Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10, was released globally on July 29. The following day Microsoft local office unveiled it to Ukrainian audiences.
The CEO of Microsoft Ukraine, Nadiia Vasilieva, started showcasing the computer software company’s latest operating system and one of its best selling products, saying that the demonstration would be last of its kind, “we (Microsoft) switched from products to services.”
Among the newest features of Windows 10 is the single interface of the operating system on computers, tablets and phones. It is supposed to raise the productivity of users by helping them to do many tasks on different devices without learning functionality on each device.
“Ukraine has no gas, no oil, and it happens so that the only possibility to improve the economy is to raise the work productivity of millions of Ukrainians,” Vasilieva said. ” Skills and knowledge is everything we have. Windows 10 will just help to use them productively.”
The upgrade to the basic version of Windows 10 is possible free of charge for all users of the licensed packages of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 operating system editions. One can upgrade for free until July 29, 2016.
The current price for the licensed package of Windows 8 and 8.1, the predecessor of the newest version, varies from about Hr 2,000 to Hr 5,000.
According to Vasilieva, before the global release, 5 million users have been testing Windows 10 for more than half a year, so all their feedback and tips for improvement have been incorporated to finalize the operating system and fix all the bugs. Microsoft Ukraine’s team also participated in testing.
Olena Levitina, head of the Windows and devices department at Microsoft Ukraine, said that out of 7 million personal computers that run on Windows in Ukraine, 6 million are technically able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
Andriy Adamchuk, a Microsoft Ukraine employee, gave a presentation on the operating system’s functionality. He stressed the possibility of creating multiple desktops, showed how Microsoft’s new Internet browser Edge works and explained the new interface of the Start button, that was replaced by the Start screen in Windows 8.1.
In the last two years Microsoft re-positioned itself on the market and now it concentrates on selling services based on cloud technologies. Future developments of its current products will be issued free of charge from now on.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta can be reached at [email protected]. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe.
