Microsoft hopes Windows 10 will unlock the gates

The latest version of its operating system is a mixture of similarity and freshness. For starters,it has brought back the task bar and the iconic start button, making the system easier forexisting users to handle. The United States software giant has also introduced an array of new features. A newbrowser called Edge will replace the Internet Explorer although the IE is still available for use.Microsoft's Siri-like voice assistant tool Cortana is also available for users. And the company has installed Xiaobing, a chat robot/voice assistant tailored for Mandarinspeakers, in the Chinese version of Windows 10.
"I like the design of Windows 10, it looks stunning and has a lot of new features that I wouldlove to try out," said Qiu Lin, a Windows 7 user in Beijing.

But Qiu was puzzled why the new system came with two similar voice assistants. "If Cortanaunderstands Chinese and can help me set schedules, then why would I need Xiaobing? Itconfuses me," she said.
Microsoft said Xiaobing, which collects snippets of real-life online dialogue on Chinese blogsand forums, will give users a more real-person-like using experience. Shen Xiangyang, Microsoft's senior vice-president, called Windows 10 a milestone for thecompany which is rapidly embracing the mobile Internet.
"It is the best Windows system we have ever made. It is not only a software, it is also anecosystem that can help China's booming Internet economy," Shen said.
"China is important to us because it hosts a large number of hardware manufacturingpartners."
Windows 10 is also compatible with tablets and smartphones－the modern day platforms thatMicrosoft's CEO Satya Nadella said will determine the future of the company.

Nadella has been attempting to transform Microsoft from a software maker into a cloud-basedservice provider targeting mobile device users since he replaced Steve Ballmer as the headof the world's largest software company in early 2014. Windows 10 is the company's latest, and most likely the last hope, to take on Apple Inc's iOSand Google Inc's Android.
Gene Cao, a senior analyst at market consultancy Forrester Research Inc, said it will be verydifficult for Microsoft to repeat the glory of the PC era.
"The new OS will find it almost impossible to change user habits (on mobile devices). Topmobile hardware makers are all aiming to develop their own OS, making it difficult forWindows 10 to expand," Cao said.

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