The end is in sight: Windows 10 will be released on July 29 as a free download for anyone running
Windows 7 , Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 ; the free update will be available for a year.
If you aren't eligible for the free upgrade (perhaps one of the many still running Windows XP) you can also pick up individual licenses. Windows 10 Home will set you back $119, and Windows 10 Pro will cost you $199. There isn't any word on international pricing, but those prices are identical to Windows 8 pricing, and convert to £78 / AU$156 and £131 / AU$262 for the Home and Pro versions, respectively.
The Windows 10 Technical Preview has come a long way over the last nine or so months , but there's still plenty left to iron out before the next generation of Windows is humming along on our PCs, tablets and phones. To that end, the latest build of Windows 10 (Build 10130) is all about bug fixes and cosmetic tweaks.
Get a closer look at the Windows 10 Technical Preview (pictures)
The Microsoft Edge browser is still called Project Spartan in this Technical Preview, and features like the Reading view and video playback should function as expected on more devices. Microsoft's
virtual assistant Cortana can now be reached by a handy shortcut key -- Windows Key + "C" -- so you can quickly perform a search, or set a reminder. And if you've been following Windows 10's development from the start you'll also find spiffy new icons and a refined design for many of the existing menus.
There's still quite a bit missing. Windows 10 Mobile, for example, doesn't feel nearly as complete as its desk and tablet incarnation. We've also hadn't had a chance to see the Windows Hello biometric security features in action, though that will admittedly require new products from device manufacturers.
A fresh start
You can freely customize and arrange the tiles on your Start menu.
Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET
Windows 8 was a bold reimagining of Microsoft's operating system, but the Start screen proved contentious. The colorful Live Tiles offered useful notifications and information, but they were designed with touchscreen devices in mind: much of the work we do in Windows involves keyboards, mice and large displays chock-full of windows and apps. Windows 8's Modern apps demand a full screen's attention, oblivious of our need to multitask. The Windows 10 Start menu gives us the best of both worlds.
Boot up a PC running the Windows 10, and you'll be dropped off at the oh-so-familiar desktop. The Taskbar and its icons sit on the bottom, and the recycle bin sits in the upper-left corner. It looks, at first blush, like Windows 8 all over again.
But press the Start button, and you'll be greeted by the return of the Start menu. It's a proper Start menu, too, with your most frequently used apps are stacked in a column. Press the All Apps button and you'll find the endless column of nested folders we've all been scrolling through since Windows 95, though they're now grouped alphabetically. Sitting alongside that column are Windows 8's animated Live Tiles, endlessly serving up news bites and social-network updates.
The menu has evolved since the early builds. The Live Tiles can be arranged into separate groups, and those can be labeled (just like in Windows 8). You can also press the maximize button to get a full-screen version of the Start menu.
What's old is new again
Click or press the Live Tile shortcuts, and the Modern apps introduced in Windows 8 open as classic windowed apps. This is a welcome change, allowing you to sample the new aesthetic Microsoft is pushing for the next generation of Windows without sacrificing the entire display. You can now drag these Modern apps around, snap them to half of your display , or minimize and maximize them at will.
Windows 10 lets you work smarter, too. Click the Task view button, and you'll get a quick glimpse of all of your open apps and windows. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts you can press Windows key + "Tab," or swipe in from the left side of your display on a device with a touchscreen.
However you get there, a black box running along the bottom of the display prompts you to create a virtual desktop: that's a sort of private island that keeps everything you open there as an independent work space. You can, for example, create one desktop for all of the applications you use for work, another for browsing gaming forums or sites like Reddit and yet another for games or whatever you want.
Modern apps no longer take up the whole screen.
Nate Ralph/CNET
You can also organize the apps you're working with easily: right-click an app when you're in Task view to select a specific desktop to move it to, or just drag it wherever you'd like. Of course we've had virtual desktops on Linux and Mac machines for years (and on Windows, from third-party apps), but it's nice to see Microsoft catching up here.
Rethinking the browser
Annotate Web pages, then send them to OneNote or share with your friends.
Nate Ralph/CNET
Internet Explorer has long been my favorite browser to download other browsers with. And in keeping with the theme of completely refreshing the Windows experience, that venerable browser is being replaced with Microsoft Edge , which still bears the code name Project Spartan.
The Edge browser experience revolves around a brand-new rendering engine that speeds up performance, and offers new, sharing-centric functionality. Cortana is built right into the browser, and it'll chime in as you're performing searches or browsing the Web. If you're at a restaurant's website, for example, it'll be able to track down directions in a sidebar, so you can easily get the information you need. The most striking feature is the ability to annotate Web pages directly: you can draw right on Web pages, type notes and clip sections of interest to OneNote, share them via email or pass things along to friends on your social networks.
The Edge experience has improved considerably since its first iteration, particularly on the Surface Pro 3 I've been using as one of my testbeds. It's still a little sluggish to respond at times, but the Web-annotation feature has been much improved with the latest build.
A step forward
We finally got a chance to see more of Windows 10's real game-changing potential: this will be one operating system to rule them all. It's all thanks to Continuum, a feature that serves up a device-specific interface that'll scale from desktops down to tablets. Consider a two-in-one convertible device like the Surface Pro 3 : pop it off its keyboard base, and a little prompt will pop up asking if you'd like to switch to "tablet mode." Press it, and the apps on your desktop will instantly transform into their full-screen, tablet incarnations -- this includes traditional Windows desktop apps, too. In the latest build (Build 10130) Microsoft has added a toggle that will force Windows to remember your choice here -- the notification has proven to be a little too eager in the past, so I'm glad for the option to silence it for good.
You'll be able to use all of the gestures you're accustomed to on a Windows tablet, and can switch back to the desktop by popping the device back onto its keyboard, or by pressing the "tablet mode" toggle button in the Windows 10 Action Center.
The Action Center, and the new Settings menu.
Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET
The Action Center showed up in the October update to the Windows Technical Preview, and it's become a bit more useful. All of the notifications you receive are routed here, with the most recent events rising to the top. It can get a little cluttered -- Dropbox is especially chatty -- but you can turn off notifications with ease. There's also a new Settings app, which attempts to corral all of the various things you can tweak into a single, searchable menu.
Cortana is now available on Windows 10.
Josh P. Miller/CNET
Speaking of search: you may have noticed the little search bar sitting next to the Start button. Click the search bar, or tap the microphone, or just say, "Hey, Cortana" (once you've turned that feature on), and you'll be greeted by Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant. It's capable of searching for files on your PC, setting reminders and doing more mundane things like tracking a flight or keeping an eye on the weather.
Cortana isn't firing on all cylinders just yet -- this is still an early preview -- but the virtual assistant is an important part of Microsoft's plan to bring Windows 10 to all devices, everywhere. As you use Cortana on your phone, your tablet and your PC, it'll learn more about you and tuck relevant facts into a "Notebook." You can duck into this list of preferences and tweak things to your liking (much as with Google Now), while leaving some things off-limits to preserve your privacy. As Cortana gets to know you, you'll presumably find it more useful, and use it more often.
That last part is key. Cortana's ability to parse natural language will only improve as millions of people (Microsoft hopes) start chatting with Cortana on their PCs, thanks to their free Windows 10 upgrade. This will improve the virtual assistant's functionality, allowing "her" to handle increasingly complicated conversational queries, such as "Who is the President?", "What is his wife's name?" and "How old is he?" without tripping up.
Windows 7 , Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 ; the free update will be available for a year.
If you aren't eligible for the free upgrade (perhaps one of the many still running Windows XP) you can also pick up individual licenses. Windows 10 Home will set you back $119, and Windows 10 Pro will cost you $199. There isn't any word on international pricing, but those prices are identical to Windows 8 pricing, and convert to £78 / AU$156 and £131 / AU$262 for the Home and Pro versions, respectively.
The Windows 10 Technical Preview has come a long way over the last nine or so months , but there's still plenty left to iron out before the next generation of Windows is humming along on our PCs, tablets and phones. To that end, the latest build of Windows 10 (Build 10130) is all about bug fixes and cosmetic tweaks.
Get a closer look at the Windows 10 Technical Preview (pictures)
The Microsoft Edge browser is still called Project Spartan in this Technical Preview, and features like the Reading view and video playback should function as expected on more devices. Microsoft's
virtual assistant Cortana can now be reached by a handy shortcut key -- Windows Key + "C" -- so you can quickly perform a search, or set a reminder. And if you've been following Windows 10's development from the start you'll also find spiffy new icons and a refined design for many of the existing menus.
There's still quite a bit missing. Windows 10 Mobile, for example, doesn't feel nearly as complete as its desk and tablet incarnation. We've also hadn't had a chance to see the Windows Hello biometric security features in action, though that will admittedly require new products from device manufacturers.
A fresh start
You can freely customize and arrange the tiles on your Start menu.
Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET
Windows 8 was a bold reimagining of Microsoft's operating system, but the Start screen proved contentious. The colorful Live Tiles offered useful notifications and information, but they were designed with touchscreen devices in mind: much of the work we do in Windows involves keyboards, mice and large displays chock-full of windows and apps. Windows 8's Modern apps demand a full screen's attention, oblivious of our need to multitask. The Windows 10 Start menu gives us the best of both worlds.
Boot up a PC running the Windows 10, and you'll be dropped off at the oh-so-familiar desktop. The Taskbar and its icons sit on the bottom, and the recycle bin sits in the upper-left corner. It looks, at first blush, like Windows 8 all over again.
But press the Start button, and you'll be greeted by the return of the Start menu. It's a proper Start menu, too, with your most frequently used apps are stacked in a column. Press the All Apps button and you'll find the endless column of nested folders we've all been scrolling through since Windows 95, though they're now grouped alphabetically. Sitting alongside that column are Windows 8's animated Live Tiles, endlessly serving up news bites and social-network updates.
The menu has evolved since the early builds. The Live Tiles can be arranged into separate groups, and those can be labeled (just like in Windows 8). You can also press the maximize button to get a full-screen version of the Start menu.
What's old is new again
Click or press the Live Tile shortcuts, and the Modern apps introduced in Windows 8 open as classic windowed apps. This is a welcome change, allowing you to sample the new aesthetic Microsoft is pushing for the next generation of Windows without sacrificing the entire display. You can now drag these Modern apps around, snap them to half of your display , or minimize and maximize them at will.
Windows 10 lets you work smarter, too. Click the Task view button, and you'll get a quick glimpse of all of your open apps and windows. If you prefer keyboard shortcuts you can press Windows key + "Tab," or swipe in from the left side of your display on a device with a touchscreen.
However you get there, a black box running along the bottom of the display prompts you to create a virtual desktop: that's a sort of private island that keeps everything you open there as an independent work space. You can, for example, create one desktop for all of the applications you use for work, another for browsing gaming forums or sites like Reddit and yet another for games or whatever you want.
Modern apps no longer take up the whole screen.
Nate Ralph/CNET
You can also organize the apps you're working with easily: right-click an app when you're in Task view to select a specific desktop to move it to, or just drag it wherever you'd like. Of course we've had virtual desktops on Linux and Mac machines for years (and on Windows, from third-party apps), but it's nice to see Microsoft catching up here.
Rethinking the browser
Annotate Web pages, then send them to OneNote or share with your friends.
Nate Ralph/CNET
Internet Explorer has long been my favorite browser to download other browsers with. And in keeping with the theme of completely refreshing the Windows experience, that venerable browser is being replaced with Microsoft Edge , which still bears the code name Project Spartan.
The Edge browser experience revolves around a brand-new rendering engine that speeds up performance, and offers new, sharing-centric functionality. Cortana is built right into the browser, and it'll chime in as you're performing searches or browsing the Web. If you're at a restaurant's website, for example, it'll be able to track down directions in a sidebar, so you can easily get the information you need. The most striking feature is the ability to annotate Web pages directly: you can draw right on Web pages, type notes and clip sections of interest to OneNote, share them via email or pass things along to friends on your social networks.
The Edge experience has improved considerably since its first iteration, particularly on the Surface Pro 3 I've been using as one of my testbeds. It's still a little sluggish to respond at times, but the Web-annotation feature has been much improved with the latest build.
A step forward
We finally got a chance to see more of Windows 10's real game-changing potential: this will be one operating system to rule them all. It's all thanks to Continuum, a feature that serves up a device-specific interface that'll scale from desktops down to tablets. Consider a two-in-one convertible device like the Surface Pro 3 : pop it off its keyboard base, and a little prompt will pop up asking if you'd like to switch to "tablet mode." Press it, and the apps on your desktop will instantly transform into their full-screen, tablet incarnations -- this includes traditional Windows desktop apps, too. In the latest build (Build 10130) Microsoft has added a toggle that will force Windows to remember your choice here -- the notification has proven to be a little too eager in the past, so I'm glad for the option to silence it for good.
You'll be able to use all of the gestures you're accustomed to on a Windows tablet, and can switch back to the desktop by popping the device back onto its keyboard, or by pressing the "tablet mode" toggle button in the Windows 10 Action Center.
The Action Center, and the new Settings menu.
Screenshot by Nate Ralph/CNET
The Action Center showed up in the October update to the Windows Technical Preview, and it's become a bit more useful. All of the notifications you receive are routed here, with the most recent events rising to the top. It can get a little cluttered -- Dropbox is especially chatty -- but you can turn off notifications with ease. There's also a new Settings app, which attempts to corral all of the various things you can tweak into a single, searchable menu.
Cortana is now available on Windows 10.
Josh P. Miller/CNET
Speaking of search: you may have noticed the little search bar sitting next to the Start button. Click the search bar, or tap the microphone, or just say, "Hey, Cortana" (once you've turned that feature on), and you'll be greeted by Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant. It's capable of searching for files on your PC, setting reminders and doing more mundane things like tracking a flight or keeping an eye on the weather.
Cortana isn't firing on all cylinders just yet -- this is still an early preview -- but the virtual assistant is an important part of Microsoft's plan to bring Windows 10 to all devices, everywhere. As you use Cortana on your phone, your tablet and your PC, it'll learn more about you and tuck relevant facts into a "Notebook." You can duck into this list of preferences and tweak things to your liking (much as with Google Now), while leaving some things off-limits to preserve your privacy. As Cortana gets to know you, you'll presumably find it more useful, and use it more often.
That last part is key. Cortana's ability to parse natural language will only improve as millions of people (Microsoft hopes) start chatting with Cortana on their PCs, thanks to their free Windows 10 upgrade. This will improve the virtual assistant's functionality, allowing "her" to handle increasingly complicated conversational queries, such as "Who is the President?", "What is his wife's name?" and "How old is he?" without tripping up.
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