Microsoft showed us the final version of Windows
10 in an event yesterday, and the roll-out will begin later this year.
But what’s new in Microsoft’s latest OS? We take a quick look at the
biggest and most important features of Windows 10.
Free, free, free:
For the
first time ever, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7, Windows
8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users.
As we
noted here, Microsoft has taken a cue out of Apple’s book which has been
given OS X and iOS upgrades away for free, to ensure that users don’t have to
shell out money for an OS.
If your PC or laptop is running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1
and your Windows phone has the Windows Phone 8.1 OS, you will get a free
upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 – in the first year.
What is not clear is if users on laptop and desktops will
have to pay after the first year. In an age, where free OS and software is the
new mantra, Microsoft has taken the right step by making Windows 10 free of
cost. Hopefully the free upgrade will continue after year one as well.
No more Windows Phone, it’s
all the same: Unity across operating systems is something that
Apple and Google have been going on about for sometime and Microsoft also
clearly believes that this is the way forward.
What this also means, is that the name ‘Windows Phone
OS’ is actually defunct. Also tablet users can forget the horror of having to
deal with something like a new Windows RT on their devices, which received
terrible user feedback.
Windows 10 will ensure that desktops, mobiles, laptops,
tablets, 2-in-1 devices will all run the same Windows 10 OS, which will be
optimised based on the platform. This is great news for those who are heavily
invested in the Windows eco-system and for app developers who won’t have to
create a separate app for mobile or tablet.
Bigger Start Menu, Action
Centre: There have been some improvements thanks to feedback
from testers of the Windows Insider program. The Start Menu is now available in
full screen instead of the limited in Windows 8.1. The Action Centre has quick
buttons to switch Wi-fi and Bluetooth on or off.
There is a new Notification Centre which is seen above the
Action Centre and notifications in these will be synced across devices. The
Notification centre brings you updates and alerts from your email, weather,
news sources you’ve subscribed to and it also has Cortana built in.
The Control Panel and Settings menu have been merged into a
single folder. Also when using a 2-in-1, when you go from a desktop mode to a
tablet mode, users will be prompted if they want to switch to tablet mode.
Cortana for Windows:
Microsoft has gone a step ahead of Apple by bringing its personal
voice-assistant Cortana to all Windows 10 devices, including desktops and
laptops, which is a massive plus point.
On the desktop, Cortana will be seen as a search box located
beside the Start button. Cortana now supports 7 languages and can speak in
impersonations as well. You can also ask Cortana to open apps on your desktop
such as PowerPoint or Word. You can also dictate emails in Outlook using
Cortana and send them by voice commands.
As
we noted here, Cortana has a new feature called Notebook that keeps a tab
on all the saved information. It also keeps a track of the sports scores,
travel, weather and such similar information that you may be interested in. You
can also add other things that you want Cortana to keep a track of.
Universal apps for PCs:
Microsoft is going the Apple way by finally introducing universal apps. These
will have a similar design across devices and will work across PCs, laptop,
smartphones and tablets.
Outlook will come with an in-built Word engine which
provides the Office ribbon, which allows multiple ways of formatting
Office documents. The calendar app will also be synced across devices and
will sport a consistent design as well. There’s also a new Photo App gallery,
which looks inspired by Google+.
All pictures taken on the devices, as well as photos on One
Drive will be merged together and the app will automatically delete the
duplicate files to reduce the clutter. The Photo app will automatically enhance
your photographs by default, much like Google+. It will also create Photo
Albums automatically based on date, location and the people in the photographs.
Other universal apps on the list will be for Videos, Music,
Maps, People & Messaging.
Hello Project Spartan: Microsoft
unveiled its
Project Spartan at the event, which is indeed a new browser which comes
with Cortana built in with its contextual searching. For example, if you look
up restaurant on Spartan, Cortana will throw in a map, menu and contact details
as well.
On Spartan some of the new features will allows users to
annotate a webpage using a stylus or touch interface, click on any section of a
webpage to type out a comment and then share this page with friends or
co-workers. Also while the page shared will be frozen, the links inside them
will be active.
Reading mode in Project Spartan, similar to the reading mode
in Apple’s Safari, will put articles in a layout that gets rid of all the
unnecessary elements on a page. You also get a Reading List feature that syncs
across all devices, even offline, which is quite identical to what’s seen on
the Pocket app.
By the way Microsoft has clarified that the introduction of
Spartan doesn’t mean that Internet Explorer 11 is going anywhere. According to
a blogpost, the company wrote that “Spartan loads the IE11 engine for
legacy enterprise web sites when needed.” Essentially enterprise websites that
older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX
controls and Browser Helper Objects will load on Internet Explorer, which will
also be available on Windows 10.
Internet Explorer will use the same dual rendering engines
as Spartan, ensuring web developers can consistently target the latest web
standards, says the blog post.
Gaming on Windows 10: The Xbox app will come
bundled with all Windows 10 devices. A new feature will allows users to record
30 seconds of gameplay which can be sent across to Xbox Live so that Xbox users
can watch it as well.Windows 10 also brings cross-play, which lets users play
with a friend on an Xbox One while they are using a Windows 10 PC. Microsoft also
has plans to launch Windows 10 on the Xbox One platform.
Game DVR, which gives simple access to recording, editing,
and sharing a player’s most epic gaming moments on an Xbox will now come to
Windows 10, and is accessible by simply pressing Windows+G.
Also
games on Xbox One can be streamed through your home network to your Windows
10 PC or tablet, anywhere in your house. Xbox One gamers will also be able to
many of their favourite console games on their PC. And many Xbox One
accessories will work interchangeably on the console and PC.
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