Highlights from the Windows 10 Announcements; Features

Few months back, Microsoft had invited selected press to unveil their next big OS; many expected it to be Windows 9, but Microsoft went a step ahead and announced the next version to be Windows 10. Have a look at the Top Ten announcements which came in from that event. As a part of the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft received, over 800K pieces of feedback over 200 topics from 1.7 million Insiders.

Today, Microsoft had a second discussion on Windows 10. It was more of an update on how things are rolling in and what new experiences are coming in Windows. Here are some of the high-lights from the announcements made today –

1. Windows 10 to be the best Enterprise friendly Operating System. Easy deployment, Hardware based security in Windows 10 is also going to be a game changer. Support for Maker boards is also coming in Windows 10.
2. Windows 10 comes with a more streamlined task bar and the ability to fullscreen the Start menu. The showcased build also had an updated Action button with righthand side notifications bar, offering shortcuts to favourite apps and settings. When the keyboard is detached from a Windows 10 tablet, it will also ask to go into tablet mode to switch between mobile and PC settings.
3. Windows 10 will come as a free update for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users for the first year. Its more like a Subscription model. Windows OS as a Service; This not only helps Microsoft, but also to the OEMs, ISVs and developers to maintain the applications.
4. Microsoft also demoed Cortano on PC with a few quick questions about the weather, flight status and other location-based queries specific to the user. One can also dictate emails, search for apps and ask Cortana to perform common tasks.
5. Like it was previewed sometime back, the synergy between the desktop and phone was one of the key features. Microsoft showed off what Windows 10 will look like for devices with screens that measure 8-inches and smaller, i.e. smartphones and small tablets. Some of the new features include pushing Recent Apps to the top of the Apps list, syncing Action center with PC.
6. Skype integration with messaging is another neat feature; pretty similar to FaceTime and iMessage on the OS X / iOS ecosystem.
7. Recent files will roam between your PC, OneDrive and mobile. Again, pretty similar to Handoff feature on the OS X.
8. There was lot of buzz around the new browser ‘Spartan’ which Microsoft was working, as a replacement to the Internet Explorer.  The browser supports annotation directly on the Web pages, you can mark up and then save the final result to OneNote. The browser, also supports Reading List and a Reader option. The reader mode shows an article as a document, without any ads. Again nothing breakthrough – These were pretty much available on Safari.
9. Microsoft introduced Windows Holographic, a new API to add a layer of augmented reality to Windows 10. Developers can now add holograms to their apps with this new technology, viewable through Microsoft’s special goggles, Microsoft HoloLens. Read more here
10. Windows 10 users will be able to game together with Xbox One owners from their PCs, bringing cross-platform gaming for the first time.