The Windows 10 S Paradox (Premium)

What does Windows 10 S say about the other versions of Windows 10? That they are unsafe, unreliable, and slow. This is a not a great marketing message.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Windows 10 lately, as you may know. And this system puts me in a tough spot. It is, after all, the future of Windows, an important step forward that positions the platform for the mobile first, cloud first world. But it is also, sadly, completely unusable today, a non-starter for virtually all users.

Everyone knows that the central issue at the heart of the Windows 10 S debate is its inability to run anything but Windows Store apps. But one thing that isn’t debated enough, I think, is the why of that reality. What Microsoft is really saying here is that the “full” versions of Windows are so insecure, so unreliable, and so performance-challenged over time that the hard-stop of Windows 10 S is the only answer.

Put another way, in using any version of Windows that is not Windows 10 S, we are apparently putting ourselves at risk every single day. Every time we boot up our PCs, every time we sign-in, connect to the Internet, download and install some random app, whatever, we are doing something potentially harmful to ourselves.

In the old days, Apple would have marketed the heck out of this, would have mocked Microsoft, Windows 10 S, and PC users endlessly for having this other thing that looks like the real thing but can’t actually run the apps that everyone prefers. But Apple doesn’t do that now because the Mac is no longer that important in Cupertino: It sold about 60 million iOS devices in the last quarter, but only 4 million Macs. Apple has moved on to a bigger and better future of its own. Now, Google and Android are its targets.

So, hooray for Apple. But we’re stuck here with Windows. What’s a poor Windows user to do?

Ultimately, we have to vote in our own best interests. And we cast those votes every time we make any decision about the PC we use, the software that runs on it, and the online services to which we connect. Each of those decisions is a trade-off between safety and security on one hand, and usability and productivity on the other. And you never know when the wrong decision is going to come out of nowhere and just bite you in the butt.

And we make these trade-offs all the time. Not as Windows users, per se, but as people.

Maybe you’re blasting down the highway at 80 miles per hour because you simply have to be there a few minutes more quickly. And then that text message beeps and you’ll just look for one second because you are in control, and are a great driver, and you know the horror stories about what happens to other people, but you’re not other people. You’re you.

Or you’ve connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot and have carelessly started entering the credentials to your PayPal or bank account while sipping an overpriced latte. Because you’re bored with Angry Birds and this needs to happen right now. For some reason.

You get the idea. We’ve all had these moments of stupid weakness. We’ve all had bad luck.

With Windows specifically, look, we’re just trying to get work done here. I’ve written tons about the paucity of quality apps available in the Windows Store. But it’s even worse than the obvious because it doesn’t matter if there are 5 or 500 or 500 million apps in that store. If it doesn’t have the one app you need, this conversation is over. And that means you upgrade from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Pro and get back to work.

But Windows 10 Pro is inherently unsafe, right? I mean, Microsoft would never have made Windows 10 S otherwise. It’s like a motorcycle helmet law, designed to protect us from our own stupidity. Except there’s no major difference. This law is optional. And our bad decisions can hurt other people too.

It’s your choice. You can get work done or you can be safe.

If you choose getting work done, and most of you will, then you need to take your safety into your own hands—a chilling thought—by doing what you can do to secure your PC and your online accounts. I don’t find this particularly difficult, frankly, but then ignorance is bliss. I know far too many perfectly normal, intelligent people who have had malware problems to pretend this isn’t a real problem. And none of them is comfortable backing up or restoring a PC, or using two-factor authentication.

If you choose safety, to Windows 10 S, then you’ve consigned yourself to mostly toy apps, a compromised experience in which you should be asking yourself if an Android or iOS device perhaps isn’t the better choice. At least you’d get some good games too.

Seriously, has anyone ever asked for something that looks like Windows but doesn’t actually run Windows apps?

No.

The thing is, Windows 10 S is safer, but it’s not perfectly safe. No software is. So whether you believe that a recent report in which an online publication actually hired a hacker to break into Windows 10 S demonstrates the fallacy of this approach or is really just yet another example of how people are the weakest link when it comes to security almost doesn’t matter. It simply raises the issue that this decision, like all others, is a compromise. Windows 10 S tilts the scale towards security (and reliability and performance), but only so much. Is that improvement enough to overcome its usability and productivity missteps?

I don’t think so. And I know most of you don’t either, no matter how much we want this thing to work.

But who cares what I think? I’m driving 80 miles an hour and a text just came in. I’ll be back in just the blink of an eye.