The wait is almost over. On July 29, Microsoft is releasing Windows 10, the latest version of its operating system, although there have been mixed messages as to its actual availability on new PCs. Microsoft is hoping Windows 10 receives a warmer welcome than Windows 8 did when it was released in October 2012. Most long-time Windows users were not impressed with its radical redesign, intended to be more user-friendly for mobile platforms and touch screens. Gone was the “Start” button, and in its place was the tiled start screen.

For the first time in my Windows computing career, I was using the Windows key on the keyboard to toggle between the traditional Windows desktop and the tile screen. This keystroke all but restored the Windows 7 user experience, but Microsoft succumbed to the backlash and released Windows 8.1 a year later. Now, users can bypass the tile screen at start-up, and a pseudo-Start button was added.

I have been using Windows 8 since its release. Yes, it took some getting used to, but I think much of the criticism was overblown. At the end of the day, Windows 8 is a stable and secure operating system, which rates it a success in my book.

Microsoft claims that Windows 10 will run on the broadest collection of devices ever, including Windows PCs, Windows tablets, Windows phones, Windows for the Internet of Things, Microsoft Surface Hub, Xbox One and Microsoft HoloLens—all working together to empower you to do great things.

Windows 10 comes with Cortana, Microsoft’s personal digital assistant. Cortana learns your preferences to provide relevant recommendations, fast access to information and important reminders. Interaction is via talking or typing. I am not sure how much I will use Cortana, but it is an intriguing feature. I suspect I will use Cortana if I can type in questions. I do not use Siri on my iPhone, but I feel a little self-conscious talking to my phone instead of into it.

The release of Windows 10 also marks the end of Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s much-maligned Web browser. Microsoft Edge is the attempt to regain browser market share that has been lost to Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and the dozens of other browsers that are now available.

A couple of weeks ago I started using a pre-release version of Windows 10 to do some software compatibility testing. So far, I like it, and I think it represents an improvement in terms of usability. The tiled start screen is still present, and the Start button is a mix of the Windows 7 Start button menu and app tiles. In a departure from past Microsoft practices, the Microsoft has decided to make Windows 10 available for free download for a year to Windows 7 and 8 users.

Windows 10 also marks an important milestone for the PC industry. The industry has been in the midst of a decline, as more consumers prefer tablets and smartphones to desktop and laptop PCs. In the second quarter of 2015, PC shipments fell 9.5% from the same quarter a year ago, according to research firm Gartner. Another firm, IDC, tracked an 11.8% second-quarter drop from a year ago.

In less than two weeks, we will start hearing whether Microsoft hit the mark with Windows 10 and if it can provide a much-needed bump to the PC industry.

Revised MAGNET Screens

This month, Jaclyn McClellan presents her results from backtesting Jordan Kimmel’s revised MAGNET screens. I developed AAII’s original MAGNET screens in 2009 after reading Kimmel’s book “Magnet Investing.” The MAGNET strategy blends value, growth and momentum investing styles into a singular approach. According to Kimmel, a MAGNET stock offers a blend of technical and fundamental characteristics “that pull investors into shares, as though by magnetic attraction, resulting in rapid price increase.” Kimmel believes the MAGNET process “encompasses the best of the momentum aspects of the market, while demanding the downside protection of a value approach, and insisting on top-line revenue growth.”

The MAGNET acronym is as follows:

M—Management must be outstanding; momentum must be improving;
A—Acceleration of earnings, revenues and margins;
G—Growth rate must exceed valuation;
N—New product or management may be the driver;
E—Emerging industry or product creates opportunity; and
T—Timing needs to be right (technically poised for large price increase).

Companies that rank highly for Kimmel tend to have some common characteristics:

• High top-line revenue growth,
• Leader within a market niche,
• Internally financed by their growth, and
• Conservative accounting.

At times over the last several years, AAII’s original MAGNET screens ranked at or near the top among the methodologies we track at the AAII Stock Screens area. Recently, the original MAGNET screens had few, if any passing companies, which made investing in the system difficult. In an attempt to boost the passing companies, as well as to lesson volatility, Kimmel revised his MAGNET screens and the June issue of the AAII Journal included his introduction to the revised screens.

Using AAII’s fundamental stock screening and research database program, Stock Investor Pro, Jackie backtested the two revised MAGNET screens from the start of 1999. Her findings came as a bit of surprise to her and me.