La web está repleta de rumores de que, por primera vez en años, Windows 10 recibirá una "actualización importante del sistema operativo" en 2021. Se espera que la actualización, denominada Sun Valley, ofrezca "noticias Experiencias en el menú Inicio y el Centro de actividades…, una barra de tareas actualizada construida con código moderno y una interfaz de usuario mejorada para el antiguo explorador de archivos. Además, espere ventanas más redondeadas, mejor compatibilidad con el modo oscuro y un uso más consistente de las reglas de Fluent Design de Microsoft.
Always be my beating heart! Can you handle the excitement? Calling these features a "major operating system update" shows just how low expectations are for anything new in Windows 10. Once upon a time, there were minor changes. But these days, you find almost no new features in Microsoft's twice-yearly updates. So an updated taskbar, Start menu and Action Center tweaks, and subtle design changes, seem like big strides for a tech press that wants something to sneak up on. There's a simple reason Microsoft won't spend its time and resources creating something more revolutionary for Windows 10: Windows isn't Microsoft's future, not today, not even its present. The business has essentially become a cloud business. Azure and OneDrive are two great examples. But Office has also been cloud-based, with Microsoft pushing Office 365 subscriptions instead of the perpetual client-based version. Windows 10 is a solid, useful, and relatively stable operating system. And for Microsoft, that's good enough. But that's not enough for me. And that shouldn't be good enough for you either. I'm looking for more than just rounded windows or a new "experience" in the action center. With that in mind, here are four things Microsoft should bring to Windows 10.
Finally, deliver sets
In 2017, Microsoft announced that it would bring a truly innovative feature to Windows 10: Sets. Suites would put tabs on apps, not just browsers, and would allow you to create documents that combine multiple apps—for example, a Word document that has browser tabs for accessing any online research you've done. The sets would allow you to use your computer as if you were actually working in the real world. So you can create a single document about a new product you're launching that contains Excel tabs for financial analysis, Word tabs for press releases and product documentation, PowerPoint tabs for marketing plans, and so on. When Sets was announced, I thought it would become the biggest feature in Windows for years. But now, three years later, we still can't see it. Microsoft repeatedly slipped it into Insider preview builds and later revised it. Microsoft has never explained why it withdrew. But I think the reason is simple: the company doesn't want to spend the money and resources to get it right. So if Microsoft really wanted to offer something of value, forget about tweaking the Start menu. Instead, give us sets.
A better search field
We've all grown accustomed to the barely useful Windows search box, so we just assume this is how search should be. But is not the case. Microsoft could do better. And it wouldn't take much to improve it. How about allowing you to easily restrict your research papers on your PC by folders? By date? How about something even better, like finding documents that contain a specific word found in the same paragraph as another word? But Microsoft is not interested. As for the search box, Microsoft seems to have chosen "pretty well".
One button to kill bloatware
Buy a new PC and it's full of dirt, bloat, and unwanted software. We've gotten so used to it that many times we don't even bother to clean everything. But we shouldn't have to put up with it. Therefore, Microsoft should design a button that with one click removes all bloatware. It would require virtually no work on the part of Microsoft. Millions of Windows users, including me, would rejoice.
A secure operating system
And this: a reasonably secure operating system. We've gotten so used to the insecurity of Windows that we don't even see it anymore. Consider this: In the recent election, it took an all-terrain partnership between federal intelligence agencies, security firms, and Microsoft to make sure the US election wasn't disrupted by foreign governments and hackers. Companies shouldn't have to spend as much money fighting attacks either. State and local governments and utilities shouldn't either. Since the elections, I have heard many people celebrate that we repelled these types of electoral attacks. That may be a reason to be happy, but it's also a sign of how we've accepted that Windows is inherently unsafe and dangerous, and we're happy when bad things don't happen. I know very well that hackers and foreign governments target Windows because it is by far the dominant operating system in the world, so it will always be under siege more than macOS or Linux. But that doesn't mean we should give Microsoft a pass. Being the world leader means you have more responsibility to provide a safe experience. We shouldn't have to go out of our way to make sure our votes, our businesses, our public services, our government operations, and more are secure. Will Microsoft provide some or all of these? Not likely. Instead, we will have rounded windows. But we can dream, right?
<p>Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.</p>