First Take: Is Microsoft cool again? It sure looks like it

Jon Swartz | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Windows 10, HoloLens could make Microsoft 'cool' again Like a smartphone or tablet upgrade, Microsoft's new operating system will be available as a free update for anyone using Windows 8.1. The company also introduced HoloLens, a virtual reality-like headset.

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft made a major cool push today.

It sure looked like that, at least, through HoloLens, a virtual reality-like headset demonstrated to oohs and aahs at a press conference in Redmond, Wash., to introduce Windows 10 on Wednesday.

Ostensibly, the day was intended for the latest iteration of Microsoft's operating system, but the attention belonged to HoloLens, which captured the imagination and kudos of the tech press, a jaded lot that has often overlooked innovation coming out of Redmond. (The addition of voice service Cortana to Windows 10, and an app that lets gamers stream and play Xbox games on their PCs also earned raves.)

A new browser, Project Spartan, works across multiple devices and includes a note-taking feature for annotating Web pages.

And, to top it off, Windows 10 will be available as a free upgrade for certain Windows users for a year.

The innovative onslaught from the Pacific Northwest — coinciding with the one-year anniversary of CEO Satya Nadella — is a welcome development from a company that helped build the tech industry but has been relegated of late to secondary status.

"We want to move from people needing Windows, to choosing Windows, to loving Windows," Nadella said.

If Microsoft is getting its cool back, it is important for several reasons.

As the world's largest software company, Microsoft should be part of the tech narrative: Windows runs on more than 91% of the planet's computers, according to NetMarketShare.

As a Fortune 100 company, Microsoft is also a crucial cog in the nation's economic engine. It has been in the shadows of rivals Apple, Google and Facebook for too long, racking up ungodly profits while being put in the awkward position of having to explain why it lacks the sizzle of a Tesla or Uber.

And, as a tech icon, Microsoft should make others — notably, Apple, Google, Amazon.com and Facebook — sweat a little. Its renewed relevance is a welcome turn of events. (During the course of writing this column, I received an e-mail from Google touting its own cool news later this month.)

In the end, consumers win when our best tech minds slug it out for innovation bragging rights.