Microsoft unveils Windows 10 disclosed first details system with start menu applications sold from single store. The Microsoft disclosed the first details of Windows 10 – its next operating system (OS).
The name is a surprise, bearing in mind it represents a jump from the last version – Windows 8.
The software will run on a wide range of devices, from phones and tablets to PCs and Xbox games consoles, with applications sold from a single store.
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 disclosed first details system with start menu applications sold from single store.
It also marks the return of the Start Menu, which had been removed from Windows 8.
Microsoft announced details of the new operating system at an event in San Francisco
Other features include:
Snap enhancements – a new “quadrant layout” will allow four apps to easily arranged on the same screen Task view.
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 disclosed first details system with start menu applications sold from single store.
A new button on the task bar will let the user see all open apps and files, helping them switch from one to another.
Multiple desktops – users can switch between distinct desktop screens.
Allowing them to group related work together rather than to deal with a single screen overloaded with documents and apps.
This is similar to a feature already available on Apple’s Mac OS
Microsoft will offer a “technical preview” of Windows 10 to early adopters later this week.
Which will run on laptops and desktops. A release that will work on computer servers will follow.
Microsoft has a delicate balancing act as it attempts to cater to a diverse audience using a cornucopia of devices, from traditional keyboard/mouse-based PCs to tablets.
It got that balance wrong with Windows 8 – which many users felt skewed towards the touchscreen at the expense of the familiar PC.
Desktop experience that they come to know intimately.
I asked Terry Myerson, the chief of operating systems at Microsoft.
Why the leadership had chosen the moniker Windows 10, rather than the more logical Windows 9.
He told me somewhat obliquely that it resonated best for what the company would deliver across the breadth of devices.
Unifying a brand across all devices is key to Microsoft’s vision.
But the Windows 10 name also symbolises that this will not be an incremental update, but something of a fresh start.
The user interface feels familiar yet modern.
The “dual mode” – which aimed to satisfy tablet and PC users, but alienated both – replaced with a dynamically-adjusting interface.
And behaviour, determined by whether you using a keyboard/mouse, or touch.
Microsoft Unveils Windows 10 System With Start Menu.
Ultimately Windows 10 success will depend on its execution. But at least under the new leadership.
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 disclosed first details system with start menu applications sold from single store.
Microsoft showing it is listening. It needs to if it is to stay relevant and stop the march of Android and Apple.
The company said it would provide details about the introduction of “universal apps” – individual programs that tailor their functionality to different types of devices.
At its Build conference in April, and would aim to release the completed OS before the end of 2015.
There was no mention of offering the firm’s voice-controlled digital assistant Cortana to PCs, or when Windows 10 would supersede the Windows Phone OS.
Microsoft Unveils Windows 10 System With Start Menu
The firm’s smartphone code designed for ARM-based processors, unlike the main Windows 8.
And Xbox operating systems that built for x86 chips – including those made by Intel and AMD.
While Microsoft confirmed that Windows 10 would released for both types of chip architecture.
It did not disclose whether there would a staggered release.
One analyst suggested that by using a single OS to power a wide range of devices, it might increase the amount of software available to all of them.
The idea is, longer-term, to encourage developers to release more apps for Windows,” said Annette Jump from the tech research firm Gartner.
That’s Microsoft’s biggest challenge at the moment when it comes to tablets and phones – there are not as many apps as there are for iOS and Android.”
Even so, another expert highlighted that the announcement in San Francisco deliberately tailored to appeal to business users.
Microsoft unveils Windows 10 disclosed first details system with start menu applications sold from single store.
The event clearly geared toward Microsoft’s bread and butter enterprise customer.
We believe starting an early dialogue with these customers as well as learning from previous mistakes made in Redmond.
Windows 8 – will be key to garnering major adoption of this all-important product cycle in the field,” said Daniel Ives from research firm BlueMatrix.
“Overall, we believe today’s event was another step in the right direction in the [Satya] Nadella era, and that Microsoft remains well positioned.
While it undergoes a major restructuring effort to make it a ‘leaner and meaner’ technology giant over the coming years.”
