Seven changes Microsoft will introduce to Windows 10 to get users to ditch Windows 7
MICROSOFT’S new operating system represents the death of some programs and the revival of others. Here are seven ways Windows 10 changes the game.
MICROSOFT has 1.5 billion customers and a unique quandary: how to make its next software simultaneously familiar and innovative.
It’s a goal the company plans to address with Windows 10 — a free, 3GB download for existing Windows 7 and 8 users that launches today.
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The operating system will attempt to achieve seemingly competing aims by bringing back the Start menu but revamping it, delivering its own web browser but retooling it, enhancing some features introduced in Windows 7, and adding some with which Apple Mac users will be familiar.
Below is a guide to seven changes available in Windows 10.
RETURN TO THE START
Microsoft has learned its lesson. Windows users like the Start menu.
Microsoft Windows consumer product lead Andy Malakooti says the message came through loud and clear from those who participated in its Insiders program, testing Windows 10 as it was built.
“We’ve brought back the Start menu based on feedback but we’ve enhanced it and added Live Tiles,” he says. “We expect people to be able to pick this up and any traditional Windows user will be able to use it.”
Tapping the Start menu in Windows 10 delivers a list of programs, as it did in Windows 7, but Microsoft has also added a touch of Windows 8 to the menu. Beside the list lies real estate that can be used to show Live Tiles of programs, and users can add, resize, and categorise their favourites — an addition likely to be appreciated by those used to Windows 8’s homescreen.
TALK TO THE COMPUTER
Don’t call her Siri. Don’t even call her Bing.
Microsoft adds a personal assistant to Windows 10 and Malakooti calls Cortana the “most personal personal digital assistant”.
The search feature sits in the Taskbar by default and users can type questions into a box, tap on a microphone icon to announce queries, or opt to start a search every time they utter the phrase, “Hey Cortana”.
Cortana is designed to search for answers across files on any of your Windows devices, plus its OneDrive cloud storage, Microsoft apps, and the web.
Users can ask it to display photos taken and stored in the last week, for example, or query whether to wear warm weather outside.
Cortana is initially only available for those who set their system to recognise American English, however, so Australians need to speak deliberately. An Australian version will be released to Windows Insiders for testing later this year.
It’s also worth noting Cortana doesn’t always need to be listening to your voice for its prompt — it’s a feature that can be turned on and off in its settings.
Cortana can also be trained to respond only to your voice, after you train it my announcing six special phrases.
MULTIPLE MULTITASKING
Windows’ popular Snap feature that lets users work on two programs at once in split-screen gets more advanced in Windows 10.
Microsoft will double the number of screens you can add to the mix … for those with a lot to monitor at once.
Another feature added at the request of beta testers, Malakooti says, Snap will let users divide their screen into three or four programs at once, switching between tasks or copying from one program to another.
“Some of our Insiders specifically asked for more than two (windows),” he says.
Snap will also suggest which programs to snap into position from those already open.
MANY DESKTOPS
In an addition that will be familiar to Apple OS users, Microsoft will introduce Virtual Desktops to Windows 10.
The feature lets users set up more than one homescreen, flicking between each with a Windows button+D shortcut.
Users could, for example, open a Word Document and Outlook on one Desktop and Solitaire and Netflix in another, dividing work and play.
There is no limit to the number of Desktops users can open, and they can be viewed in miniature for easy management.
MANY DEVICES
Some criticised Windows 8’s tablet focus, but Microsoft has added a feature to switch between tablet, phone and PC-friendly modes.
Continuum will let users of hybrid devices, like the Microsoft Surface and Lenovo Yoga, switch between tablet and desktop mode for more or less touch-friendly approaches.
Remove a tablet’s keyboard, and tablet mode will be delivered as an option.
The feature will also let a Windows Phone deliver a desktop-like Windows 10 experience when plugged into a monitor, though it won’t run all programs.
BRAND NEW EDGE
Some mourned the passing of Internet Explorer, and many celebrated it.
A cleaner web browser called Microsoft Edge will replace it in the new operating system, and not only offers a pared back look but new features.
They include a Reading View that strips web pages back to basics, mark-ups that let users circle and highlight elements of a web page, and the ability to share marked up pages.
FACE THE COMPUTER
Those who purchase a new machine for Windows 10 may also get access to its Windows Hello feature.
The password replacement is a facial recognition feature that uses the Intel RealSense 3D Camera (actually composed of three cameras) to recognise and log in registered users.
HOW TO GET WINDOWS 10
Many Windows PC users will have already received notifications asking them to “reserve” a copy of Windows 10.
Current Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8.1 users will be able to download the operating system free of charge for a year from its launch date.
Users can also sign up to the Windows Insider program to test new additions to the software before their official release.
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