Windows 10 Brings Out Some Radical Changes!
Two days ago, Microsoft brought to us an updated Windows 10 briefing on what changes had been made to Windows 10. There were some impressive changes that were made! After the break, you will find a summarized list of changes made to Windows 10, that were discussed in the media session on Wednesday (NZT), followed by some additional details for the more technically minded.
Here is the full Windows 10 Briefing, available for you to re-watch here: [embedplusvideo height="399" width="660" editlink="http://bit.ly/1zC3Kfd" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/LBySYwFor90?fs=1" vars="ytid=LBySYwFor90&width=660&height=399&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep5156" /]
Here’s a look at some of the new experiences coming to Windows 10:
- Cortana comes to PC and Tablet: The Cortana personal digital assistant will now be available on Windows 10 PCs and tablets to support users (e.g reminding you of your daily task list, calendar reminders, event reminders and more!) and help them get things done.
- A new web experience for Windows 10: “Project Spartan,” the next generation browser offers the ability to annotate with keyboard or pen and share with friends, distraction-free reading mode and integration with Cortana to put the web to work
- Xbox on Windows 10: Stream games directly from your Xbox One to Windows 10, play games with friends across devices and experience great graphics built using DirectX12.
- Office for Windows 10: Office universal apps on Windows 10 deliver a consistent, touch-first experience across phone, tablet and PC. Microsoft will have more to share on the next version of the Office desktop suite in the coming months.
- The world’s first holographic computing platform: Windows 10 enables developers to create holographic experiences in the real world, and the new Microsoft HoloLens is the first untethered holographic computer – no wires, phones or connection to a PC needed.
- New Microsoft Surface Hub optimizes Windows 10 experiences for groups: Surface Hub (a giant touchscreen panel that comes in 55″ or 84″) takes advantage of Windows 10, Skype for Business and Office 365 to make every person – remote or onsite – feel like they’re in the same collaborative space.
- Free upgrade to Windows 10 for the first year: If you are running Windows 7, Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, you are able to upgrade to the new Windows 10 free for the first year, when it is officially released to consumers!
[embedplusvideo height=”399″ width=”660″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/1zC8jpR” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/teoZk3QEc40?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=teoZk3QEc40&width=660&height=399&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep5190″ /]
Windows 10: A New Generation of Windows Features Video
Cortana, Microsoft’s personal digital assistant, will be coming to the desktop version of Windows 10. The integration of the Cortana digital assistant will mean that users can finally get a seamless experience with Cortana on all their Windows devices!
Project Spartan, is Microsoft’s new browser designed from the ground up. I guess they all got tired of the hate Internet Explorer was getting so decided to start the browser ‘side of things’ again. A complete ‘wipe and reinstall’ of Internet Explorer you could say.. Currently the demos didn’t show many advanced features that the other browsers couldn’t do e.g annotate the web: Chrome can do this by installing an extension, but we won’t know fully until we get to try it all out!
Perhaps one of the most exciting feature for gamers in this Windows 10 briefing is the ability stream games from your Xbox One directly to your Windows 10 PC! This means gamers won’t need to be always hogging the living room TV in the evenings, while your flatmates, parents, want to watch TV!
Perhaps one of the most exciting device announced at the Windows 10 Briefing is the Microsoft HoloLens wearable device.
[embedplusvideo height=”399″ width=”660″ editlink=”http://bit.ly/1wrEPUc” standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/aThCr0PsyuA?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=aThCr0PsyuA&width=660&height=399&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep6265″ /]
Microsoft HoloLens brings high-definition holograms to life in your world, where they integrate with your physical places, spaces, and things.
It brings a lot of new ideas to what you can do with the HoloLens, and I’ll leave that up to you to decide and dream about! Still, I can’t wait to try the HoloLens device out!
The Microsoft Surface Hub is actually a device/panel I would want in my living room right now! It is a large 4K enabled touch screen (sizes come in 55″ and 84″) with all the bells and whistles (NFC, WiFi, Bluetooth, webcam etc.) you can expect from a ‘smart panel’. It has Windows 10 built in so it has all those nice touch gestures that looks like it will work really well with this panel! It also looks like those smart panels that you see on TV shows like Hawaii Five-O, and NCIS Los Angeles. Pretty cool!
Finally, as you all know, if you wanted a piece of Windows previously, you had to pay for it. Well, not any more! Users on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 can upgrade to Windows 10 for free for the first year! Not only that, but according to Microsoft, they will continue to keep it up to date for the supported lifetime of the device, keeping it more secure, and allowing it to easily receive new features and functionality over time.
I’m not sure how well this will turn out (will the new versions be called 10.xx etc.?), but if it is true, it should be a great experience to not have to continually buy new versions of Windows!
Terry Myerson, chief of Microsoft’s operating systems division, shared:
“Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, we’ll be keeping it current for the supported lifetime for the device. It will also be one of the largest internet services on the planet!”
So are you looking forward to Windows 10? I know I am and I’m eagerly looking forward to testing out the Previews through Microsoft’s Insider Program, and especially when it is released to consumers officially!
There are a lot more new features in Windows 10, but it is way too many to cover in a single blog post, which is why you should try out the Windows 10 Preview yourself! Preferably on a machine you don’t mind tinkering about with, or on a virtual machine, so you don’t lose all your important documents etc…
— http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about
