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Update: With Windows 10 given a launch, ahem, window and the latest preview build #10041 just released on March 18, the new OS is coming along nicely. The latest: Microsoft makes universal apps easier to understand, plus IE and Spartan move even further apart. More below:
Why Satya Nadella wants you to love Windows 10
Read our interview with Terry Myerson to discover the fate of IE, RT and MSRP
With Windows 8 and now Windows 8.1, Microsoft tried – not entirely successfully – to make tablets part of a continuum that goes from number-crunching workstations and high-end gaming rigs through all-in-one touchscreen media systems and thin-and light notebooks down to slender touch tablets.
The general consensus is that it still has a long way to go to produce a unified OS. Recently, Microsoft publicly made the first steps to doing just that, with Windows 10. Skipping the Windows 9 name entirely, the Redmond, Wash. firm aims to step into the next generation of computing with the right foot forward.
Microsoft's Windows 10 Technical Preview is available through its Windows Insider Program website. You'll need a Microsoft account to get it, and it's worth bearing in mind that it's not the finished product, so it will be a bit rough around the edges.
Is the new OS any good? Read our hands on Windows 10 review
While information regarding the Windows 10 Road Map slowly trickling through with each reveal event, this is what we know so far regarding the stymied release of Windows 10:
Starting with Windows Technical Preview (WTP) for laptops and desktops back in September 2014, the preview build extended to select smartphones onFebruary 12.
The latest major WTP build launched on January 23, 2015 and was made available to download through Microsoft's Windows Insider Program.
Currently, the WTP is at Build #10041 for those in Microsoft's "Fast ring" for preview build updates.
The Technical Preview will end sharply on April 15 of next year, which conveniently leaves right off at...
Microsoft's Build 2015 conference next April, at which the company will have even more announcements and likely issue a Windows 10 release date.
The company promises a release to consumers and enterprise "in the summer" according to Terry Myerson
Cut to the chase
What is it? A complete update of Windows
When is it out? It could launch as early as June 2015, but definitely this summer
What will it cost? For Windows 8.1 users, it will be free for one year
Confirming recent reports, Microsoft's Terry Myerson announced that Windows 10 will be free for Windows 8.1 users for its first year. While there's no word on pricing for users still on Windows 7 or an older version, Microsoft confirmed a while ago that the two most recent Windows versions will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 directly.
Microsoft's chief blogger Brandon LeBlanc also confirmed that Microsoft will support those who scored a free upgrade to Windows 10 with security and system updates for the lifetime of those Windows 8.1 devices.
But most recently, Neowin cited sources claiming that Windows 10 will start appearing on consumer hardware this coming June. Simultaneously, news that Microsoft has trademarked the term "Microsoft 365" with the intent of it being a service has folks buzzing about the possibility of a subscription-based Windows to come, though that's not likely to be Windows 10. Oh, we hope not.
Read all about Windows Phone 10 and Office 365 right here
The latest WTP build available for all testers is Build #10041. The update brings with it a slew of new features and fixes, namely streamlining the Virtual Desktop experience and giving the Photos app some much-needed functionality.
Of course, the build comes with a number of known issues, too. (Such is the case with "Fast ring" updates.) The most notable issues include a lack of login fields upon booting up and certain apps refusing to install or update due to licensing issues. Check out our full breakdown right here.
Most recently, Microsoft changed its tune a bit regarding universal apps, now referring to them as Windows apps. Nothing about them has changed other than their branding and name – these are still the apps that will work across every platform that will run Windows 10. On the other hand, legacy Win32 apps will now be referred to as "Windows desktop apps," and will only run on PCs.
Microsoft seems keen on eliminating all forms of user confusion in Windows 10, with the company further relegating Internet Explorer to legacy status. The latest sees Microsoft's newer browser, codenamed Project Spartan, getting access to the company's latest rendering engine, EdgeHTML, exclusively.
The engine allows for better support for "modern HTML websites" and brings with it support for unique user experiences, such as annotation, distraction-free reading and Cortana integration. Meanwhile, IE will forever be stuck with Microsoft's current Trident rendering engine. So no, you won't be using IE all that much if at all in Windows 10.
A bit further back, Microsoft made a new ruling on Windows 10's approach to UEFI Secure Boot in its BIOS. Now, Windows 10 hardware makers will have the option to allow users to toggle secure boot – for Windows 8, a secure boot toggle was mandatory. This has the potential to make it more difficult for users to load multiple operating systems on a single Windows 10 device. Look out, Linux lovers.
As for the good news, it has been confirmed that Windows 10 will support a ridiculous range of display resolutions. Specifically, displays with as few pixels as 800 x 600 will be able to run the upcoming operating system. A range of 800 x 600 to 4K-level pixel counts is not too shabby, and will allow an even wider audience to enjoy the new Windows.
Shortly after a leaked video on WinBeta revealed Microsoft's Universal Office apps in detail, the company issued an update to the Windows 10 Technical Preview with just that. WTP users can now download the new Word, PowerPoint and Excel Universal apps.
Like the whole of Windows 10, these apps are designed to work on Windows 10 laptops, tablets and phones. This update comes in advance of Office 2016, Microsoft's desktop-based version of the suite, which we expect to see debut in the second half of 2015. It's likely that Office 2016 will interact with its Universal app counterparts through OneDrive and other solutions.
Most recently, during MWC 2015, Microsoft squeezed a few more details surrounding the touch-centric Office 2016, namely cosmetic makeovers for Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Also, Outlook will be more deeply integrated with its sister apps than ever before. Finally the new Insights and Tell Me features will let users search the internet from within Office and create search-based command prompts, respectively.
The co-founder and long-time former CEO of Microsoft has been working on a secret project for Microsoft known internally as the "Personal Agent," Gates revealed in his third Ask Me Anything on Reddit recently. This Personal Agent is a piece of software designed to remember everything you do on a PC and provide guidance for how to prioritize and assistance in interacting with those apps and files.
"One project I am working on with Microsoft is the Personal Agent which will remember everything and help you go back and find things and help you pick what things to pay attention to," Gates disclosed on Reddit. "The idea that you have to find applications and pick them and they each are trying to tell you what is new is just not the efficient model - the agent will help solve this. It will work across all your devices."
Microsoft will soon (if not already) issue a major update to Lumia devices running the latest version of Windows Phone 8.1, codenamed "Denim". The Denim update will bring just a taste of the features that Windows 10 will employ heavily on Microsoft's phone lineup, namely Cortana.
This, of course, is in addition to a host of more features, like Live Folders, a Glance Screen tool, enhancements to Internet Explorer and the camera app among others. You can check out all the details in our in-depth Lumia Denim update explainer.
Soon after, Microsoft's VP of Operating Systems Joe Belfiore teased that more information regarding Windows 10 on phones is coming within the next two weeks as of this writing. The new details will come in a video, according to Belfiore.
Most recently, images of the new mobile OS leaked through NokiaPowerUser, revealing the settings pane and notifications interface. Much of these features seem to be more of the same, but expanded, like native VPN support and a do not disturb function. The full Windows 10 for phones preview is expected to land sometime in February.
Actually, Microsoft is planning a March 2 event, which could be an in-depth look at what's inside the preview build that would have launched by then on a limited set of phones. This event – during MWC 2015 in Barcelona, might we add – could mark a wider launch of the preview as well. Don't, you'll get all the details from TechRadar no doubt.
Like, 84 inches huge. Microsoft has developed an entirely new device to showcase the features and capabilities of Windows 10, called the Surface Hub. Redmond team members revealed and demoed the device during its January 21 reveal event.
The device is an 84-inch, 4K touchscreen that is designed for enterprise users – generally meeting rooms. The Hub also features stylus support similar to the Surface Pro 3 with a pen specifically made for the device.
The device is designed to offer a holistic solution for meetings from web conferencing to whiteboarding and document sharing. No word on price or release date was given.
During its January 21 event, Microsoft revealed Windows Holographic and Microsoft HoloLens, a brand new headset and hologram system designed to blow the concept of augmented reality wide open. Every Windows 10 device will support holographic computing APIs.
Windows Holographic is Microsoft holographic computing platform, while HoloLens is the proof-of-concept for the firm's holographic computing initiative. The company built a brand new holographic processing unit (HPU) to process terabytes of data from every sensor packed into the HoloLens.
Through the HPU, HoloLens can run completely independent of any other device. Microsoft demonstrated the technology on stage, creating a 3D model using holograms and later 3D printing that exact specification. There was no word on when HoloLens will launch and how much it will cost, but Microsoft promised that it will be ready for the public launch of Windows 10.
That's right, Windows 10 will see the spread of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri and Google Now competitor, into all versions of the new OS, including desktops, laptops and tablets. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore showed off the new PC-centric features within Cortana during its January 21 reveal event.
Namely, Redmond developed PC-specific functions into Cortana for easier access to files, apps and more. Belfiore demonstrated colloquial queries like, "Show me photos from December," to which Cortana summoned images within that time period immediately. The idea here is to make key pain points in interacting with a PC easier than before through voice.
