Windows 10 Anniversary Edition - What to expect from Redstone
Today at the MS Build Conference in San Francisco - MS announced Windows 10 Anniversary Edition - or what we previously had been calling Redstone 1.
The edition is planned for release "this summer" - so if it is truly an anniversary edition that should mean July 29, 2016.
The features and demos that were focused on following the announcement were the following..
1. A big emphasis and expansion of Microsoft Ink. So more integration across more apps and some cool things like rulers and app relevance were demo'd
2. Cortana taking a bigger role - again with more integration across more apps - like Skype - and access via the lock screen. Also some backend capabilities like the Cortana intelligence engine.
3. Updates to MS Hello to support biometrics as well as integration with Edge for site logins.
4. BASH shell integration through a new partnership with Canonical (Ubuntu) and subsystem.
5. New Skype UWP app along more 3rd party UWP apps "coming soon"
6. Improved gaming integration across xBox and Windows 10 via UWP.
So let's take a look at this and see what that means for upcoming Fast Ring builds.
The first thing that came off to me is that a lot of focus here is towards Surface and other new "Windows 10" specific devices that can really utilize these features. MS calls it natural interfaces like writing, speaking or seeing.
For example MS Ink - a New Sticky Notes and Drawing Pad app with intelligence and Cortana Integation. But while you may be able to use Ink with a mouse - you won't get the same level of experience as you would with a Touch or Pen supported system. With that it was very nice to see MS placing more emphasis here and even some cool integration with Office.
Similarly with the Hello feature - some potentially cool security features and eas of use for web sites. But - if your system does not support Hello today - you won't see any real benefits.
The BASH shell integration is interesting in that MS is trying to broaden their appeal to the Linux community. Powershell is an excellent scripting tool as well - so now users/developers will have a choice. My assumption here is just like the old Unix Tools, etc - Bash will most likely be off by default and you'll have to activate the feature if you want to use it.
And finally the UWP thing. The value here really depends on your POV. If your an end user - and have multiple Windows devices - the good news is that you can expect that the app will run across all. But the key there is having multiple Windows devices. Same for developers - by developing UWP apps - you can immediately broaden your potential customer base by having you app available to PC, Mobile and xBox user for example.
One very cool thing that MS did is to provide an App "Converter" that would allow legacy Win32 apps to be packaged for the Windows Store. Additionally with a few small changes - that app could also have Live Tile support. For the Windows ISV community this is a potential huge boon. It also has the potential to be a huge revenue boost for MS as they would potentially get a piece of each sale through the store.
One additional area MS focused on was the backend portion of the ecosystem - so Azure and Office365 to allow developers more interesting app opportunities.
One of those new capabilities shown was "Bots". Bots are small pieces of code that can integrate with apps like Skype or Cortana to provide a service. Two examples that were demo'd were booking a hotel room via a Corporate Travel Bot for Skype and ordering a pizza via a Domino's Bot in Cortana.
From a current code base perspective the changes that MS discussed today really focus on the MS Ink API, Cortana, Skype, MS Hello and the Bash Shell subsystem. Along with that will be updates to apps like Maps, Sticky Notes, etc that will leverage the new APIs and Edge to integrate with MS Hello as well as the new Ubuntu Linux Subsystem and Bash.
So that you should be your expectation for upcoming builds along with bug fixes. With the exception of MS Hello - I will able to test many of these new features using my Dell Venue 8 Pro. For Hello testing I'll need to upgrade since I have a 1st Gen Venue 8 Pro and the front camera does not support Hello.
So in some ways the Redstone Branch for PC will be much like it was for mobile - the start of a branch away from legacy devices towards a more enhanced experience for devices that can support Hello, Touch, Pen, etc.
Meaning that if you are using a traditional desktop/laptop that does not support these features - yes you'll see new things like Bash and some updated UWP apps and Edge - but your day to day experience won't change much.
At least from the focus today MS is going full steam ahead with the next generation of computing where interfaces like voice, touch, pen become the norm. Combine that with powerful back-end capabilities hosted in Azure like like Bots, Machine Learning, etc and you begin to see how you'll be working with computers in the next decade.
The edition is planned for release "this summer" - so if it is truly an anniversary edition that should mean July 29, 2016.
The features and demos that were focused on following the announcement were the following..
1. A big emphasis and expansion of Microsoft Ink. So more integration across more apps and some cool things like rulers and app relevance were demo'd
2. Cortana taking a bigger role - again with more integration across more apps - like Skype - and access via the lock screen. Also some backend capabilities like the Cortana intelligence engine.
3. Updates to MS Hello to support biometrics as well as integration with Edge for site logins.
4. BASH shell integration through a new partnership with Canonical (Ubuntu) and subsystem.
5. New Skype UWP app along more 3rd party UWP apps "coming soon"
6. Improved gaming integration across xBox and Windows 10 via UWP.
So let's take a look at this and see what that means for upcoming Fast Ring builds.
The first thing that came off to me is that a lot of focus here is towards Surface and other new "Windows 10" specific devices that can really utilize these features. MS calls it natural interfaces like writing, speaking or seeing.
For example MS Ink - a New Sticky Notes and Drawing Pad app with intelligence and Cortana Integation. But while you may be able to use Ink with a mouse - you won't get the same level of experience as you would with a Touch or Pen supported system. With that it was very nice to see MS placing more emphasis here and even some cool integration with Office.
Similarly with the Hello feature - some potentially cool security features and eas of use for web sites. But - if your system does not support Hello today - you won't see any real benefits.
The BASH shell integration is interesting in that MS is trying to broaden their appeal to the Linux community. Powershell is an excellent scripting tool as well - so now users/developers will have a choice. My assumption here is just like the old Unix Tools, etc - Bash will most likely be off by default and you'll have to activate the feature if you want to use it.
And finally the UWP thing. The value here really depends on your POV. If your an end user - and have multiple Windows devices - the good news is that you can expect that the app will run across all. But the key there is having multiple Windows devices. Same for developers - by developing UWP apps - you can immediately broaden your potential customer base by having you app available to PC, Mobile and xBox user for example.
One very cool thing that MS did is to provide an App "Converter" that would allow legacy Win32 apps to be packaged for the Windows Store. Additionally with a few small changes - that app could also have Live Tile support. For the Windows ISV community this is a potential huge boon. It also has the potential to be a huge revenue boost for MS as they would potentially get a piece of each sale through the store.
One additional area MS focused on was the backend portion of the ecosystem - so Azure and Office365 to allow developers more interesting app opportunities.
One of those new capabilities shown was "Bots". Bots are small pieces of code that can integrate with apps like Skype or Cortana to provide a service. Two examples that were demo'd were booking a hotel room via a Corporate Travel Bot for Skype and ordering a pizza via a Domino's Bot in Cortana.
From a current code base perspective the changes that MS discussed today really focus on the MS Ink API, Cortana, Skype, MS Hello and the Bash Shell subsystem. Along with that will be updates to apps like Maps, Sticky Notes, etc that will leverage the new APIs and Edge to integrate with MS Hello as well as the new Ubuntu Linux Subsystem and Bash.
So that you should be your expectation for upcoming builds along with bug fixes. With the exception of MS Hello - I will able to test many of these new features using my Dell Venue 8 Pro. For Hello testing I'll need to upgrade since I have a 1st Gen Venue 8 Pro and the front camera does not support Hello.
So in some ways the Redstone Branch for PC will be much like it was for mobile - the start of a branch away from legacy devices towards a more enhanced experience for devices that can support Hello, Touch, Pen, etc.
Meaning that if you are using a traditional desktop/laptop that does not support these features - yes you'll see new things like Bash and some updated UWP apps and Edge - but your day to day experience won't change much.
At least from the focus today MS is going full steam ahead with the next generation of computing where interfaces like voice, touch, pen become the norm. Combine that with powerful back-end capabilities hosted in Azure like like Bots, Machine Learning, etc and you begin to see how you'll be working with computers in the next decade.
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