David McManus says reason to download latest OS version is compelling

By the time this column is published, a momentous event in the world of computing will have taken place but you can be forgiven for it passing you by unnoticed.

Twenty years ago Microsoft revealed its new operating system, Windows 95.

To mark the occasion, the company employed The Rolling Stones to play Start Me Up in Times Square and the Empire State Building was lit up in the colours of the Windows logo. This rock music spectacle was preceded by weeks of advertising campaigns in newspaper, magazines and on television. People even held parties.

As product launches go, the release of Windows 95 was right up there with the biggest in history. All for a computer operating system that didn’t contain a web browser or, indeed, the networking protocols required to access the Internet.

Last Wednesday, the world was treated to the latest and greatest in Microsoft’s line-up when Windows 10 finally left the traps.

Two decades on and The Stones might still be rocking and rolling, but they didn’t get an invitation to the party this time around. Probably because there wasn’t one. The world of 2015 is a lot different to those fledgling years of the explosion in home computing.

In those days Microsoft was still a 100 per cent software company. The vast majority of its profits were made from selling Windows and Office and at £200 a copy, Windows 95 topped up the company coffers nicely.

In stark contrast, Windows 10 is being given away free and will silently install itself on your computer like a late guest sheepishly slipping in through the back door.

If you are currently running Windows 7 or 8, Windows 10 will offer itself to you via a little pop-up in the task bar. For the first year of its life, it will be yours to download and keep forever at no cost. After that first 12 months Microsoft has said it intends to start charging for the upgrade, but it seems most likely this is just a ruse to get as many people on to the new platform as quickly as possible.

So should you take the plunge and dive into Windows 10 when offered? If you don’t play a lot of computer games on your PC, the short answer is yes, particularly if you are suffering in the mess that is Windows 8.

The new OS offers a number of improvements including a clear dividing line between its use as a mouse and keyboard-driven system and a touchscreen system. Merging the two in Windows 8 has finally been recognised as a mistake so Microsoft has backtracked. The familiar start menu makes a return in a smarter and more useful way than ever before (The Stones really could have revived Start Me Up) and Microsoft’s voice-based personal assistant, Cortana, makes a move to the desktop after being around on Windows phones for some time.

All this and a price tag of zero makes Windows 10 a compelling product.

If, like me, you use a Windows PC primarily for gaming, you might want to stand at the back of the queue for the upgrade and see what happens. Windows 10 has some exciting potential for gamers, particularly a tighter integration with Xbox, but early compatibility issues could be a thing.