During Build 2015 in San Francisco, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore shared some interesting details about Windows 10, including availability and the company’s mission with the new operating system. Did you know that Microsoft is specifically targeting Windows 7 users?
“There are more of them,” Belfiore said in an interview with The Register in regards to Windows 7 users. “We are concerned with both, but the higher volume of people are the Windows 7 people, and the Windows 8 people are more likely to be tech enthusiasts and more adaptable.”
According to Belfiore, Microsoft is focusing on Windows 7 users, especially when it holds over 50 percent of the Windows market share. Windows 8 holds a little over 13 percent in market share, according to data from NetMarketshare. So it makes sense for Microsoft to make an attempt at wooing Windows 7 users with the new Windows 10 operating system.
“Following Windows 8 we saw the mixed reaction that the user experience got, in particular from Windows 7 users who were on devices that did not have a touch screen,” said Belfiore, admitting that Windows 8 was a little rough at the time. “That wasn’t its design point. Having seen the way this played out, we thought it was appropriate to adjust the way we did this, so we moved to a model that is way more open,” Belfiore adds.
“But we’ve heard feedback from touch users on Windows 8, and there’s more work that we’re doing. The priority for us is Windows 7 users because there are more of them, and a lot of those people feel that Windows 8 was not for them. We need them to think that we’re trying to build a product that is for them,” he adds.
However, the big question still remains. If you are on Windows 7, why should you upgrade to Windows 10?
“We’re going to take that thing that you like, we’re going to give you something that’s familiar, but just works better. It’s going to boot faster, it’s going to have better performance, you’re going to have a personal digital assistant there to answer any question for you at any time, you’re not going to have to relearn anything, and all of your apps are still going to run,” Belfiore adds.
Do you see Windows 10 as a worthy upgrade to Windows 7? Why or why not?
