At this WinHEC, Microsoft did announce a lot of "fierce news" "This is the most exciting change since Win95 since I joined Microsoft." A veteran Microsoft employee told Sina Technology at the Microsoft WinHEC Summit held in Shenzhen. At this WinHEC, Microsoft did announce a lot of "fierce news", such as all Windows 7 and Windows 8 users can upgrade to Windows 10 for free, including pirated users; Windows 10 will be released this summer in 190 countries with support for 111 languages; in-depth cooperation with Qihoo 360 and Tencent; Xiaomi Mi 4 will be flashable with Windows 10 system package and more... To borrow a hot comment on Weibo, "Microsoft is good to fight this time", it is indeed full of sincerity and has made a full gesture, especially for the Chinese market. From Conference to Community WinHEC Summit is a conference about the Windows hardware ecosystem, restarted after 7 years, Microsoft has made a little adjustment in the meaning of the conference, the "C" of HEC has been changed from Conference to Community (ecology), and the biggest killer feature that Microsoft has come up with for this Community is free upgrades. Qihoo 360 CEO Zhou Hongyi said in a speech at the scene that he had explored with Microsoft whether the operating system could be turned into an Internet model, that is, a free model. He said he didn't expect that one day Microsoft would put it into practice. However, Microsoft also made it clear that existing system upgrades are free, but new users still need to purchase licenses. Microsoft promises Windows 7 and Windows 8 users a free upgrade within a year of the new system's release, but this does not include Windows XP users. In addition, even if the previous user used a pirated system, they can upgrade for free, but the system is still pirate. Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft's operating system division, told Sina that the program aims to "re-reach" hundreds of millions of Windows users in China. The biggest feature of Windows 10 is that it will cover all sizes and categories of Windows devices, and users can run the same application on Windows devices (phones, tablets, PCs, and Xbox) across platforms. Microsoft's vigorous promotion seems to be intended to popularize Windows 10 first and then expand the ecosystem. In order to realize this strategy, Microsoft has launched a series of major actions in China: Lenovo's entire line of consumer products will be uniformly pre-installed with Windows 10 and will launch Windows Phones; Tencent will provide system upgrade packages including its own software QQ, Tencent Video, and Tencent Computer Manager. Qihoo 360 said it will provide users with a one-click upgrade tool for Windows 10; Xiaomi Mi 4 phones will offer a download of the Windows 10 phone system flashing package later this year. In addition to cooperating with the above giant companies, Microsoft will also cooperate with a number of white-label manufacturers to launch products and solutions such as tablets, 2-in-1 computers, and smartphones equipped with Windows 10. Everything shows Microsoft's ambition to revive Windows, especially in the Chinese market. "Microsoft wants to get back the game" Foreign media have reported that Windows 10 is the last chance to reverse the decline of Microsoft's operating system. On the one hand, Windows 8's performance is not satisfactory, and for Microsoft CEO Nadella, an opportunity to revive is urgently needed. According to data from market research agency Statcounter, the global market share of Windows 8/8.1 is only 10%, far less than the 54% of Win7. On the other hand, licensing revenue continues to decline. Microsoft's fiscal second quarter report for fiscal year 2015 showed that Microsoft's device and consumer licensing division revenue was $4.167 billion, compared with $5.544 billion in the same period last year; Gross profit was $3.876 billion, compared to $4.981 billion in the same period last year. Microsoft's Business Licensing division revenue for the second fiscal quarter was $10.679 billion, compared to $10.906 billion in the same period last year; Gross profit was $9.926 billion, compared to $10.080 billion in the same period last year. While Microsoft says IDC and GFK data shows that the number of users using genuine Windows is growing. But recent surveys show that three-quarters of computer software in China is not properly authorized. Microsoft must think of some other ways to revive Windows. In fact, Microsoft has already taken action, from the iPad version of Office Basic Edition announcing free to Windows below 9 inches without licensing fees, and Windows 10 free upgrades, Microsoft has made a series of actions. It is almost certain that Microsoft's revenue and profit from the Windows business will decline in the next quarter. But that doesn't matter anymore, because Microsoft's focus has shifted. At a time when the cloud computing business is gradually becoming Microsoft's new growth engine, Microsoft has every room to revive Windows. In terms of user experience, compared with the failure of Windows 8, Windows 10 has made a new attempt in terms of experience. In the Windows 10 demo, the familiar Start menu reappears, and the modular design of Windows 8 is retained on the right side. Windows 10 desktop integrates Microsoft voice assistants Cortana with Xiaoice. Microsoft staff demonstrated its powerful assistant features, such as automatically recognizing SMS flight information and adding it to the schedule, and speaking local languages such as Cantonese. In addition, with the cross-platform nature of Windows 10, Xbox Live and the new Xbox App bring a new gaming experience. Whether in terms of system or platform construction, it is undeniable that Microsoft has shown a strong desire to "win back a game". Cao Junbo, chief analyst at iResearch, told Sina Technology that Microsoft lost a game in the last PK with Apple and Google, and now Microsoft needs more resources and support to win this battle, so cross-platform strategy and restarting WinHEC are of strategic significance to Microsoft in this time period. He believes that Microsoft has shown enough sincerity to the Chinese market in building an ecosystem and has gone step deeper in localization. And in the entertainment and office sectors, the demand for cross-platform is increasing. For example, cross-platform and cross-terminal are a headache for game developers. "But Microsoft's challenge is whether it can persuade more developers to join." Cao Junbo said. Unlike Cao Junbo's caution, Tong Fuxiao, vice president of Lenovo Group and general manager of China, believes that there will be a wave of applications on the Windows platform. He pointed out that when all terminal devices can be managed in a unified manner, the development cost of enterprise CIOs will be greatly reduced. For consumers, whether it is a PC or a mobile phone, they see the same interface, which will greatly improve the customer experience. Inevitable wait-and-see Microsoft announced a new in-depth cooperation with Lenovo at WinHEC: Lenovo's entire line of consumer products will be pre-installed with Windows 10 and provide consumers with free Windows 10 upgrade services offline. At the same time, Lenovo will also cooperate with Microsoft to develop Windows Phone phones. Microsoft's cooperation with Lenovo can be said to be mutually beneficial to some extent. But for other brands, it is more of a wait-and-see stage. When talking to WinHEC exhibitors, I learned that other brands will also launch products with Windows 10, but the intensity is definitely not as big as Lenovo. "We will launch Windows 10 products, but how much and how strong the launch will depend on whether consumers like it or not." An exhibitor said. In fact, it's understandable for other brands to react this way, because their most important principle is "which sells best". Cao Junbo also pointed out that this is also a question of whether there are chickens or eggs first. Whether Windows 10 can be vigorously promoted depends on whether there are enough apps on it to attract consumers. China's "going to the countryside and following the customs" At Microsoft presenting Microsoft Cortana, there was a very interesting detail. While Cortana was processing the information, the interface showed a ball of dough wriggling, which the demonstrator said was a unique design for China, although more viewers thought it was a dark cloud. In fact, it is very rare in the history of Windows to integrate a product developed by a local Chinese team like Microsoft Xiaoice into Windows 10. Cao Junbo said that being able to make this change to China in Microsoft's system shows that Microsoft really attaches great importance to China. Microsoft also showed a set of data at the scene: Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D center invests $600 million, outsourcing in China $264 million a year, with more than 20,500 active Windows developers and 17,000 local partners. Microsoft claims to want to promote Windows 10 in China by leveraging the Chinese internet. The cooperation with Chinese Internet companies Tencent, Qihoo 360, and Xiaomi also shows Microsoft's determination. Zhou Hongyi said in an interview that Microsoft and 360 have tried the free Internet model this time, and there can be a good result, and maybe Microsoft will take a bigger step on the Internet in the next step. Let's wait for the release of Windows 10 and let time test if it works. Microsoft promises Windows 7 and Windows 8 users a free upgrade within a year of the new system's release, but this does not include Windows XP users. In other words, according to Microsoft's plan, within 12 months after the release of Windows 10 this summer, eligible users can upgrade for free, and after the upgrade, they can be used for free for the life of the device.
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Posted on 3/19/2015 3:23:42 PM
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