Windows 10 OS will be available on the 29th July 2015
Microsoft Operating System chief’s Terry and Joe have mentioned by a blog and twitter post respectively the availability date of Windows 10. We’ve known from earlier conferences like Build, that the OS was going to be available during the summer but that was without a definite date. The OS will be officially released on Wednesday 29th July 2015 through windows update.
July 29 is the date! Windows 10 for all! Tell friends & family: RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW to get it on day 1! http://t.co/jGSloJDZkM
To hear Cortana tell you about the availability date just ask her from your phone, below is a recorded version if you don’t have a windows phone or pc.
There is also a video highlighting the release date and some exciting windows 10 features.
Terry Myerson talks about how windows 10 is almost very polished to be released to the public.
He also mentioned “You can reserve your free Windows 10 upgrade now through a simple reservation process. Look for this icon {in the picture below} in your system tray at the bottom of your screen, simply click on the icon, and then complete the reservation process”.
Here’s how to reserve your upgrade;
Click on the small Windows icon found at the right end of the taskbar.
Click “Reserve your free upgrade” in the app window.
Enter your email if you want a confirmation of this reservation.
All set. There’s no obligation and you can cancel your reservation at any time.
You’ll get a notification when your upgrade is ready later this year. This lets you schedule the installation for a time that’s convenient.
TizaaWorks is a coined out initiative by Microsoft Ghana in what is being rolled out as a number of employability platforms in Africa and the Middle East by Microsoft’s Youthspark and 4Afrika initiatives in these regions with local partners. The idea is to have 13 platforms in Africa with Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Algeria, Egypt, Botswana, Mozambique, Mauritius, Morocco, Madagascar, Libya and Angola as beneficiaries and hopes about 960,000 jobs and 200,000 entrepreneurs will be created by the end of 2015.
Microsoft Ghana and the International Institute for Communication and Development(IICD) launched Tizaaworks and hopes it’ll be national one-stop online hub for employability and entrepreneurship. Tizaaworks acts as an online aggregator for job search, acquiring and sharpening employment and entrepreneurial skills.
The portal will help;
Plan your career – career counseling, job market info and stats
Get trained – mentor matching, IT training, entrepreneurship, CV writing, soft & language skills n
Find a job – job matching tool
Entrepreneurs – Start-up training, funding tools, social entrepreneurship and free-lance opportunities.
Get engaged – Community-based networking platform for users to share ideas and volunteer opportunities
Brad Smith, General counsel and Executive Vice President of legal and corporate affairs at Microsoft on the project said;
“Technology can empower young people to make a vital contribution to their community and our world. We hope that this platform serves as a bridge, connecting Ghana’s young people to the tools, resources and people they need to find the fulfilling careers they deserve,”
Martine Koopman, Ghana country manager and global advisory services manager for International Institute for Communication and Development(IICD) also said of the initiative;
“The TizaaWorks platform is critical for expanding IICD’s impact in supporting Ghanaian youth in smart learning, working, and earning. Thanks to TizaaWorks, our programmes that build market-driven digital skills and help youth find employment and start their own IT-related businesses can reach out to a much wider audience, beyond our physical presence”
Give the platform a try and tell us what you think.
Follow Tizaaworks on social sites Facebook, Twitter: @TizaaWork, Website: Tizaaworks
Derek sees significant potential in Ghana’s young population and is excited that Microsoft has a presence in the country to help unlock this potential.
Derek Appiah, new country manager for Microsoft Corporation in Ghana holds both an engineering and MBA degree. He’s gained over 20 years of experience in various fields; research, technology, product development, marketing, sales and management with various organizations; he’s worked in the UK as the general manager, new business development for BT, worked as a chief enterprise solutions officer at MTN, Nigeria. Derek has also been an independent IT and Telecoms consultant to telcos in UAE, New Zealand, Qatar and Ireland. He worked with Vodafone Ghana as a Vodafone business solutions director & previous CEO of Logiciel Ghana Ltd., currently a non executive director.
“What I really enjoy about working in emerging markets is that you can make a big impact quickly; it’s possible to contribute to the ecosystem in a very real way.”
Appiah’s goal as Country Manager will be to help the company have a more active role in Ghana and add more value now that it has offices in the country and a 100% Ghanaian staff complement. He aims to make a significant impact on Ghana’s development,
“I believe there is enormous potential for technology to change lives in the emerging world, so this is an opportunity to make a big impact using Microsoft to enable productivity for businesses, government and consumers,”
A key area Derek will be focusing is developing youth employability skills, which he believes will help to develop Ghana’s business ecosystem.
“What I love most about Ghana is its young and vibrant population,
They are peace-loving and punch above their weight intellectually, making them the perfect candidates to take the country forward if they can acquire the necessary skills.
This is not about charity but rather about creating a value exchange between citizens, industry and government. Young people are an asset to our society, and even more so if they are adequately equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to create a brighter future for themselves and for Ghana.”
Microsoft has released a new build update to users testing out it’s windows 10 OS. The latest build, 10049 of the Windows 10 Technical preview for desktop also for the first time has the much talked about new browser “Project Spartan” integrated. The new windows 10 technical preview build is all about “Spartan” but in the build are some small improvements and fixes from the previous build 10041.
This update is available if you have set your update to fast ring, ISO’s won’t be available till the slow ring updates are available.
Here are some issues fixed in build 10049
The issue from Build 10041 for when the Photos app on your PC crashes when you tap on the circular icon at the top left to view the photo you just took.
Where you might end up in a state where windows open on your desktop are accidentally visible behind the Start Screen, Task View, Snap Assist, and when rearranging windows in Tablet Mode.
You will no longer get stuck when you manually lock your PC (Windows Key + L) during the initial out-of-box experience.
Here are some known issues for build 10049
After logging in, you may see a blue screen instead of your desktop. To work around this issue, lock your PC (with the hardware button or by pressing the Windows Key + L) and try logging in again. You can also try Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Indexing of new email in Outlook is not working, so search results will be limited to when the last index was built.
If you have Virtual Machines hosted in Hyper-V on your PC running Windows 10, you will want to move to the Slow ring and wait for the next build as this build breaks the ability to run VMs.
There are 2 issues using Visual Studio 2015 preview on this build:
The emulators will not boot and you won’t be able to deploy a Windows Universal app to the Mobile emulator.
The XAML designer in VS and Blend will crash when opened.
If you are a developer using these tools today to develop Windows Universal apps and need this functionality to work – we recommend switching to the Slow ring until we release a patch to fix these issues.
Can’t wait to see Spartan in action?, get the update and tell us what you think about the new browser.
Microsoft to Produce Affordable Windows Phones for Africa.
Africa is noted to be one of the most rapidly growing technology markets in the world. Microsoft wants to invest in the growth on the continent with it’s services and hardware. Microsoft introduced the 4Afrika initiative and planned with the project to help place tens of millions of smart devices in the hands of African youths. Also to bring 1 million African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) online.
At Microsoft, we view the African continent as a game-changer in the global economy. We believe deeply in the potential of technology to change Africa. We equally believe in the potential of Africa to change technology for the world.
Microsoft partnered with Huawei sometime in 2013 to produce the Huawei 4Afrika handsets in Africa. Microsoft’s goal with the 4Afrika handsets was to leverage technology to actively engage Africa’s economic development and to improve its global competitiveness whilst the 4Afrika initiative itself will develop apps and services specific to the region.
The partnership didn’t last as Huawei in August 2014, decided to put the program on hold. Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s consumer business group, said “It wasn’t profitable for us. We were losing money for two years on those phones. So for now we’ve decided to put any releases of new Windows phones on hold”.
Microsoft seems to have revived this plan by deciding to produce affordable Microsoft branded Windows Phones for Africa. Fernando de Sousa, Microsoft general manager for Africa Initiatives in an interview with Bloomberg writer Ekow Dontoh (Read more here Bloomberg)in Accra said;
“Microsoft is working with technology partners based in Shenzhen, China, and plans to introduce $75 to $100 smartphones this year. It will be a global launch,”. “Africa will lead in the consumption. Africa is growing smartphone use faster than anywhere in the world.”
Affordable Windows Phones for Africa Specification
Although details of the phone haven’t been made public, it will definitely be in the class of the recently announced Lumia 435, 532 and 535. With a 4″ or 4.5″ display, 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM size. 8GB storage with expandable MicroSD card support, battery size of 1500mAh, 3.5G network, loaded with Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim or windows 10 (depending on when the device will be available to ship) and will come in various colors. The 4Afrika logo could also be featured but since it’s expected to be a global launch it might be left out.
