Microsoft has unveiled its initial work on
the next version of the Windows operating
system, calling it Windows 10.
Revealed during a press event in
downtown San Francisco, the new OS is
designed to run across a wide range of
machines, including everything from tiny
“internet of things” devices in business
offices to phones, tablets, laptops, and
desktops to computer servers running in
the massive data centers that underpin
the world’s internet services. “Windows 10
will deliver the right experience at the
right time on the right device,” said
Microsoft operating systems chief Terry
Myerson.
The OS will be available to consumers, but
it was designed, in particular, for use by
the world’s businesses. According to
Myerson, businesses will be able to manage
all their Windows 10 machines by way of a
single central piece of software, and they
will have the option of creating their own
“app store” for use by employees across
these devices.
In demonstrating an early incarnation of
the new OS, Joe Belfiore, corporate vice
president of Microsoft’s operating
systems group, began by showing off the
new Windows Start Menu that allows users
to navigate applications and data on the
OS. The previous version of the OS,
Windows 8, moved away from the familiar
Windows Start Menu, and this, according
to many pundits, hurt the progress of the
OS. As demonstrated by Belfiore, the new
Start Menu combines the look and feel of
Windows 8—which introduced a colorful
“tile” interface—with the more traditional
Start Menu offered by its predecessor,
Windows 7 (see images above).
Judging from initial comments from
Myerson and Belfiore, Windows 10 is in
many ways a response to Microsoft’s
struggles with Windows 8, introduced two
years ago. According to David Johnson, an
analyst with Massachusetts-based
research outfit Forrester Research,
businesses have been slow to adopt
Windows because its interface—meant to
serve both mouse-and-keyboard machines
as well as touchscreen devices—was
difficult to use, but also because
upgrading to a new Windows OS is still not
as easy as it should be.
Belfiore said that Microsoft is “not giving
up” on touch devices. The aim is to provide
an interface that suits both mouse-and-
keyboard devices and touch screens. But
as Windows 8 showed, this is a difficult
thing to pull off. Apple, by contrast,
continues to handle desktops and
touchscreen devices with separate OSes.
At one point, Belfiore demonstrated code
that would allow devices to automatically
switch between a mouse-and-keyboard
interface and a touchscreen interface,
depending on what hardware is attached
to the machine.
Tomorrow, Microsoft will release a
“technical preview” of the OS to a select
group of users and testers. The final
version of the OS is expected to arrive in
the middle of next year, and Microsoft
has indicated it will continually release
updates to the new OS after it first
ships.
Before revealing the name of the new
Windows, Myerson gently teased the room
full of reporters, who have closely
followed all the online speculation about
what the OS would be called. At first, he
seemed to indicate it would be called
Windows 9, the natural successor to
Windows 8. Then he insinuated it would be
called Windows One, a nod to Microsoft’s
Xbox One gaming console and an apparent
attempt to highlight that the OS will run
on a wide range of devices. But then he
revealed the Windows 10 name, an
apparent effort to show that the new OS
wants to take a particularly large step
forward.
Source: http://www.wired.com/2014/09/microsoft-unveils-windows-10/

H

Windows 9 is now Windows 10: I wonder why they had to skip 9.

Can't wait to get it on ma system

10? Wen i neva use 9 @ al

Hmmmmmm... What happened to windows 9?

Download Windows 10 Technical Preview
Edition
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso