Windows 10 is everything Windows 8 should have
been. this fledgling operating system is at once panacea and prescience, a
remedy for Windows 8’s identity-crisis that also rethinks and reworks the
overly-bold approach to Microsoft’s dream of unifying the desktop and mobile
experience.Here’s a list of new features that you’ll find in the new windows 10
A VOICE ASSISTANT
& NOTIFICATION CENTRE
Windows 10 will bring Cortana to desktop users —
eventually. Right now, the feature that will become Cortana is just a redundant
search box that tells you topics like “Never chew your hair” are “Trending now”
if you make the mistake of clicking it.
You can get a voice assistant and notification center today by installing Google Chrome. Open Chrome and click the microphone icon to perform a voice search. On Google.com, you’ll be able to enable the “Okay Google” voice hot word so you can talk to your PC — just click the microphone on Google.com in Chrome and click the “Enable Ok Google” button. (This feature specifically requiresGoogle.com, the US version of Google — not other Google domains, even English ones like Google.ca or Google.co.uk.)
Chrome also offers a notification center with the
kind of smart notifications Cortana will offer, thanks to Google Now. Access
Google Now functionality by clicking the Chrome notification center that
appears in your system tray. From what we’ve seen so far, the Windows 10
notification center will just be a pop-up that appears from the system tray, too.
NEW TASK VIEW
Exposé was a feature added to Mac OS X, and a
similar feature showed up on Linux desktops thanks to Compiz. But
Microsoft refused to copy Expose — until now, with Windows 10’s Task View — and
instead added the clunky, slow Flip 3D feature to Windows Vista and
7. Microsoft finally came to their senses and just copied Exposé like they
originally should have.
PIN ANYTHING TO START MENU
The Start Screen in Windows 8 supports
“Metro-style” apps and traditional desktop apps for pinning, alongside Internet
Explorer bookmarks. If you want to pin a file you’re out of luck. This popular
feature request asks for exactly that, just let people pin anything to the
Start Screen to make it more useful.
BETTER NOTEPAD APPLICATION
The basic Notepad.exe application in
Windows hasn’t really changed over the years. While Paint has been improved
with a Ribbon and interface tweaks, Notepad is assimple as ever. While there is
a Wordpad alternative built-in, some on Uservoice feel the default notepad
application should be better. No support for Unix line endings, double click to
select words is inconsistent, and undo doesn’t work well according to the
feature request. Those are reasonable observations, and it’s probably about
time Microsoft offered something as good as Notepad++ as the default in
Windows 10
CONTINUM – THE SPECIAL ONE
This is the best new thing we found out today.
Continum is an on-the-fly mode for 2 in 1 devices that can automatically change
mode if it detects there is suddenly no keyboard attached. So, for example, a
back button appears to help you navigate the Desktop with touch if the keyboard
is removed. We reckon the charms will also disappear in non-touch mode,
although we’ve heard conflicting news about that.
IMPROVEMENTS TO WINDOWS EXPLORER
A new Home location is the new default view in
WindowsExplorer. There’s also a Share button on the Windows Explorer taskbar
(we really hope this is in the contextmenu, too).
UNIVERSAL APPS
Windows 10 will also usher in a new app model –
Universal Windows apps. Windows Universal apps are the new name for Metro
apps/Modern apps/Windows Store apps. Take your pick on those old monikers,
they’ve got a new one! Presumably That these will also work on Windows Phone.
Windows 10 will be able to run on all devices from phones to servers and there
will be a single app store across the lot.
The new Universal apps also work on the desktop and
‘float’ in their own Windows. Microsoft wants to banish the separation between
the Modern UI and the Desktop.
NEW WINDOWS ICONS
Windows users have been calling on Microsoft to
redesign its ancient iconography for years. Although some recent versions of
Windows have improved upon this, there are still a number of areas you can
stumble across where you’ll see an icon from 20 years ago. Long Zheng, a user
experience designer from Australia, created a Windows UI Taskforceahead of the
Windows 7 release to encourage Microsoft to fix its many user interface quirks.
Unfortunately, many still exist in Windows 8 today. There are signs in the
Windows 10 Technical Preview that Microsoft is overhauling its iconography, as
the File Explorer icon has a flat look to it now.
AERO GLASS
With Apple bringing some transparenteffects
to OSX Yosemite, some Windows users are calling for the return of Aero
Glass. Microsoft first introduced this feature in Windows Vista, but Microsoft
cut most of the window transparency in Windows 8 to focus on improved battery
life. The feedback request notes that millions of PCs are desktops and are
equipped with capable graphics cards and memory to handle Aero Glass. Microsoft
has added some drop shadow effects to the Windows 10 Technical Preview, so
there are signs the UI could change a lot before the operating system ships.
START MENU IS BACK!
The most noticeable change is the new Start
Menu,which looks somewhat like the old start menu. It brings some features from
the Windows 8.1 Start Screen, such as live tiles, and can be resized.
INTERNET EXPLORER PLUGINS &
EXTENSIONS
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser started to
fall behind Firefox when it took what felt like forever to add tabs to the
browsing interface. Ever since then it’s been a slow process watching Internet
Explorer catch up. Although Internet Explorer does support add-ons, they’re
often basic or nonexistent compared to the offerings available on Firefox and
Chrome. It’s an area where Internet Explorer falls short, but rumors suggest
IE12 will overhaul its extensions support so there’s hope yet.
BIND PROGRAM TO SPECIFIC AUDIO
OUTPUTS
Microsoft made some good progress with its audio
management as part of Windows Vista, allowing you to individually control the
volume of applications, but people want more. Some Windows users with headsets
are calling for Microsoft to allow them to map a certain application to a
specific audio output. The scenario could allow an app with essential
notifications to output over the speakers, while music could play on the
headphones. It’s a niche scenario, but there are environments, particularly in
offices, where you might want an audio alert for your team members, but still
want to keep your personal music tastes confined to your headset.
THE COMMANT PROMPT ENTERS 21ST
CENTURY
Another quite amazing feature for those of us that
use it is that the command prompt is now getting keyboard shortcuts! So you
will be able to paste in your commands! Hardly groundbreaking, but actually
pretty exciting.
SNAP ASSIST
A new Snap Assist feature also helps users work out
which way is best to snap apps to. You can snap windows into new screens and
tile Windows – just as you’ve been able to since Windows 2.0 or maybe 3.0.
TECHNEWS
