Windows 10. The operating system that... most
of you are using right now on your desktop or laptop computer. Ever since its release back
in 2015, people have had mixed reactions to the operating system. But that hasn’t stopped it
from gaining almost 60 percent of desktop and laptop computer market share. Although it took
quite a while to get to that point. Windows 7, released 6 years earlier, still remained the
number 1 most used Windows version until early 2018, even though Windows 10 was initially
offered as a completely free upgrade. And this was due to the list of concerns people had
about Windows 10, with its forcing of automatic updates, data collection, and privacy
concerns. Whether you love it or hate it, Windows 10 brought a huge transition to the
operating system, arguably the largest one in its history. It unified Microsoft’s desktop,
mobile, and even console operating systems into one single platform. And it was designated by
Microsoft as “the last version of Windows”, as the company would continually release newer
versions of the operating system and make them available to existing users for free. Beginning
a new product strategy for the company. So, how did Microsoft make this transition? How did
Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 become unified under one single platform? In today’s video,
we’re going to explore the development process that eventually led to the creation of Windows
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by using code “MJD” at checkout. Now because Windows 10’s development is
ongoing, this video focuses primarily on the history of Windows 10 prior to its
initial release in the summer of 2015, and how its predecessors evolved over time into
the operating system we know today. Although it was first publicly released in 2015, the public
first caught a glimpse at what Microsoft’s next operating system would be like back in 2011.
Yes, even before Windows 8 was released to manufacturing. At the company’s Worldwide Partner
Conference that year, Andrew Lees, who at the time was the company’s chief of mobile technologies,
commented on the future of Windows, saying: Lees’ statement envisioned a single, unified
computing platform. One that would bridge the gap between traditional desktop PCs, and
mobile devices. And that’s exactly what Windows 10 did. In the past, Microsoft created
operating systems for these platforms that were independent from one another. The flagship
Windows operating system was created for use on desktop and laptop computers. But Microsoft
also developed Windows Mobile, an operating system for use on PocketPCs and smartphones.
This OS is based on the Windows CE kernel, which originated back in 1992 with the WinPad
development project, which I did a video on here. And while versions of Windows Mobile shared some
similar features with its desktop counterpart, like multitasking, the applications developed
for each system were not cross compatible. Sure, Windows Mobile had applications like Pocket
Word and Pocket Excel that provided similar functionality. But they still were not exactly
the same applications. Pocket Word had some limitations like a file size limit, and was
really only intended to make quick and simple edits to word documents. I mean it wouldn’t be
the most practical thing to write a 5 page essay on one of these PocketPCs. Windows Mobile would
later evolve into Windows Phone, with the first release in 2010 being known as Windows Phone
7. 2 years later, Microsoft would follow up with the release of Windows Phone 8, unveiled on
the same day as Windows 8. This release marked a new era for the Windows Mobile and Phone line
of operating systems, because it made the OS more compatible with the full desktop release of
Windows. While all previous versions of the mobile OS were based on Windows CE technology, Windows
Phone 8 was based on the NT kernel. This provided a strong foundation for the OS. And because
Windows 8 was based on that same kernel, it allowed the 2 operating systems to share certain
features, like use of the NTFS file system, and desktop class multitasking. The 2 operating
systems also had the ability to run some of the same applications. Windows Phone 8 had the same
exact version of Internet Explorer that Windows 8 features in the Modern UI: Internet Explorer
10. This is where the bridging of the gap between mobile and desktop begins. Windows 10 would
expand on this even more, by providing a single platform that could be used on different types of
devices. In fact, Windows 10 Mobile devices could be used like a regular desktop machine when they
had a monitor, keyboard, and mouse plugged into them. This was a feature known as “Continuum for
Phones”. Now, since these devices are ARM based, you obviously can’t use this feature to play Steam
games or anything like that. But through the use of the Universal Windows Platform, developers
could create a single application that could be run on Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, and even the
Xbox One. Continuum for Phones allows you to use these applications just like you would on your
desktop computer at home. But unfortunately for Windows 10 Mobile Users, Microsoft ended support
for it in January 2020, due to the unpopularity of the platform when compared to iOS and Android.
However, we still have to take a look at the desktop side of things. So let’s discuss how
Windows 8.1 evolved over time into Windows 10. Windows 10 was codenamed “Threshold”
during its development, after a planet in Halo. The first few Milestone 1 development
builds utilized the same NT version as 8.1, version 6.3. Build 9780 was compiled on June 22nd
2014. The biggest change by far in this build is the return of the Start Menu. As I’m sure we all
know, Windows 8 replaced this interface with the start screen and got rid of the start button. And
while Windows 8.1 brought back the start button, it would open up the start screen when clicked.
This new start menu combines elements from both the Windows 7 style start menu and Windows 8’s
Start Screen. You can access power options and browse the applications installed on your system
on the left side, and pin modern UI app tiles to the right. Another feature introduced in
Windows 10 was the ability to run Modern UI applications in a window on your desktop. And
Build 9821 from August of 2014 is the first known build to include this feature. It also brought
some new icons to the operating system. But it didn’t take long for both of these features to
be publicly showcased, as in the fall of 2014, Microsoft previewed the first Technical Preview
build of Windows 10, known as 9841. And with it, came the introduction of the Windows Insider
Program. Another major change in Microsoft’s product strategy. For the first time, the
company made certain pre-release builds of Windows available to anybody. All you had to
do was sign up for the free Insider Program. But Microsoft emphasized that these builds were
not in any way a final product, and that they should not be used on primary systems. It’s a
system that worked very well for both parties. The Insiders were given access to pre-release
Microsoft software to test out and write about, and Microsoft got feedback from these Insiders
identifying bugs and suggesting changes. This was a major shift from previous Windows development
cycles, as now the public could follow along with Windows 10 development in real time. However,
this program would not receive any new builds until 10074 in the spring of 2015. So between 9841
and 10074, anyone who wanted to get information about Windows 10’s development that wasn’t already
public would have to rely on leaked builds. Build 9901 was one of those builds, leaked in December
of 2014. It became notable for its inclusion of the Cortana virtual assistant. Although
it wasn’t the first build to include it, it began circulating online soon after it was
leaked, which resulted in various articles and videos on the desktop version of Cortana.
Including one that I made. This version of Cortana is obviously not complete, but it gives
us a good idea at how the feature would work in the final release of Windows 10. You could ask
Cortana to do web searches and get data like the current weather conditions, but it could also
be used to perform tasks on your PC like setting reminders. It would also respond to you with
voice feedback. This build was also one of the first to change the NT version to 10.0, rather
than incrementing the version by one as some previous builds did. This was most likely done
to make the actual name of the Windows version and its NT version consistent to avoid confusion.
In build 9909, compiled just 11 days after 9901, we can see the inclusion of the new start
menu, with the added ability to launch into full screen mode. This build was also the
last to use centered title text on windows, which was reintroduced with Windows 8, after
being dropped in Windows 95. Another major introduction with Windows 10 was Edge,
Microsoft's new web browser. It was known as “Project Spartan” during development,
and could first be seen in build 10014. The “Technical Preview” phase of Windows
10’s development would end with build 10064, where we can see that visual elements systemwide
are becoming more finalized. The Start Menu moves the power options to the bottom left, and makes
some changes to the items contained in the left side. The next phase of Windows 10’s development
began with the release of Build 10074, and was known as the “Insider Preview” phase. All of these
builds could be downloaded by anybody through the Windows Insider Program. 2 months later, Microsoft
would compile the final, release to manufacturing build of Windows 10, 10240. It was made available
to the public as a free upgrade to all Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users in late July. But after, and even
before its release, many wondered why it was that Microsoft skipped from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.
Microsoft had a bit of fun with this during an event where some employees were wearing a t- shirt
with the Windows logo made up of binary code. Some people ended up translating this, and discovered
that one of the lines read “Windows 10, because 7 8 9.” This is obviously a joke that I’m sure
we’ve all heard before. But as far as I can tell, it's the only time Microsoft actually commented,
if you want to call it that, as to why Windows 9 was skipped. It suggests that there really wasn’t
any technical reason behind it, and was more of a marketing move. But in a popular reddit post from
back in 2014, a supposed Microsoft developer gave some insight. Saying that Windows 9 was skipped
as many 3rd party applications would interpret “Windows 9” as Windows 95 and 98. Causing
compatibility issues. However some have questioned this theory, saying that applications would
check for the actual NT version of the operating system as opposed to its release name. Either way,
Windows 10 was the name chosen. Since the original release in the summer of 2015, Microsoft has
followed up with 9 new versions of the operating system. The most recent version known as the
May 2020 update. Each one of these releases further improved the operating system by adding
new features and tweaking existing settings. While older versions of Windows had Service Packs,
Windows 10 replaces the need for them because the entire operating system is updated periodically.
Some of these versions were named to correspond with what kind of features they introduced, while
others were named after the month and year they came out. The Creators Update in April of 2017 had
a focus on creativity, introducing features like the Paint 3D application. The May 2019 update
gives Windows a new “light theme” and the most recent version introduces a new version of the
Windows Subsystem for Linux and improvements to virtual desktops. Of course, this is just a small
list of features added over time, but it's clear that Windows 10 is here to stay. It’s absolutely
faced criticism over the years though. Ever since its release, people have been concerned about its
forcing of automatic updates and privacy issues. The default “Express” option during setup would
turn on settings that allow Microsoft to collect things like typing and inking data, and would
allow more personalized ads to be displayed in certain applications. This is rather ironic,
as a few years beforehand, Microsoft ran a huge anti-Google ad campaign called “Scroogled” where
they criticized the company for invading its users privacy by collecting data from them to display
more tailored ads. But that wasn’t all Microsoft got complaints for. In 2017, it was revealed that
Microsoft began blocking updates to computers running Windows 7 on the latest generation of
Intel and AMD processors. Despite the fact that Windows 7 still had 3 years of support left. Some
users viewed this as a way to essentially force users to update to Windows 10 to further increase
its market share, as it did not hold a majority at this point. More recently, Microsoft diabled local
account creation during Windows Setup unless you are disconnected from the internet. I actually
did a video covering this topic. But despite people’s concerns, Windows 10 has been able to
gain a majority of the desktop computer market share. And unless Microsoft ends up creating
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look back at the development process behind Windows 10. If you did, be sure to give it
a like and get subscribed. And as always, I want to thank you all so much for watching
and I will see you in the next video.
