By Harry Brelsford, SMB Nation Founder and CEO
How do you efficiently communicate yesterday’s Windows 10 launch to a readership that’s probably overwhelmed with Win10 talk nonstop? I’m not going to try and compete with the hamster wheel news cycle! Rather, I’ll provide you my analysis wrapped into appropriate context. And I’ll weave in the insights of Windows Willy!
All things considered, Windows 10 is the release everyone needs. OEMs need to sell devices. MSPs and partners need a reason for being in the eyes of the client. Microsoft needs a hit. I’d offer Windows 10 delivers in spades and if for no other reason than it’s not Windows 8. Haters gotta hate right?
There are some fantastic resources to get your Windows 10 speeds and feeds. Start with Windows 10 Update and search from there. Ranging from a Start button (are you happy now?) to Cortana (voice navigation), this “every other operating system release” from Microsoft will outperform. Analysts have rated MSFT a buy based on this and other factors (Office 365, Azure, cost-cutting) forecasting the stock will top $60/share near term. I’m impressed Windows 10 shipped today as I originally pegged it as a late summer release. This release timing allows the early adopters to play with it during the dawg days of summer and get serious in September after Labor Day.
Readers will remember that, last month (June 2015), we conducted a five-city “Windows 10 preview tour” that offered a combination of roadmap and technical content plus a focus group. We were heavily oversubscribed with seating limited to 50 attendees and in one case the wait list exceeding 92! What we discovered was that the hunger for Windows 10 exceeded any other workshop offering we’ve had since the start of the Great Recession and the heyday of Small Business Server (SBS). While Microsoft received high marks for the Windows 10 product itself, the tour produced contentious conversations concerning how Microsoft treats its partners. Oddly this wasn’t necessarily Windows 10 specific but the pop therapy was worth the price of admission alone LOL for the disgruntled MSPs and partners.
Geekspeaking – I’ve been running Windows 10 Preview since its first day of release (October 1, 2014), and I wrote a blog comparing it to Windows 95 (even bigger than Windows XP). I’ve run it on four different machines and have launched, cried and had fisticuffs along the way. It’s all part of being a member of the Windows 10 family. Tonight, over adult beverages as I hold my own mid-night pizza launch party, I intend to download and install the real Windows 10 release on my four processor desktop! I’ll blog soon on that experience and what, if any, changes have occurred in my eyes since the preview edition(s). I plan to deploy Windows 10 in production within the next 30 days.
Where to get:
- Microsoft announcement for partners: http://blogs.windows.com/business/2015/07/28/windows-10-available-for-business-today/
- Customer Reservation System: http://www.windows10update.com/welcome-to-the-windows-10-behind-the-curtain-event-series/
- Microsoft Action Pack. Logon to the MPN portal (www.microsoft.com/partners) and select Access My Software, Downloads (see pic below).
- MSDN (including BizSpark)
Figure: Download Windows 10 now from your Action Pack subscription!
Windows Willy
Back in late August 1995, I participated in the mid-night pizza party at the local Computer City for the Windows 95 launch. I was in NYC when the Windows 8 launch in late October, 2012 just minutes before Hurricane Sandy hit! I kinda felt like I was on one of the last flights out to Seattle. This time, the Windows 10 party motion is countless small gatherings at Microsoft stores. I stopped by the Seattle Microsoft store to “be there,” as you can see in the pic. And that’s where I met Windows Willy. He had driven several hours from eastern Washington to make a day of it, celebrating the Windows 10 launch. I met him at his third stop (he went to another Microsoft store first followed by a trip to the Microsoft Redmond campus). In this video, Windows Willy shares his insights into Windows 10 here.
PS – You can attend a Windows 10 event (which will continue for several days) near you by perusing this list.
PPS – Windows 10 is a pillar of our 13th annual conference held October 2-4 at Microsoft Redmond. BE THERE!!!!
PPPS – This is Clippy talking about Windows 10 with Jimmy Fallon on late night TV. Too funny! Here: https://youtu.be/ikV6Tfsvk2Q
