the later versions, showing there is still some minor fragmentation on the OS.

The way we see it going is all Gingerbread smartphones will start slowly sliding away, like Windows XP machines. Once those are gone, smartphones running ICS will either be upgraded or dumped and Jelly Bean will become the new leader.

This does present some problems for the next versions of Android, especially KitKat that looks like a small upgrade but may be fundamental to Google’s plans of getting quick adoption across the board, on all devices high and low-end.

In the long term, Google is going to have to make Android updates quicker and easier across the board. With iOS, Apple pushes the update to all compatible devices, but with Android partners need to be informed and update their UI for every smartphone.

This makes it hard for all Android users to get a quick upgrade to the latest version, especially when some partners aren’t as fast at upgrading as others, like HTC were and still are with some devices.

Two new smartphone-operating systems to be launched this year

January 18, 2013 By Mary Duncan Leave a Comment

At a time when the smartphone community is looking for innovation,Mozilla Firefox and Jolla Sailfish are set to launch their individual operating systems in 2013.The launch is on time to provide the much-sought alternatives for the key players – Apple’s iOS and Android operating systems.

Recently smartphone manufacturer ZTE revealed plans of working with a European wireless carrier to launch a smartphone running on Mozilla Firefox mobile OS.The company also has plans to launch a similar device in the United States.

A Firefox OS smartphone, sans any manufacturer’s brand, was revealed before the CES trade show.But,Mozilla states that its OS will be powered by HTML 5 and manufactured by TCL Communication Technology (Hong Kong) under Alcatel One Touch nameplate and ZTE.Firefox OS has received support from Sprint (United States), Deutsche Telekom (Germany),Etisalat (Abu Dhabi), Telecom Italia (Italy), Smart Communications (Philippines), Telefonica(Spain) and Telenor (Norway).

Jolla’s Sailfish OS is likely to be used in smartphones heading to the Chinese market early this year.It initially appeared in Helsinki in November 2012. Reviewers compare the Sailfish interface to that of the live tiles featured on Windows phone 8,as it allows user interaction directly through the icons on the home screen.The company’s employees are said to have worked for Nokia’s MeeGo OS,which was discarded in view of the more favorable Windows Phone in 2011.

While the new operating systems may not make a big impact at first, the smartphone market,which is getting tougher and bigger, is likely to witness some difference.Either OS seems to be geared up for the low to mid-priced segment of smartphones. It is likely that both the operating systems will be used in white-label devices,i.e. devices from the same manufacturer, but supplied by different carriers.

BlackBerry 10 is about to be launched and iOS and Android are already dominating the market.So,will Firefox and Sailfish make it?Perhaps, they will catch up very slowly.