The New Microsoft Corporation’s push strategy for Windows 10 warrants a closer look

That's true, Microsoft Corporation did take a big step when it announced the goal of getting one billion devices running Windows 10. The ambitious goal is expected to be achieved by the company in the next two years and Microsoft is pretty confident it can complete the task. The new OS seems to be to the final push for the company and its future growth strategy.

Statistics

This means that Microsoft needed to devise a clever strategy in order to make users get the new Windows in droves. As of October, Windows 7 has a market share of 56.53% while Windows 8 and 8.1 combined have around 13% desktop OS market share. Windows 10 sits at 6.63%, released on July 29 to the world, the statistics are optimistic. The data has been taken from NetMarketShare.




The strategy that Microsoft came up with to compel users to switch to Windows 10 was to go with the free upgrade route for eligible Windows 7, 8.1, and 8 users. To think of it, this is a pretty clever idea to give out freebies and not just a patch or an update but the entire new operating system at no cost to users. This generated enough hype to make Windows 10 look appealing to a desktop user. No more would an existing Windows 7 or 8 user need to purchase a license key or a DVD copy to get their hands on a new OS. Microsoft made the upgrade for free and the interesting bit is that the company left it entirely up to users to try Windows 10 after the upgrade for the first 30 days and then decide.
If they felt that the upgrade was worth it then they are free to stick to it forever and it a user felt that Windows 10 was not up their alley then they can revert to their previous existing Windows 7 or 8 with no hassle at all. This was the strategy Microsoft adopted at the start and it worked like a charm. Provide a user with options and make them feel that they have the power to choose and you get them onboard. The free Windows 10 upgrade translated into 110 million devices running the new OS as of October 6. With just being released on July 29, this sounds pretty good progress.

Progress

This is in no way to blame Microsoft but to commend the company on such an aggressive push strategy for Windows 10 because quite few companies take on such a route. Terry Myerson, Executive VP of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, claimed that users have driven most of the growth and are hungry for more. According to him, there have been up to a billion visits to the Windows Store app from within Windows 10 devices, 650 billion web pages viewed from the Edge browser, Cortana has been overwhelmed with more than a billion queries, all from Windows 10 devices and Xbox gameplay stream to Windows 10 devices has been astronomical.
However, the platform push does not stop there. Microsoft learnt a very harsh lesson with Windows 8 and 8.1’s disappointing adoption rate and went back to the drawing board to come up with a better aggressive push strategy. This resulted in the company making good with all its OEM partners, convincing them to ramp up the Windows 10 lineup before the holiday season and be on-board with them throughout the process. It doesn’t stop here; of course the one billion device goal requires more hardware effort and also the product development efforts that take place in the Redmond Company.

Surface Book

The October 6 event marked the unveiling of the much awaited Surface Pro 4, the hyped up Lumia 950 and 950XL and the first in-house laptop, the Surface Book. It’s like the company pulled out all the stops with this one and left nothing to chance. The Surface Book, a premium Windows 10 laptop, sits in the high-end category and eyes the Apple MacBook Pro as its primary target. The laptop is such well-received that Microsoft announces that pre-orders are sold out two weeks before launch date. Pitched as the ultimate laptop, housing the top specifications with a premium design, Microsoft yet again played with emotions and convinced users that the Surface Book is a must-have.

PC Does What?

The best push strategy is albeit convincing all the OEM partners that together we need to drive the market instead of everyone going on alone. The declining PC market needs a revival and Microsoft needs to bank on higher sales to drive Windows 10 growth rates. For that it brought on-board Intel, Dell, HP, and Lenovo for a big marketing push campaign titled, “PC Does What?" These 30-second commercial spots are to be released on October 19 in the US and China. The message is to convince the end-user to switch towards a refresh in hardware. It does make sense for a joint-effort as together they all benefit in pushing their laptops out and Microsoft gets more Windows 10 users trickling in.

You Can’t Run And You Can’t Hide

Microsoft has taken on another course for Windows 10 push and adoption rates with its users. New reports indicate that Microsoft is now forcing users to get on Windows 10 with no way out. Gone is the time when users had the choice to switch to the new OS. If a certain user is eligible for the upgrade and has not made the switch then they are being bombarded with notifications and pop-ups informing that their Windows 10 is ready to be installed.
The annoying pop-up provides users with two choices; either to start the installation of Windows 10 immediately or to reschedule it for later installation. Microsoft has completely eliminated the opt-out of upgrading to Windows 10 option. Even third-party tools have hit a brick wall with this one and the notifications cannot be avoided any further. This goes on to indicate that Microsoft is indeed desperate enough to try aggressive measures to get users to upgrade to Windows 10. This tactic might be criticized a lot by users because pressuring them into doing something that they do not want to do is not exactly beneficial in the long run. If you are on Windows 8 or 7 and have come across such an issue then please let us know in the comments and if you were able to resolve this then let others know how this was possible.

Xbox and Lumia

The Xbox console is lined up for a Windows 10 upgrade in November and that would bring the gaming console under the umbrella as well. This does help Microsoft get closer to its one billion goal but the major lacking area is mobile. Windows Mobile is not exactly the top mobile OS choice among consumers currently and with a market share of less than 3% something needs to be done. The Lumia 950 and 950XL are the first Windows 10 mobile devices and Microsoft believes that this will change things around. Of course all the other Lumia devices eligible for the upgrade will get it in due course time, but the strategy to convince an Android or an iOS user to switch towards Windows Mobile is the real question. What efforts has Microsoft done in order to convince users to go for the Lumia devices? Has the company left the fate of its mobile hardware division solely on chance or is it gearing up on a similar marketing push for Windows Mobile as well?

Credit: Technewstoday