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It’s a very exciting day for Microsoft as the company has just unveiled the next version of Window 10.

The new version has been long-awaited, ever since the initial launch of the technical preview last year. This version shows off some of the newest features that the company is adding to its desktop OS.

Some of the new features unveiled today by Microsoft were already known either through previous leaks or simply because the company hinted at their future appearance. However some of these changes are completely new and are designed to delight and impress customers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teoZk3QEc40​

Microsoft has already announced that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for almost everyone using Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Of course not all features being shown off here will be immediately available as they will be released in stages in future preview builds.

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Continuum
The way Windows 10 works on both touch machines and traditional keyboard and mice devices is key to its success. As such Microsoft has been working on “Continuum” a way for the OS to mold and adapt to whatever device it’s currently running on.

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Continuum was first shown off as a concept last year but now we finally got to see a real working version of the interface. Windows 10 can easily switch between traditional inputs and displaying the regular desktop to a much more touch-friendly version where full-screen modern apps and touch controls show up.

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First up users will notice that they can take the start menu to full screen if they prefer the Windows 8 way of doing things. We also have a new UI for Action Center and the Notification Center.

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Cortana on the desktop
As previously seen in leaked builds, and long-anticipated thanks to some not-so-well-hidden artwork in the technical preview, Cortana – the digital personal assistant found on Windows Phone – is now jumping on board with the desktop version of the OS.

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She can pretty much do the same things on desktop as she can on the phone: search the web, schedule appointments, set reminders, check calendars and so on.

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Cortana, at least in this iteration of Windows 10, lives in the taskbar on the desktop and can be accessed directly via the “hey Cortana” voice command.

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Cortana has also learned some new PC-specific tricks. She can also search you hard drive or Onedrive for files with commands such as “Cortana show me photos from December”. She obviously also understand written commands and can launch or search for apps, send e-mail to specific people and even take dictation.

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Microsoft is also talking about a new build of Windows 10 designed specifically for ARM-based tablets and laptops. Meaning this is the successor to Windows Phone and Windows RT.

Universal Apps
These have been a constant focus for Microsoft and they're designed to work on all Windows 10 devices seamlessly. Microsoft has unveiled a new version of Office, destined for touch devices such as phones and small tablets. These are a great example of Universal Apps which sync and share code on any Windows 10 device.

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Another example of a universal app that will be available on all Windows 10 devices is a new Photos app that will let you make small edits and organize your images via the power of Onedrive.

Next up is a new Music app which will also be universal and will also feature the long-awaited Onedrive Music Locker service.

Maps will also be a Universal App across phones, tablets and PC and will also integrate with Cortana and sync data seamlessly.

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Project Spartan
Spartan is the codename for Microsoft's new browser that will ship with the final version of Windows 10 on all devices.

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While Spartan still runs on a forked version of the IE Trident rendering engine, this version of the browser has dropped almost all of its legacy support making it super light-weight and modern. It also has Cortana baked right in.

Of course the traditional version of Internet Explorer is also still available and it gets called up whenever and older webpage needs to be served up. However, regular users will likely not need it and as such they’ll have a much better experience using IE.

You can check out more on Spartan and Microsoft’s new browser in this dedicated article.

Xbox Gaming

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With Windows 10 Microsoft is focusing some of its efforts on bringing a premium gaming and entertainment experience to its OS. As part of that the company is promoting its Xbox services as a catchall for gaming on the desktop in an effort to integrate its console offerings with all of its platforms.

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Windows 10 will now feature an Xbox app, previously seen in a leaked build. The app lists all of a users' games, friends, highlights and so on. Microsoft is looking to make gaming on Windows "more social than ever".

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The Xbox app will also feature a game DVR feature that integrate with all games on the desktop. Phil Spencer even showed off the integration between the Xbox App and Steam. Just like the version of DVR found on the Xbox One the app can record the last 30 seconds of gameplay and share it on Xbox Live and other social networks.

Obviously games will also take advantage of the "universal apps" model. Some games are cross platform and will allow users to join in on whichever device they prefer. On stage Spencer played Fable Legends on an Alienware PC with another person playing on the Xbox One.

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Of course this is just an app. The real feature destined for gamers is the upcoming DirectX12 which promises better performance by up to 50% compared to DX11, according to Spencer.

But that's not all as DirectX12 will obviously launch on all versions of Windows 10 including mobile, and the new tech will allow developers to offer great graphics with less power consumption than ever.

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Xbox One games are also coming to Windows 10 desktop or even tablet via streaming. Spencer showed off Forza being streamed to a Surface Pro 3 and being used with a controller.

 

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Microsoft says that next week a new version of Windows 10 will become available for insiders, where some of these features will start showing up. A version for phones and tablet will be coming later in February.

Source: Neowin

 

This will be the last chance for Microsoft to convince me to keeping Windows for another 20 years

 

that'll be XP then? *yes*

 

I wasn't expecting to be getting a free upgrade from 7, I thought they were trying to create demand for people to want to upgrade from what I'd read before. They've had plenty of my cash in the past so it's welcome news to have the choice of upgrading for free at last.

 

Any more info about subscription model they intend to do after a free Year of use?

 

I actually hinted that the upgrade would be free for a while before the announcement. There was a Win vs. Mac argument here where it was brought up that OS X is free and I made mention that Windows will likely be free as well. That's besides the fact that OS X is free but support ends very rapidly while Windows customers enjoy support for a decade or more. Looks like there's even less reasons to use OS X than ever before.

 

How will it be for core audio and MIDI.... internal latency etc. for musicians like us?
I'm also a flight simmer, so low internal latency is important.

 

Well it is Microsoft, you never know how will end

 

Dalmation
Not sure about the audio side of things since they usually don't tout those specs since it's a comparatively small subset of users. If I find anything out I will post info here.

kimikaze
You're right but the OS looks good and has a rich feature set. Multiple desktops, new start menu, modern UI apps run on desktop, Cortana, possible Aero will return, etc. It's gonna be better than Windows 8 no matter what. *yes*

 

That's true

 

As long as we can customise and control what we need to run or be a part of the system il be happy. Normally the more a new windows caters for the needs of everyone the more it leads to it being bloted...

It would be nice if they could let us design our own version with what feature's we want installed and burn it to a fresh installation disc. I know we can sort of do it now but it always leads to issues.

We need to get back to computers being workstations not celebrity and social media stalking machines

 

Been trying to find out how the free upgrade will be implemented, still uncertain but I think they'll be rolling this out like apple does. Win8 users will be the first to have access to the upgrade. Online downloads only, no iso's, a setup program approach that needs a network connection to grab the files and previous windows keys become win10 keys, and the good news for me is OEM licences will be covered. hope someones not winding us up here.

 

It seems Win10 will have exclusive DX12.

 

But it will work on older hardware and it's much better.

 

Call me paranoid but at first glance this seems to me like one big giant spyware, leaking all your information including voice data out. With all this cloud syncing and voice-command browsing you have your mic on, listening and transmitting all the time.

From Windows 10 Privacy Statement:

Also its not clear whether you'll be able to use the OS without inet connection. As the upgrade footnote states:

though this may apply to the upgrade procedure only.

 

Clean install of your win7 or 8 first would be wise then, it's why I have my pc setup dual boot anyway, makes it easy for me to just save a few browser links and the the rest can go and zero itself without reinstalling or restoring k'ed stuff.
If I like 10 I'll image it over to another drive and start a new audio o/s up and keep the old one for legacy projects.
I do that already, so I'll have 4 o/s's, a w7x86 legacy audio, w7x64 legacy audio, w10 audio and a w10 online

 

Personally I am completely against the whole cloud bullshit. If you read my status here at the moment it's actually:

That being said all the major OS companies besides Linux (which isn't viable for everyone) have this annoying integration these days. No way around it.

You should read your agreement with Google or Facefuck.

 

I've read it... If you manage to understand at least half of what they are saying it gives you the chills... big time!

TBH I'm quite happy with the performance of Win7. Its stable and with the right tuning runs wonderful. Also the most stable drivers are for Win7.. Plus I really dont like the new metro interface