With Windows 10 given a launch,
latest stable released on March 18-2015, the new OS is coming along nicely.
What's new; Microsoft' unlocks 'Achievements'
With Windows
8 and now Windows 8.1(Also
known as Windows 9), Microsoft tried – not entirely successfully – to make
tablets part of a continuum through all-in-one touchscreen media systems and
thin-and light notebooks down to slender touch tablets.
The general consensus is that it
still has a long way to go to produce a unified OS. Recently, Microsoft
publicly made the first steps to doing just that, with Windows 10. Skipping the
Windows 9 name entirely,
Microsoft's Windows 10 Technical
Preview is available through its Windows Insider
Program website. You'll need a Microsoft account to get it, and it's
worth bearing in mind that it's not the finished product, so it will be a bit
rough around the edges.
When is it out? As early as June 2015, but definitely summer
What will it cost? For Windows 7 and 8.1 users, it will be free for one year
Microsoft's Terry Myerson shows off some impressive numbers
How
much will it cost?
Confirming recent reports,
Microsoft's Terry Myerson announced that Windows 10 will be free for Windows
8.1 users for its first year. While there's no word on pricing for users still
on Windows 7 or an older version, Microsoft confirmed a while ago that the two
most recent Windows versions will be able to upgrade
to Windows 10 directly.
Microsoft's chief blogger Brandon
LeBlanc also confirmed that Microsoft will support those who scored a free
upgrade to Windows 10 with security and system updates for the lifetime of
those Windows 8.1 devices.
What's
to come in Technical Preview
The latest WTP build available for
all testers is Build #10041. The update brings with it a slew of new features
and fixes, namely streamlining the Virtual Desktop experience and giving the
Photos app some much-needed functionality.
Of course, the build comes with a
number of known issues, too. (However, it's now much more stable after moving
to the "Slow" ring.) The most notable issues include a lack of login
fields!
Bill
Gates's not-so-little secret
The co-founder and long-time former
CEO of Microsoft has been working on a secret project for Microsoft known
internally as the "Personal Agent,"
Gates revealed in his third Ask Me Anything on Reddit recently. This Personal
Agent is a piece of software designed to remember everything you do on a PC and
provide guidance for how to prioritize and assistance in interacting with those
apps and files.
"One project I am working on
with Microsoft is the Personal Agent which will remember everything and help
you go back and find things and help you pick what things to pay attention
to," Gates disclosed on Reddit. "The idea that you have to find
applications and pick them and they each are trying to tell you what is new is
just not the efficient model - the agent will help solve this. It will work
across all your devices."
Microsoft
reveals something huge
Like, 84 inches huge. Microsoft has
developed an entirely new device to showcase the features and capabilities of
Windows 10, called the Surface Hub. Redmond team members revealed and demoed
the device during its January 21 reveal event.
The device is an 84-inch, 4K
touchscreen that is designed for enterprise users – generally meeting rooms.
The Hub also features stylus support similar to the Surface Pro 3 with a pen
specifically made for the device.
The device is designed to offer a
holistic solution for meetings from web conferencing to whiteboarding and
document sharing. No word on price or release date was given.
This is where Microsoft thinks the
PC is headed
something
intangible
During its January 21 event,
Microsoft revealed Windows Holographic and Microsoft HoloLens, a brand new
headset and hologram system designed to blow the concept of augmented reality
wide open. Every Windows 10 device will support holographic computing APIs.
Windows Holographic is Microsoft
holographic computing platform, while HoloLens is the proof-of-concept for the
firm's holographic computing initiative. The company built a brand new
holographic processing unit (HPU) to process terabytes of data from every
sensor packed into the HoloLens.
Through the HPU, HoloLens can run
completely independent of any other device. Microsoft demonstrated the
technology on stage, creating a 3D model using holograms and later 3D printing
that exact specification. There was no word on when HoloLens will launch and
how much it will cost, but Microsoft promised that it will be ready for the
public launch of Windows 10.
Yes,
that includes the Internet of Things
CEO Satya Nadella's recent comments in
October 2014,
"Windows 10 is a very important
step for us." Nadella said on stage. "It's the first step in a new
generation of Windows as opposed to just another release after Windows 8.
General purpose computing is going to run on 200 plus billion sensors. We've
architected Windows where it can run on everything."
Windows 10: The Start Menu Strikes Back
The
Start menu: bigger, better, stronger
The return of the Start menu that
Microsoft teased during its Build 2014 conference earlier in 2014 was shown off
in full force at the September 30, 2014 event. Replete with a merging of the
traditional Windows 7-style interface and Windows 8 Live Tiles, the new Start
menu is designed to please both camps: touch and mouse users.
"They don't have to learn any
new way to drive," Belfiore said, referring to Windows 7 business users.
That said, customization will also be featured throughout, first with the
ability to resizing the Start menu itself along with the Live Tiles within.
The Start menu features empowered
search capabilities as well, able to crawl your entire machine, not to mention
web results. (Through Bing and not Google, we'd imagine.)
Click on through for a detailed look
at the rumors and leaks leading up to the first and second Windows 10
announcements. On the third page, we projected what Windows 9 – err – Windows
10 would be like, or at least what we had hoped. Read on to see how much we got
right.
