Windows 10 - Updating Your Perspective

By: Vito DiMercurio, Director, Mobile and Emerging Technology
@vectorform | @vdimercurio

Perception. Perspective. These are universal concepts. And when you think about it, perception and perspective are really what drive most aspects of our daily lives.

Let’s be honest, Windows 8 was too much, too fast, and adoption rates were abysmal. Now that there is so much hype around Windows 10, the popular perception is that this is just a ploy to earn back business.

But is it? Let me lend some of my perspective—and maybe change your perception.

As an illustration, take my effort 12 years ago to be a better steward of the environment. My wife and I started using eco-friendly laundry detergent. Soon we noticed that, despite how good it was for the earth, it wasn’t “good” for our laundry—our clothes just didn’t seem as clean. So we switched back to regular old detergent.

Now, I’m sure that in 12 years, eco-friendly detergents have evolved and are exceeding expectations. There may be millions of people all over the world loving what these detergents do for the environment and their clothes. But I wouldn’t know. My old perspective of staring at a pile of not-so-clean laundry is preventing me from experiencing the eco-friendly love for myself.

Is that your perception of the Windows operating system? That it just doesn’t work? This month marks the one-year anniversary of the Windows 10 launch, and Microsoft has released an update that includes everything from advanced security features to new gaming experiences. Most importantly for business, the entire Windows ecosystem is more powerful than ever, allowing organizations all over the world the flexibility to run applications seamlessly across all platforms. But is it just a bunch of hype?

For those of us who know this system inside and out, the overall answer is no. Windows 10 delivers on the promise of a holistic operating system—a Universal Windows platform—that can run your business from virtually every angle. That’s a huge advantage in terms of efficiency, and it is one of the ways that Windows 10 truly stands out.

In a recent project for a client, for example, we collaborated on how to keep a specific app relevant across devices, as well as devices of the future as the Internet of Things (IoT) takes hold. Building the app with Windows 10 helped us do just that because of its seamless ability to run applications across virtually every device, whether it’s your iPhone or a PC. In fact, after upgrading the app from Windows 8 to Windows 10, I was able to port it to phone and Xbox in less than two days! Now with only some minor platform-specific UI considerations to account for, we have increased the reach of the app a thousand fold.

Experiences targeting Windows 10 and coded with Microsoft tools like Xamarin for iOS and Android deployment can run on about 70 percent of devices currently on the market. This means that you could start working on a document on your office PC and pick it up on your tablet during travel or even your smartphone without compromising functionality. True virtual workstations are a reality with Windows 10.

On the cloud front, Windows 10 allows you to directly connect to Azure, Microsoft’s collection of cloud services and tools. This means that true web-based management is easier than ever. With Visual Studio Online, even the coding products are cloud-based, which would allow your organization to code from virtually anywhere in the world.

There are countless other ways that Windows 10 is leading the way in operating systems, especially when it comes to apps, solutions, and customer experiences—some of the most important things for organizations to pay attention to in order to grow business and remain relevant. But in order to temper the hype, a word of caution: Getting all these great aspects of Windows 10 to work specifically for you is not automatic.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for organizations wanting to take advantage of Windows 10 is to set aside a “plug and play” mentality. Thoughtful design around the user experience is the crucial—and often hardest—first step to taking advantage of all that Windows 10 has to offer.

If you’re open to it, however, the possibilities to transform your business with Windows 10 and a little imagination are huge.

This could be the year your perspective changes in a big way.

About the Author

Vito has spent the better part of the last 20 years advising companies in their efforts to invent, innovate, and improve. Using his diverse cross-platform skill set, he leads teams to create new ways of interacting with technology, define natural experiences, and illustrate next generation human/machine interaction. Embedded systems? AR/VR/MR? IoT? Mobile? Web? It’s what he does.
Connect with Vito: @vdimercurio

About Vectorform

Vectorform invents digital products and experiences for the world’s leading brands with a focus on Mobile, Internet of Things, Smart Home, Connected Vehicle, and Wearable Technology. VisitVectorform.com and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.