14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 10 is one of the most anticipated products not only by Microsoft and its customers but also by hardware manufacturers worldwide because the new OS is very likely to boost shipments of new devices when it becomes available.
Analyst firm IDC says that Windows 10 is one of the key elements that will contribute to an important growth for the PC market, and thanks to some other factors, it could actually manage to bring more tablet users on the traditional PC.
Windows 10 is indeed bringing several new features on the desktop and fixes many of the annoyances in Windows 8, coming with a new Start menu and improving work with a mouse and keyboard.
Windows 10 expected to boost new PC sales
Windows 10 won’t come with high system requirements, and Windows 7 computers should actually be capable of running the new OS as well, but analysts expect sales of new computers running this fresh operating system to grow as well.
"The U.S. PC market continued to grow in the fourth quarter, outperforming the global market for the tenth consecutive quarter. The past year was supported by Windows XP to 7 migrations in the commercial segment while consumer volume continued to decline," said Rajani Singh, senior research analyst, Personal Computing.
"Moving forward, the U.S. PC market should see flat to slightly positive growth. The U.S. consumer PC market will finally move to positive growth in 2015, strengthened by the slowdown in the tablet market, vendor and OEM efforts to rejuvenate the PC market, the launch of Windows 10, and replacement of older PCs."
Not entirely what Microsoft wants
Microsoft, on the other hand, is trying to tackle multiple worlds with Windows 10, as the new operating system will come with revamped features not only on the desktop but also on tablets and smartphones.
That’s why the company hopes to get growing sales in all these sectors, but it remains to be seen how many of today’s customers would agree to give Windows a shot on tablets and smartphones and thus forget about Android and iOS.
Windows 10 should come out in the late summer or early fall 2015, but a Technical Preview build is already available for users enrolled in the Windows Insider Program. A consumer preview version is also expected in early 2015.