Microsoft has officially ended mainstream support for Windows 7. Before you panic, this means that no new features will be implemented. However, you will continue to receive security updates to known issues for 5 more years. That’s a good thing as well because Windows 7 still retains 56 percent of the desktop operating system market share.
Windows 8.1 that has been in troubled waters for a while. The extreme makeover that Microsoft tried to present with a seemingly innovative Windows 8.1 could only help secure 9 percent of the market share. That may be more than Apple’s Mac OS, sitting at 5 percent, but well below 18 percent under the grasp of Windows XP. The fact that it has half the share of an OS that was launched an eternity ago says everything.
Microsoft clearly missed a trick by trying to impose upon users an interface with a full blown Start menu. It’s really about time that developers came to terms with the fact that simplicity of an interface has no parallel. Microsoft seemingly realizes that doing away with the traditional Start menu was a shortcoming they could ill afford. Their efforts to build an all-in-one OS that could handle touch as well as traditional PCs seems to be a huge mistake in hindsight.
Microsoft is serious about redeeming itself with Windows 10, and it shows with the beta previews. The traditional Start menu has now been reintroduced to users. Microsoft would be hoping that users finally move on from Windows XP and Windows 7. With intuitive features such as multiple desktops, snap enhancements, enhanced file explorer and a task view button, it aims to build on the simple Windows experience that users are well accustomed to.
