Windows 10 turned five years old on July 29, 2020. Time for a look at current trends, a lot of cosmetics and well-known update bugs.
On July 29, 2020, Windows 10 will celebrate its fifth birthday. Numerous trends are discernible for the near future of the operating system: Microsoft wants to push its customers away from on-premises products towards the cloud, is further improving its update strategy and wants to improve the look and user-friendliness of Windows 10.
For the anniversary, we are highlighting planned innovations and some positive developments, which are sometimes overshadowed by less good ideas and permanently unresolved quality deficits.
20H2: Strong focus on design and Usability
The Insider Previews allow you to take a look at possible Windows 10 innovations in the near future. In terms of design, Microsoft is opting for visual adjustments to the start menu in the Windows 10 version 20H2 expected for autumn 2020.
Some of the Windows 10 developers are also currently working on better integrating the new Chromium-based Edge browser into the operating system. As Microsoft explains in a blog entry for the current Insider Preview Build 19042.421, the task manager should in future not only offer open apps and applications via the key combination Alt+Tab, but also websites open in the Edge browser.
In a personalized taskbar and various usability improvements in tablet mode are currently being tested in the Insider Previews.
Speaking of usability: Microsoft is discussing replacing the classic Windows control panel and instead moving all settings to the settings page already for years. When this move will be completed (and if it will ever happen) is currently in the stars.
In the future, annual instead of semi-annual feature updates?
The prospect of possible innovations from the Insider Preview raises the fundamental question of how function updates will be applied to the system in the future. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft’s stated goal was to release a feature update for the operating system twice a year. With this approach, however, the company has clearly suffered shipwreck in recent years: versions were often finished late in spring or autumn and had such serious errors that some of them, like the Windows 10 October 2018 update, had to be withdrawn.
As early as 2019, Microsoft drew consequences from these problems. After the spring update to version 1903 was carried out as a classic function update, the functions of the autumn update (version 1909) were implemented with the help of an “enablement package” of just under 500 KB. unlocked. It is considered very likely that Microsoft will use the much smoother and more time-saving approach of a “small update” for the upcoming version 20H20 for users. is maintained, referring to the ‘big’ Function update (Win 10 Version 2004) from May follows.
More control over telemetry data for admins
Even with telemetry data acquisition by the operating system, the is a major point of criticism, especially from the point of view of data protectionists, something is happening.
For data protection reasons, Microsoft has repeatedly had to make improvements in recent years in order to provide administrators in companies with better control options over telemetry data collection. A few days ago the company launched a special “Data Processor Service” for administrators of Windows 10 Enterprise. With it, companies in EU countries will in future be able to specify which telemetry data may be processed by Microsoft, taking into account the GDPR.
The data collected will continue to be stored in the Azure cloud, but will be well secured there, according to Microsoft and continue to be under the control of each company. An information document on the Data Processor Service provides further details. If you prefer not to send any data at all, you can still switch off the telemetry completely.
Trend towards Microsoft accounts and the cloud
Many users should at least have mixed feelings about Microsoft’s direction in the view clouds. Microsoft 365, consisting of Windows 10, Office 365 and other services, should be made attractive as a subscription for companies and authorities. In 2025, when Windows 10 will be exactly 10 years old, not only will support for Windows 10 Version 1507 LTSC, the first RTM version with 10 years of long-term support, expire: Microsoft Office 2019 will also reach the end of its life cycle and for more on-premises products, the same applies.
It’s quite possible that Microsoft will then pull the plug for locally installed on-premise products and only offer subscription solutions with a connection to the cloud. In addition to justified data protection concerns, this results in the problem of a strong dependence on Microsoft accounts. A ban by Microsoft, whether justified or not, can result in problematic situations for companies (at least in the short term). According to experience reports, the subsequent unblocking by the support can become a lengthy affair.
Wish for the future: quality before cosmetics
Under a thick layer ” cosmetics” Unfortunately, there are still some serious quality problems in the form of smaller and larger changes to the current insider versions of Windows 10.
Function updates that were completed with a delay and that still contained major bugs when they were released generally annoyed quite a few in recent years User. And even the current Windows 10 May 2020 Update (Version 2004) contains more than half a dozen bugs confirmed by Microsoft, seven months after the development freeze and two months after general availability.
It would be desirable in this one context that Microsoft is dealing with the existing fundamental problems instead of using poorly concealed permanent construction sites as a (shaky) basis for its future plans.
