Windows 10 coming soon

[Captain Picard's Hair]

MS hasn't announced an exact date yet but formal launch is expected sometime this summer. I've been running the technical preview for a while now (free to use but will expire and stop booting at a certain date). It will be a free upgrade for qualified Windows 7 (with Service Pack 1) and 8.1 PCs for the first year after launch. After that, it will be continually updated: Microsoft has indicated it wants 10 to be the "last major version" of Windows, such that the fragmentation between versions of Windows becomes a thing of the past and every Win10 PC is always up to date. They'll try to get as many upgrades as possible because they want as many users as possible on the new OS. The upgrade might be easier for 8.1 users than some of the Windows 7 holdouts.

For the desktop version it's underselling the OS to call it 'Windows 8.1 with a start menu' although that will be the main "new" feature it's known for. There's plenty of other stuff besides that, both under the hood and visible.

- A new "Edge" internet browser, as the default with modern features and with older code stripped out to make it leaner and quicker. IE will stay around for backwards compatibility (essentially unchanged from IE11 present in Win 8.1).
- notifications center integrated into taskbar
- the digital assistant 'Cortana' (MS answer to Siri/Google Now) integrated into Windows, with it's own search box (can be configured as an icon to save taskbar space, or turned off entirely if desired) next to the Start button (will also accept speech input through a mic)
- a somewhat niche feature but one a subset of power users wanted for years, virtual desktops. MS calls it "Task View" and it gets a pinned taskbar button next to the Cortana search box
- new set of default apps and a new look and feel
- a new version of the DirectX subsystem is optimized for performance, and is designed to let new games run faster in DX12 on WIn10 than in DX11.x on earlier Windows versions
- new security and other features under the hood

As to the start menu itself, it's a hybrid of classic start menu features with Windows 8.x style start screen features: the list to the left with pinned app tiles to the right of that. The user is free to remove tiles if wanted, on the other hand pinning ordinary desktop programs as a tile is also supported so it can be used as a quick access area for frequently used programs.

It also continues the unification of Windows on traditional desktop/laptops, hybrids, tablets, phones, and XBox. Windows across the whole range will have basically the same core with the user interface adapting to different form factors and types of input. For hybrid laptop/tablets a new "continuum" feature automatically adapts the interface between desktop mode and tablet mode when the keyboard is attached and detached. New "universal apps" will work in a similar fashion: the same core app on all Windows 10 devices with an adaptable user interface such that the user interface is optimized for the particular type of device. The Windows store will also gain the ability to sell and manage ordinary desktop programs (in the current 8.1 store desktop programs are just present as links to the download website).

There's also an entirely new device, the 'HoloLens' VR system or "augmented reality" as MS might prefer to call it. This is really cool stuff, with applications tied into 3-D modeling among other things.

http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

So does this sound like something you'd upgrade to or not?

[LaughingCheese]

Wasn't their new browser "Spartan" ?

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Wasn't their new browser "Spartan" ?

'Project Spartan' was what it was called during development but wasn't meant to be the final name. The name 'Edge' was only recently announced.

[Sonic Glitch]

I'm actually kind of excited. As a user of both Windows PC and Windows Phone, I'm very intrigued by the potential here. However, not having the money to replace my current laptop with a touchscreen device means I am less likely to automatically upgrade. But still, I'm very intrigued by the changes their making. If the company can pull off working together, they may be on to something here.

[Reliant121]

I am rather excited for it. I was an early adopter of Win8 and have found it to have improved the experience on my desktop PC and my Lenovo convertible and so have high hopes Windows 10 continues this.

[LaughingCheese]

Wasn't their new browser "Spartan" ?

'Project Spartan' was what it was called during development but wasn't meant to be the final name. The name 'Edge' was only recently announced.

Too bad. Spartan is definitely a better name than 'Edge.'

Were they trying to be edgy?

Does this also mean that the voice recognition software is not named Cortana?

[Captain Picard's Hair]

One thing they may have considered in 'Edge' was keeping the logo an "e" for the sake of less sophisticated users who were used to "clicking the e to get online." The logo loses the ring around the e but is otherwise similar.

The product name "Cortana" already exists: she isn't a new feature to Win 10, but an existing Windows phone feature being imported. In Win 10 she'll also accept input from keyboard via the search box. That name, Cortana, is a reference to a character in the XBox game series Halo.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Some people are already getting notifications on their Windows 7 or 8.1 system that they can reserve their upgrade to Windows 10. The actual upgrades will begin on Wed, July 29. Microsoft has confirmed that date as the official release; that date also starts the 1 year window for free upgrades for eligible systems.

Also, US online retailer newegg.com has spilled the beans on the boxed retail copies. Those are listed for pre-order with an availability date of Aug 31. The prices are actually $10USD higher than the corresponding versions of 8 or 8.1 were at launch: $109.99 for Windows 10 home and $149.99 for Windows 10 Pro

[Captain Picard's Hair]

It seems the shipping code for the software is basically finished now (with only a few updates likely to come though Windows Update). Most of the bugs in the preview builds have been ironed out. In about two weeks the advertising campaign will kick off as upgrades start and new PCs appear with the new OS. The Edge browser is pretty quick, though a bit bare feature wise (for now, as it will receive updates after launch). It's logo is a blue 'e' again, only without a ring around it. Newegg was off on the shipping date: boxed copies (on either DVD or preloaded flash drive) ship at the same time upgrades start in two weeks.

[Sonic Glitch]

As a Windows phone user, I'm cautiously looking forward to Windows 10. It's coming about time for me to upgrade my hardware (both phone and PC) and I'm looking forward to the possibility of a more fluid cross-device experience.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

As a Windows phone user, I'm cautiously looking forward to Windows 10. It's coming about time for me to upgrade my hardware (both phone and PC) and I'm looking forward to the possibility of a more fluid cross-device experience.

Windows 10 comes with a "Phone Companion" app which works with any major phone OS (iPhones, newer versions of Android and Windows Phone) which helps sync PC to phone. On the other hand, if you sign into the phone and PC with the same Windows account they sync automatically.

[LaughingCheese]

So its very close, apparently.

Anyone else get that upgrade notice if you're on Windows 7?

I'm mildly tempted but, I just don't especially like things like cortana being baked into the OS.

I'm just a little bit afraid of the direction technology is going.

[Reliant121]

I've got it standing by on all our computers. Windows 8 has dramatically improved the performance of the two older Lenovo Laptops we have and it's no better/worse on my major PC than windows 7 was (and I prefer the graphic interface). Just gotta wait for the dawn now.

[Sonic Glitch]

So its very close, apparently.

Anyone else get that upgrade notice if you're on Windows 7?

I'm mildly tempted but, I just don't especially like things like cortana being baked into the OS.

I'm just a little bit afraid of the direction technology is going.

I, for one, welcome our new technological overlords.

As a Windows phone user I'm used to Cortana and find it(her) a useful tool -- as long as she doesn't go full killer robot the way machines with personality are wont to do.
That said, I understand the reservation. Here we are on the cusp of Star Trek-like levels of interacting with computers and data gathering/usage, but none of the "more evolved sensibilities'" that came along with it.

[Angharrad]

I received the upgrade notice on my laptop, I have an ASUS (hope I spelled that right )