Microsoft unveils Windows 10 ship date, OEM prices leak online: Is this OS ready to debut?

Microsoft has officially confirmed AMD's previous leak— the next version of the venerable Windows operating system will be available on July 29. Microsoft plans to finalize the Windows code by the end of June before shipping it to hardware vendors. That leaves scant weeks for the company to finish the code. There’s no doubt that Microsoft’s teams are working overtime — the company has been rapid-firing releases out to its beta testers every few days — but there are real questions as to whether the OS we receive on July 29 will be anything like “ready” for prime time.

Microsoft has already stated that Windows 10 won’t be delivered like a traditional Windows operating system. Instead, the company will incorporate a software-as-a-service model that takes the old style Windows Update approach and streamlines it into a continuous cycle. Key components, like extension support for the Edge browser, won’t arrive until after the OS has shipped. Presumably, the focus these next few weeks will be on stability — ensuring that software and hardware compatibility is no easy task considering that Microsoft has guaranteed that tens of millions of devices will receive collective free upgrades to the new operating system.

 A leak at Newegg over the weekend claimed that pricing for Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Professional (OEM) would be $109.99 and $149.99 respectively. These prices are in line with previous Windows prices, and if you view the OS as a long-term investment, aren’t bad at all. I bought Windows 7 Professional in 2009 — given that I’m still using the operating system in 2015, I view the cost as money well spent in the long run. Of course, most users won’t ever pay the OEM prices; retail licensing for Windows may get a fair amount of discussion, but a distinct minority of users actually buy a boxed copy of the operating system. On the other hand, Ars Technica is reporting list prices of $119 and $199 for the full version, implying that either Newegg is simply wrong or the OS prices captured by the company were for upgrade packs, not full flavors.

Whether the OS will be ready for deployment by then is very much an open question. Every time Microsoft pushes a new build, forums fill up with legions of people reporting new bugs, the reappearance of old bugs, or continued issues with hardware and software configurations. Developers we’ve spoken to tell us that DX12 is mostly finished now (and Nvidia released their first WHQL drivers for Windows 10 in mid-May), but tamping out the bugs with every product generation will doubtless take both AMD and Nvidia some time.

If Microsoft burns the midnight oil between now and July 29, we might collectively get away with a massive Day 1 patch. If it misses and fouls something as basic as WiFi connectivity or Ethernet support (both are issues in the latest OS build), then legions of users might find themselves stranded without Internet after upgrading.

I’m bullish on Windows 10 as a replacement for Windows 7 in the long term. Short term, I’m concerned that Microsoft has set an extremely aggressive goal for itself. What we end up with at the end of July may or may not reflect a stable, recommended build.

Also See: Xiaomi M4 gets a price cut in India

ref:(technews.com)