T

he new updates of tech giant Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system will cater to the new work ethic of the digital generation, ready to serve Indonesia’s emerging creative industry with features that promote a more mobile workspace.

An update of around 200 new and old applications was announced as part of Windows 10’s one-year anniversary and will feature an upgraded version of Microsoft’s artificial intelligence unit Cortana and productivity apps that could increase the functionality of on-the-go designer products, such as Windows Ink.

Aside from Windows Ink, which aims to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of design-related ideas through features such as a more complete and specific sketch pad, the updates also come with a new digital music notation feature called Staffpad.

The company argues that the new features will help numerous creative industry workers who lean more toward “working on the go” and have different work behaviors compared to those working in traditional offices.

“With a creative economy growth reaching 5.76 percent even in 2014, which was higher than the national economic growth at the time, the creative industry has always possessed a large potential to push the economy further,” Microsoft Indonesia’s consumer channels group director Linda Dwiyati noted on Friday.

“By catering to their operational needs, Microsoft is doing its job to make things go a bit smoother,” she added.

Indonesian Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) predicts that the creative industry will be able to contribute up to Rp 900 trillion to the economy by the year’s end, with hopes that in four to five years, the industry’s contribution could double from the 7 percent it accounts for currently.

Microsoft’s new updates are also part of the company’s measures to help complete a national goal set by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to cultivate up to 1,000 technopreneurs by 2020.

The updates announced on Friday are also part of Microsoft’s efforts to deter ongoing piracy and counterfeiting of their products. Linda explained that if the Windows 10 operating system keeps on providing innovative new updates, soon enough the demand for pirated software would gradually decrease.

“There is already a new global effort by Microsoft to identify and deal with pirated software that has already been installed. Although I don’t have the numbers and progress for Indonesia at the moment, I’m sure that it can help educate and persuade customers to take advantage of Windows 10 instead of installing counterfeit versions,” she said.

Around 90 percent of computers in both Indonesian offices and households use a Windows operating system, according to the tech giant. Worldwide, there are around 350 million Windows 10 users.

The company said the adoption of Windows 10 had been faster than any other operating system it has released before and the response from creative industry players had been very welcoming.

With the number of internet users also predicted to reach 150 million by 2020, the company reiterated that business needs will grow increasingly mobile, thus necessitating even the largest tech companies to continually innovate.   

Encouraging people to use the new software has been a strategy adopted by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to rebuild business amid diving PC sales in the past few years with more people leaning toward tablets and smartphones.