Microsoft has just found the perfect marketing tool to pitch the use of its apps and software to users and it is no other than the Windows 10, or at least the upcoming new build of the operating system that is.
This strategy of the Redmondian company became apparent when a new prompt started appearing on the new build of Windows 10 whenever a user tries to switch browser from the existing Microsoft Edge into either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
Windows 10 comes with Microsoft Edge as the default web browser. So when a user attempts to switch to Google Chrome, for instance, a dialog box would appear asking to give Microsoft Edge a shot, notes The Verge.
The prompt also highlights to the user that Microsoft Edge allows him or her to write on web pages, has Cortana integration, and also includes a reading view.
The prompt also has a big and bold option that says ‘don’t switch and try now,’ which, when clicked by the user, will automatically open the Microsoft Edge and no longer set a rival browser as the default.
An annoyance
For Windows users who have been so used to either the Chrome or the Firefox web browsers, the attempt to switch browser or the prompt alone would be an annoyance.
In fact, Mozilla did not take Microsoft’s undercutting strategy sitting down. It immediately blasted the company for its Windows 10 feature because the new OS is making it hard for users to switch to Firefox.
Mozilla even went to the extent of creating a video tutorial to help Firefox users restore their default app settings. It seems that the web browsing company will have to work on another tutorial video as Microsoft is now working to sway users to stick with Edge on Windows 10.
And Windows 10 is not just doing the new dialog prompt on the Microsoft Edge, it is also doing the same for photo and music apps, or other Microsoft built-in software that come with Windows 10.
If for instance the user attempts to switch defaults, a similar dialog box appears to try and convince the user to stick with the built-in photos or Groove Music apps. Whether Microsoft will stick with this rather dictatorial feature remains to be seen, depending on how users would react to it. In the case of Mozilla, it already gave its piece of mind.
Not perking up PC sales right away
Every time a new Windows version comes out, it normally equates to increase in PC sales, especially during the first holiday season after its release. However, it seems that it will not be the case for the Windows 10 release of Microsoft.
Microsoft appears not intent to perk up PC sales with the Windows 10 because, for the first time, the Redmondian company released a new operating system and then offered it to consumers for a free update, particularly those PCs that are capable of running the software, details Re/code.
Joe Belfiore, Microsoft veepee, says that the new Windows 10 is poised to help what has clearly been a sluggish PC market, but it will not be happening right away. He said that it is too early in the big picture to say that Windows 10 will perk up PC sales, but eventually it will lead to that direction.
Since the official release of Windows 10 on July 29, Microsoft was able to have the new operating system running on 110 million PCs, with many of them old ones, instead of newly purchased units.
The figure is actually 11% of the goal of Microsoft to have a billion devices actively using Windows 10 by 2017.
That’s a lofty target indeed, but Microsoft is confident that having that target would enable it to win the loyalty of software developers, many of whom are writing for Android and iOS rather than for Windows.