Windows 10 launches July 29th. That’s when you’ll be able to buy the operating system, upgrade for free if you’ve got a computer running Windows 7 or later, or buy a new device that comes with Windows 10 pre-installed.
What you won’t be able to do is buy a new smartphone with Windows 10 or load the operating system on your Xbox One. Microsoft plans to launch Windows 10 for those platforms later this year.
Already have a Windows PC? Look for a little Windows icon in your taskbar. It should show up automatically, and when you tap it you’ll see information about how to reserve a free upgrade to Windows 10.
In a lot of ways, Windows 10 is the operating system that brings together all of Microsoft’s different platforms. It includes a new desktop experience which brings back a Start Menu, but which integrates Live Tiles and other features introduced in Windows 8. Windows 10 also includes integration with Cortana, the digital personal assistant you can talk to, which was first introduced in Windows Phone.
More importantly, Windows 10 supports Universal Windows Apps, which are designed to run on phones, tablets, game consoles, desktops, laptops, and other types of devices. The company is providing developers with tools to convert legacy Windows apps into universal apps, but you’ll still be able to run older Windows apps on a Windows 10 PC. The company is also encouraging Android and iOS app developers to bring their apps to the Windows Store by providing tools which make it easy to port or run existing apps.
Other highlights of Windows 10 include the new Microsoft Edge web browser and the Continuum feature which lets 2-in-1 devices seamlessly transition from tablet to notebook mode when a keyboard is attached. There are also new Photos, Music, Videos, Peopl, Mail, and Calendar apps, and support for virtual desktops (which let you create different workspaces as if you were using multiple monitors).
There’s one feature that won’t be available in Windows 10: Microsoft is dropping Windows Media Center.
Is the laptop in the first image just a render, or is that an actual laptop?
How much will it cost to buy it? I need to buy parrarels and then windows to run windows on my MacBook Pro? Right?
Well if windows 10 is more expensive than what I could buy 7 or 8 for, I could just buy windows 7 and then get the free update to windows 10? How does updating work on virtual machine?
Is there a way I will be able to do a fresh install? I have viruses on this computer and Id like a way that will reformat the disks and then have a fresh install of Win 10.
TOO SOON. They won’t be able to release a stable OS… Sad.
Don’t worry, they don’t care about stability anymore. The new plan is to just keep pushing major update after major update rapidly, and when one of them breaks an important application (or a dozen) or they pull another Windows feature you rely on – just too damned bad. Because if you refuse the updates you get dropped from support. Think “Mad Max Wasteland” when you think “Nadella’s Microsoft.”
Yes how evil of them to give away OS updates for free.
In fact, I migrated from OS X Yosemite to Windows 8.1 because the major update OS X Yosemite was unstable. I don’t want the same development process’ mistake for Windows 10 or I’ll stay on Windows 8.1 (and GNU/Linux). PC Settings and Control Panel are not merged: https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-windows-feature-suggestions/suggestions/6541354-please-merge-pc-settings-and-control-panel ; ReFS is not supported: https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-windows-feature-suggestions/suggestions/6539254-add-support-for-more-filesystem-types ; Adware game is implemented: https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-windows-feature-suggestions/suggestions/7959861-stop-preinstalling-third-party-games