Still searching for a killer app in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

[Karlston]

Or have we reached the point where killer apps just don’t matter?

A couple of days ago, as I was finishing the InfoWorld review of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, a good friend (and astute editor) asked me a very simple question: Where is the killer app in Windows 10?

 

After all, if folks are going to go through the pain and bother of upgrading from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Win10 -- and of climbing the learning curve once again -- there has to be a good reason for the effort, right?

 

I racked my brain. It's a very pertinent question, especially now that the days of free upgrades are drawing to a close.

 

Some things in Windows 10 are nice. For example, the ability to run Windows Defender Offline, the rootkit killer, from a Win10 pane is cool. I like the built-in ease of installing a clean copy of Win10 while blasting out manufacturer-installed crap. Having the weather and news appear on Start screen live tiles is nice enough. Setting an alarm with "Hey Cortana" rates as useful. Even allowing Cortana to scan my inbound mail and set appointments -- flight schedules, for example -- comes in handy.

 

But a killer app?

 

I combed through all the new features in the Anniversary Update.

• The new Start menu looks nice, but it isn't nearly as useful as Windows 7's --all of those apps in a massive, unmanageable blob still makes me cringe.
• Windows Ink may be a killer app for some, but I rarely use a stylus and can't draw for beans.
• Edge may be a killer app someday, but as it stands right now, it's a fledgling flitting in a field of heavyweights. Chrome and Firefox are still at the head of the list, and will be for quite some time. It doesn't help one bit that changing search engines in Edge requires an act of Congress. 
• The notification pane (er, Action Center) starts to catch up with where phones have been for many years.
• Hello may ring the chimes for some Surface users, but I'm not going to pay for a Surface when a password works just fine.
• And the Universal Windows Platform apps? Killers? Gimme a break. Most of them are barely breathing.

 

What about other apps? Can you think of a Windows app -- just one -- that nails it in Windows 10 but doesn't work well in Windows 7?

 

If I want a killer app, I flip out my phone. "OK Google, navigate to Costco." There's Pokemon Go (well, not a killer app, but… you know). Facebook messenger. Gmail. Google Calendar. Twitter. YouTube. Snapchat. Netflix. Pandora. Amazon. Pick your stock app or banking app or airline app or…

 

Those, to me, are killer apps. If I get to them with Windows, I almost invariably go through Chrome -- and in that case I could get to them just as well (and often do) with a Chromebook.

 

Can you think of a killer app for Windows 10? What did I miss? Hit me in the comments below or over on AskWoody.com.

 

Source: Still searching for a killer app in Windows 10 Anniversary Update (InfoWorld - Woody Leonhard)

 

InfoWorld - Woody on Windows

 

AskWoody.com - Woody Leonhard's no-bull news, tips and help for Windows and Office

[Holmes]

I have alot of killer apps that I use and alot of them are getting windows ten compatibility now and those that dont yet are about to get it.  Are they calling windows defender offline a rootkit killer?  I think it can help with some rootkits the actual rootkit killer is the Malicious Software Removal Tool the only tool specifically designed for dealing with very malicious applications.  The best anti-rootkit tool I have unfortunately is not compatible with windows ten its not compatible with sixty four bit operating systems in general and its called Radix Anti-Rootkit which I have used to kill the nastiest rootkit my windows xp computer has ever gotten.

 

Now my moms old hard drive is a different story I havent used radix antirootkit on it and have only used gmer on it and gmer detected a red object which is a rootkit infection I was stupid at the time and restarted the computer when I should have disabled it or suspended it and then rebooted the computer and deleted it.  Im going to be using windows defender offline to try to disinfect my moms old hard drive.  After I rebooted my moms computer she started bitching about not being able to use it and I ended up shutting down the computer unplugging the hard drive and giving her my windows xp hard drive to use and created a user account for her to use.  I want my hard drive back and thats why Im going to disinfect the hard drive or format it.  I want to disinfect it so I dont have to go through the trouble of formatting and installing windows xp again. 

 

Its annoying having to install a operating system from scratch.  As for windows ten and a killer app like I said I have killer apps like steam and itunes and all the games I play and VMware and there all windows ten compatible now (those that are not there going to be in the future).

[steven36]

I been searching for killer apps for 15 years and i never found one  built in too windows . All have been replaced  over the years  when i got past being a Noob  there all made by someone else and better  . I cant stand Microsoft apps  they just been backup apps i never hardly use for years . 

[The Seeker]

I don't care about killer apps - I just care about the OS, which is great. All my needs are fulfilled by x86 applications.

[Holmes]

As for killer apps in microsoft app store I doubt there are ever going to be any.  All the apps microsoft have are stupid office and skype are the only good apps they have and maybe one or two i might be forgetting microsoft are never going to have any killer apps I dont think.

[steven36]

2 hours ago, The Seeker said:

I don't care about killer apps - I just care about the OS, which is great. All my needs are fulfilled by x86 applications.

But see that's the point , nobody cares, every body just wants to use legacy Apps  and there trying to sell you on something nobody  wants. phone apps for PC .If you even ran Linux you know you can have a update manger and it could work fine ...Were you would not even need to visit  software update sites . But since they yet to make any thing worthy to use in the store for windows  its just a good idea . Also anything you use from windows store they keep track of how much you use it so they can brag about it in the press , i dont  like this ether. 

[Holmes]

The only program I would use in the store is windows updates I tried to download eight point one and update one on a friends computer and windows update didnt have it I had to go to the store to get it.