Windows 10: Release

Windows 10 is the latest operating system from Microsoft, which was released on July 29, 2015. Windows 10 focused on eliminating the bugs from Windows 8 and on customer needs. Due to this, a worldwide program was started after the official announcement in September 2014, which more than one million interested users could test and give feedback to Microsoft.

There are a few innovations in Windows 10:

• For example, the Start menu from the previous versions has been reintroduced in Windows 10, while the general layout has been taken over from Windows 8 and optimized.
• The programs optimized for the touch interface are now displayed on the desktop like other programs, the touch interface itself is only displayed if you enable this in the settings or Windows 10 detects a touchscreen.
• The maintenance center known from Windows 7 has now been transformed into the Action Center, which collects and displays the messages – similar to today’s smartphones. As soon as the manufacturers of today’s software have adapted their applications, messages should be displayed more simply and compactly in one place in the future (and can be easily deleted again if the message is not interesting for the user).

Microsoft has also made some new applications available: For example, the new Microsoft Edge replaces the previous Internet Explorer and a voice input called Cortana – comparable to Apple’s Siri – has been added.

The new development means that Windows 10 is now a single operating system. While Windows 8.1 and the Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone operating system contained different program code, the code base is now the same across computers, smartphones and tablets. This makes it easier for developers to develop and customize programs on all devices.

The upgrade to Windows 10 is free for all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users until July 29, 2016. The prerequisite is a valid license for Windows 7 or 8.1, a good Internet connection for the download of Windows 10 (size approx. 3 GB) and about two to four hours of time for the installation.