By Jeff Elder And Shira Ovide
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday offered a deeper look at Windows
10, a new version of its flagship operating system that will work
across computers, tablets and smartphones.
The new operating system will include a new Web browser and
enable broader social gaming, a co-working big screen and
hologram-viewing headset.
"We want people to love Windows on a daily basis," Chief
Executive Satya Nadella said at an event at Microsoft headquarters
in Redmond, Wash.
The new Web browser, called Project Spartan, will allow users to
take notes with a stylus and read content in a more streamlined
layout. It will include a version of Microsoft's Cortana personal
assistant, first made available on smartphones in April.
Cortana is a rival to Apple Inc.'s Siri, and like Siri, responds
to spoken commands. Cortana is designed to be personalized and to
learn from a user's online habits, making suggestions of websites
to visit.
It wasn't immediately clear if or when Microsoft planned to
replace Internet Explorer with the new browser.
Microsoft said the Windows 10 upgrade will be free during its
first year for those using Windows 7 or later systems. The company
hasn't yet provided the software's release date, expected later
this year.
Microsoft also showed new functions for its Xbox gaming system,
including one that will allow multiple users to play the same game
simultaneously on both Xbox consoles and Windows 10 personal
computers.
Microsoft demonstrated a new device aimed at the workplace
called Surface Hub, an 84-inch 4K touch-screen computer with
features such as a stylus wipeboard, shared Web browser and video
conferencing.
And for a little razzle-dazzle, the company closed with a vision
for hologram computing called Windows Holographic. Microsoft showed
off a headset called HoloLens, whose wearers can view and interact
with augmented-reality holograms that appear in natural
environments, such as a living room or office.
A lot is riding on the new operating systems as the current
version, Windows 8, failed to gain traction. Fewer than 15% of
Windows computers run it, according to analyst Net Applications.
Many users who tried it on a computer with keyboard and mouse
complained about the touch-screen interface.
The company previously acknowledged it went off the rails with
some elements of Windows 8. (Microsoft unaccountably skipped
Windows 9.)
The new version de-emphasizes a home screen offering
smartphone-like apps, introduced in Windows 8, that confused some
users with its fusion of mobile and PC conventions. Microsoft
officials will continue to stress that Windows 10 is more like
prior versions of Windows.
"What Microsoft has got to do is continue to provide a stable,
familiar-to-use version of Windows," said David MacDonald, chief
executive of Softchoice Corp., which sells technology and services
to companies. Mr. MacDonald said few of his corporate customers
installed Windows 8 on workplace PCs, preferring to stick with
prior versions.
Microsoft also hopes Windows 10 will fulfill its long-standing
promise to establish a common software foundation for PCs, tablets,
smartphones and Xbox. Those products now require four fairly
distinct operating systems. Unifying them could allow for seamless
activities across devices, such as letting Xbox users shift in
midgame from the console to a Windows PC.
The larger benefit of a cross-device operating system, however,
is creating a bigger base of users to appeal to software
developers--a crucial constituency for Microsoft's flailing
smartphone business. Microsoft's Windows Phone software is used on
just three out of 100 new smartphones sold world-wide, and one
reason is a lack of popular or buzzy apps. Microsoft hopes to
burnish its allure to developers with the promise that apps created
for Windows phones will also run on hundreds of millions of Windows
PCs.
Windows' role in generating revenue makes every new version a
high-stakes venture. The PC operating system accounted for about
19% of Microsoft's revenue in the year ended June 30, and it
generates roughly 30% of the company's earnings, Nomura Securities
stock analyst Rick Sherlund estimates.
Those figures understate the operating system's financial
potency, because sales of Office are closely tied to sales of
Windows devices. The sum of revenue related to Windows and PC
versions of Office accounts for roughly 80% of Microsoft's
operating profit, according to estimates from Jefferies &
Co.
Windows 10 may usher in some business-model tinkering. Microsoft
executives have hinted the company will experiment with new ways to
make money by pitching people add-on services or apps, such as
Microsoft's Skype video-calling service, OneDrive file storage and
digital video downloads.
Joanna Stern contributed to this article.
Write to Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com
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