Will Windows 10 keep Microsoft on top?

Mark Skilton assesses Windows 10 in relation to Microsoft's need to retain dominance in a diversified market

Windows 10 is a necessary move for Microsoft if it wants to fix a growing problem in its poor Windows 8 product.

In the longer term, if left unresolved, this problem could have damaged the market dominance that Microsoft currently enjoys in the PC market.

Microsoft needs to be careful not to squander its market lead in the desktop market, as in the digital world this could quickly be eroded.

It is now the content and applications that work on top of the operating system that are the main revenue earners – and that will be true not just of today but in the future.

This is partly proven by the example of Apple, which has just 15 per cent of the mobile market and around four per cent of the desktop operating system market but enjoys a market capitalisation that stands at $600bn.

That is still almost a third more than Microsoft's $380bn.

Strong products plus powerful apps and services are where the market is now and Microsoft must swing the ship around and make the cross-platform world work.

Microsoft reportedly currently has a 92 per cent share of the desktop operating system market but only eight per cent of this is Windows 8.

Its mobile market share is almost the complete reverse, at around five per cent.

The majority of the market, 80 per cent, runs on Android, with Apple accounting for 15 per cent, according to analyst firm Kantar in August.

Windows 10 is clearly trying to get back to the core strategy of having a single operating system that works well across all platforms.

The trouble with Windows 8 was that, apart from low adoption rates, there were significant problems with its design that undermined its usability.

Too many user design principles were violated by Windows 8, as it was in effect trying to serve desktop and touchscreen at the same time – and failing at both.

Windows 10 has a better tile resizing function and a new "quadrant" layout to help improve usability of the applications and the content pages – something that was confused in Windows 8.

The return of the much-missed Start button is also a recognition of the importance of desktop for Microsoft.

The touchscreen does not need this feature but the desktop does, and so this is a step in the right direction again.

Mark Skilton is professor of practice at Warwick Business School