20 smart new and improved features in Windows 10
With Windows 10,
Microsoft is trying to keep some of the touch and tablet features it
created for Windows 8, combine them with the familiar Start menu and
desktop, and run it all on top of an improved operating system with more
security, a new browser, the Cortana assistant, its own version of
Office for on-the-go editing and plenty of new features intended to make
life simpler.
Of
course, that also means it's very different to use, whether you come
from Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows XP. You have to look in a new place
even to turn your PC off.
On
top of that, Windows 10 is more than just a PC operating system; it's
also what will run on Windows phones – and on small tablets as well,
because a 6-inch phone and a 7-inch tablet aren't such very different
devices. Microsoft is expecting people to put Windows 10 on a billion
devices (which ought to encourage more app developers to at least take a
look at building their apps for Windows phones and tablets, as well as
for Xbox One and HoloLens).
Today’s the day that Windows 10 finally arrives! While the rollout will come in waves, we’ve been running the Insider Preview for months. Here are some of the best features you can look forward to when (or if) you decide to upgrade.
Windows 8 made the hugely controversial move to eliminate the Start
Menu, opting instead for a don’t-call-it-Metro style Start Screen. It
went over about as well as you’d expect.
In Windows 10, however, the Start Menu is back. Now, Live Tiles live
here just like regular app icons, in (relatively) perfect harmony.
The folder-based organization has been left behind in favor of a
favorites- and search-based organization. You can start typing as soon
as you open the Start menu to find an app and launch it by name. If
you’d rather not type the name of an app every time, you can pin it to
the Start Menu where it will live alongside your other tiles. Your most
used shortcuts will also appear in their own list. You can click “All
Apps” to see a list of everything that’s in your Start Menu, though it
will show up as an alphabetical list that may be hard to sift through if
you’re used to folders.
Cortana Makes the Start Menu Even Smarter
As if bringing the Start Menu back weren’t enough, Microsoft has built its personal voice assistant Cortana right in. Even if you’re already using Google Now or Siri, having Cortana on your desktop can be handy. You can perform web searches to get many of the same quick answers by simply pressing the Win key and typing a question like “How many ounces are in a cup” or “What’s the weather like?”
Cortana’s more than just voice commands, though. If you sign in with
your Microsoft account, you can use Cortana to set reminders, add
calendar events, and it can even give you Google Now-style cards with
relevant information like stock quotes or news stories. Of course, many
of these features only work at their best if you’re using Microsoft
services—or at least syncing your services like Google Calendar to a
Microsoft app—but even if you don’t want to get into Microsoft’s
ecosystem, it’s still far more powerful than the Start Menu of the past.
Microsoft tried hard and often to get people to forgive Internet Explorer. It just wasn’t happening. Now, with Windows 10, Microsoft is ditching the old browser for Microsoft Edge. We’ve already taken a look at the browser
and, while it’s still pretty bare bones, it has several unique features
including a text-only reader mode, an annotation tool, and even Cortana
integration. While extensions haven’t arrived yet, they should be
coming before long, so Edge may be worth trying out.
You Can Now Add Multiple Desktops
Being able to run a few apps at once is the great benefit of an
operating system like Windows. Running too many, though, can get
overwhelming. Now, Microsoft is finally adding the ability to create and
manage multiple desktops. You can add new desktops, quickly move
windows between them, and jump between desktops by pressing Win-Tab.
This may not be all that useful for average users, but those of us who
do a lot of work with our machines will appreciate the feature.
Windows Now Has a Central Notification Center
Nearly every OS—from Android to IOS, OS X to Ubuntu—has had a central
notification area for some time. Microsoft is finally adding this
much-needed feature to Windows 10. You can click the notification tray
icon in the lower-right side of the screen or press Win-A to open up
your notifications. It may take a while for some apps to make use of the
new system—Google famously got tired of waiting and made their own
notification system in Chrome—but many system notifications already show
up here.
The notification tray also has links to various useful features like
the Windows 10 Settings app,VPN settings, and quick toggles for things
like location and Quiet Mode. If you have a Windows machine connected to
a touchscreen, there’s also a button to quickly switch between desktop
and tablet modes.
Universal Apps and Continuum Bridge Tablets and PCs in a Non-Stupid Way
Microsoft’s attempts to make desktops behave like a tablet was easily
one of the worst aspects of Windows 8. While it was still usable, the
focus on tablets took away from what made Windows a useful operating
system in the first place. Continuum is a much better second attempt. As
the video above shows, if you have a tablet or a touchscreen, you can
enable a touch mode that behaves like a tablet. If you add a keyboard
and mouse, you can switch to desktop mode.
Universal apps are the counterpart to this. While most Windows
applications are designed for the desktop, Microsoft is increasingly
trying to lead developers to create apps that alter their interface
based on which device you’re running. There are already a few apps like
Netflix,VLC, and Plex that work well on desktops, but will
automatically adjust to touchscreens when necessary. While this may not
be immediately useful to everyone, it does make the idea of getting a
touch-compatible device enticing in the future.
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