LONDON: Windows 10 is just under two months away from launch so we gathered some key information about the platform, its release date and more.
What is Windows 10?
Windows 10 is the newest update from Microsoft, meant to replace Windows 8.1 and earlier Windows updates.
The platform is designed for numerous form factors, including tablets, desktops, convertible devices, phones, the Xbox One, holographic headsets, barebones computers such as the Raspberry Pi and even Internet of Things devices.
Yep, Windows 10 will run across a wide variety of form factors and devices, albeit with UI differences and other discrepancies – for instance, legacy Windows apps won’t run on phones or Xbox One. But the core will be the same.
One Windows 10 app across form factors
Legacy apps might not work on phones/Xbox One, but that’s where Microsoft’s Universal Apps concept comes in.
Despite the hardware and UI differences across desktop, phone, Raspberry Pi and Xbox One, Microsoft is allowing developers to build one app to run across all these devices.
Yep, the company demonstrated the concept with its own Outlook, Photos and Office universal apps running on both desktop and phone in previews. These universal apps will then scale and change depending on the UI and input methods.
Microsoft also used the example of a news app featuring articles and multimedia on mobile/desktop, but then only showing video when on Xbox One.
It’s a pretty ambitious goal, with Microsoft also late to the universal app game in this regard, but it’s finally given developers tools to do so.
The possibilities are rather crazy, so we could totally see the likes of Dropbox on Xbox One or Xbox indie games also appearing on phones.
Key Windows 10 features
So the first thing you’ll notice about Windows 10 is the new start menu, ditching the full-screen Start menu seen on Windows 8.1. The new start menu is also where the Windows Store apps can be found, in the form of live tiles.
These Windows Store apps are completely resizeable once booted up, a welcome change from Windows 8.
The other major feature is the introduction of the Cortana voice assistant (not in South Africa just yet), which serves up contextual information via voice or text. It’s already a hit on Windows Phone, and Microsoft has also announced plans to launch on Android and iOS.
The internet browser department is getting some love in the form of an Internet Explorer replacement called Microsoft Edge. The browser is quite slick already, even at this stage of the preview, featuring the ability to quickly make annotations, an offline reading mode and compatibility with Firefox/Chrome extensions.
Got a convertible laptop or tablet? Then you’ll like Microsoft’s Continuum mode, which dynamically adjusts the UI depending on whether you’re using a tablet form factor or attached a keyboard.
If you have a Windows 10 phone, then the Continuum mode is even more impressive, showing a Windows 10-style desktop and scaled-up apps when you connect the phone to a TV.
The Redmond firm is also shoring up its security features, in the form of Windows Hello, which brings biometric authentication to the platform. From iris-scanning to fingerprint reading, your device should be safer.
A focus on gaming too
Microsoft is also ramping up its gaming stuff with Windows 10, allowing Xbox One owners to stream games from their console to a Windows 10 PC via the Xbox app.
In a move inspired by the Xbox One, Microsoft will also let gamers natively record and share footage from their PC games – even Steam titles.
Of course, Windows 10 will also bring DirectX 12 support to the fray, with the new DirectX meant to squeeze even more performance out of existing hardware.
What are the requirements?
Much like Windows 8, Windows 10 is pretty relaxed in terms of system requirements.
You’ll need a 1Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM (2GBs for 64-bit version) and 16GBs of storage – so your ancient laptop should run it fine.
Almost all Windows Phone 8.1 devices should be able to update to Windows 10 for phones as well.
Launch details
Windows 10 is coming on July 29, with the update being free for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users for the next year. This offer expires on July 29, 2016 though.
You can “reserve” your copy of Windows 10 by looking for the Windows icon in your system tray in the bottom-right corner.
If you missed the offer or you don’t have Windows 7 or 8.1, the price will reportedly start at $110 for Windows 10 home.
