Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Will Be a Free Upgrade, Details New Features [Video]

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Posted January 21, 2015 at 9:31pm by iClarified

Microsoft has revealed that Windows 10 will be a free update for customers running Windows 7 or higher and detailed some of the new operating system's features.

Windows 10 will be delivered as a service to offer a safer, innovative and updated experience for the supported lifetime of the device. A free upgrade1 for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, who upgrade in the first year.

“Windows 10 marks the beginning of the more personal computing era in the mobile-first, cloud-first world,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Our ambition is for the 1.5 billion people who are using Windows today to fall in love with Windows 10 and for billions more to decide to make Windows home.”

The company also detailed some of the new features coming to Windows 10 including:
● Cortana comes to PC and tablet. The Cortana personal digital assistant, which debuted on Windows Phone last year, will now also be available on Windows 10 PCs and tablets to help people get things done.2 Cortana is a personal helper who learns an individual’s preferences to provide relevant recommendations, fast access to information and important reminders, bringing what matters most to their attention. Interaction is natural and easy via talking or typing, with advanced features to control Cortana for more trustworthiness and transparency.

● Project Spartan, Microsoft's new browser. Windows 10 will feature the new Microsoft browser, code-named “Project Spartan,” which was built with interoperability in mind. With key features built-in natively to the browser, it will enable greater reliability and better discoverability. Some of the most advanced features in the browser include the ability to annotate whether by keyboard or pen directly on the webpage and easily share with friends; a reading view that is distraction-free, displaying the article in a simplified layout for a great reading experience for Web articles online and offline; and the integration of Cortana for finding and doing things online faster. All of this is offered with a new look and feel built just for Windows 10.

● Xbox Live and the new Xbox app bring new gaming experiences to Windows 10. Xbox on Windows 10 lets gamers and developers access the best of the expansive Xbox Live gaming network on both Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One. Players can capture, edit and share their greatest gaming moments with Game DVR, and play new games with friends across devices, connecting millions of gamers around the world. Games developed for the new DirectX 12 application programming interface in Windows 10 will see improvements in speed, efficiency and graphics capability. Players will also be able to play games on their PC, streamed directly from their Xbox One consoles to their Windows 10 tablets or PCs, within their home.3

● Office for Windows 10. Office universal apps on Windows 10 deliver a touch-first experience across devices. New versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook are designed from the ground up to run on Windows, built for touch, and offer the unmistakable Office experience customers know and love. With the familiar features for Office, people can create and edit Word documents with ease. New inking features in PowerPoint let people annotate slides in real time, and the new touch-first controls in Excel make it easy to create and update spreadsheets without a keyboard or mouse. The next version of the Office desktop suite is also currently in development and Microsoft will have more to share in the coming months.

● Continuum mode. On 2-in-1 devices, Windows 10 will move easily between keyboard and mouse and touch and tablet as it detects the transition and conveniently switches to the new mode.

● New universal apps. Windows 10 will offer new experience applications, consistent across the device continuum, for Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People & Messaging and Mail & Calendar. These built-in apps have an updated design that looks and feels the same from app to app and device to device. Content is stored and synced through OneDrive, enabling people to start something on one device and continue it on another.

The next Technical Preview for Windows 10 on the PC will be available for free to Windows Insiders in the next week and for the first time on phones later in February. More information on the Windows Insider Program and the Technical Previews can be found at http://preview.windows.com.

Take a look at the video below for more details...

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defiantmacho - January 27, 2015 at 4:54am

In all seriousness, it sounds good in words. But practically, it sounds like a whole mess, yet again. MS is relying on touch screens. Wasn't that part of the problem Win 8 flopped? They thought consumers would run and get touch screens, only that never happened. I am a user of both OSX and MS. From experience I can say that OSX is far more stable and reliable. I had a 2006 MacBook Pro that finally died ending last year (yes, you read right), and I never had to reinstall it's OS. My Windows 8.1 PC has needed a complete reinstall three times so far. In the end, my view is both Apple and MS have unique things that makes them stay afloat. MS has Office and the workstation down on their side, Mac has everything multimedia nailed on theirs to the point I can open multiple videos without a hiccup. So the battle rages on with no end in sight.

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Ren - January 27, 2015 at 1:34pm

My pc needed to be restarted after a few months of using it with downloading things along with decent security, but bsod drew the line, and by cleaned I mean deleting memory of things I couldn't eve get back. Now I sold that and couldn't be any happier with my MacBook 2013 pro. Windows wasn't a huge fail for me but it did good, but ie didn't do that good as I expected.

Al lu - January 22, 2015 at 9:28pm

They are given it for free cause after the shitty win8/8.1, theres no way people gonna pay for an stupid ugrade that is going to fail exactly the same as the last two.

Diane - January 22, 2015 at 8:44pm

Why is a Hobbit on the Development team?

John Doe - January 22, 2015 at 6:43pm

Nice Wig!!!

Techno - January 22, 2015 at 5:51pm

I use Microsoft for work and find Win 7 best if I had to use Microsoft. Once I started to use OSX, it's really had to switch back and consider using Microsoft for it's lack of features you can easily find on OSX. I would say most OSX users would find Microsofts bare minimum when it comes to functionality, features and overall touch and feel when it comes to being productive.

Tech Jedi - January 22, 2015 at 3:57pm

Windows best product was Windows XP. They are still a good company but have not released a reliable OS for PC since. I am not sure if it's the desire to put too many things in the OS like home media streaming or it's because they are greedy and no one cares about the products they release that are riddled with bugs. They will continue to lose market share unless they truly have a revolutionary product/idea or they hire someone who gives a crap about what they release.

jahmed80 - January 22, 2015 at 12:01pm

Dude forget all that, try to do somin about the virus we get on windows. It is so annoying when i have to restore my pc every 4 to 6 months.

gamerscul9870 - January 22, 2015 at 12:06pm

i feel you. My dads windows 8 pc goes unresponsive when all he does is very little Internet search and play poker and weeks later, it was that unstable. My win 7 laptop did way better and lasted months but it to acted like pure shit. This is one of the reasons I moved on from Microsoft and don't find a reason to switch.

Breix - January 22, 2015 at 1:42pm

If u guys know how to troubleshoot a PC for some reason? Like maintenance? I bet u won't t be having any prob at all.. YES indeed that windows gets a lot of virus compared to mac/ apple.. But if they do actually don't get any virus then why does people complain about it not running properly? Not just glitch but virus small amount of it then ur apple/ mac finally goes weird.. You may not notice it as a virus but its just sittin there ready to explode anytime.

Mutiny - January 22, 2015 at 2:10pm

Sounds like an user issue to me i.e. Doesn't know how to troubleshoot a PC like what GTX770 said, downloading random "browser plugins" when you aren't supposed to, etc, the list goes on

Breix - January 22, 2015 at 4:00pm

True.. If you actually don't know what your doing to your computer and just think "oh i need this shit to be installed.." Better think twice before you perform such installations.. I'm not a computer geek or super know it all at computers? But I sure do know how to make my computer works properly.. Not bragging just saying..

SayingWhatEveryonesThinking - January 22, 2015 at 5:48am

In all seriousness, this is insane. They're just blatantly stealing what Apple's been doing for years!

Ren - January 22, 2015 at 1:12am

at least they dont make phone with protruding camera

Techno - January 22, 2015 at 1:39am

They make phones that actually works correctly with their OS.

gamerscul9870 - January 22, 2015 at 1:40am

What's better than a protruding camera? Besides why should it matter? Lumpia is the same thickness for why it doesn't protrudes due to how thin the phone is.

Techno - January 22, 2015 at 5:19am

Did you mean a a camera that works GREAT!!! I actually like it protruded for with a nice case it gives it dimensions versus a boring flat one.

justabrake - January 21, 2015 at 10:39pm

Windows should supply an Ant-Virus software Free with their OS !

Dommm - January 21, 2015 at 11:15pm

They do, windows defender , if you could call that anti virus software

Bill Gates - January 22, 2015 at 12:12am

Erm, we do, it's called Microsoft Security Essentials.

Yousefq25 - January 21, 2015 at 10:38pm

I swear when you watch an apple keynote presentation and then months layer you watch Microsoft's. Its like déjà vu..! Is like you've seen all this before.

gamerscul9870 - January 21, 2015 at 11:33pm

Just points out how companies learn from Apple and later mock them like they try to prove something without making a reason it's like that, take surface for example, the only hype was removable keyboard for a tablet, but it's not a 2-in-1 even though that's what they expect, and retailers that highlight products that way like that, they do it just because Microsoft did, but my point is that Microsoft tries to be ahead of Apple and mocks them to feel overachieved, and that's why they have no choice but to follow, count Samsung to if you'd like. Lives on from 2007-current (just wait until loop pay is released).

NoGoodNick - January 21, 2015 at 10:27pm

That's nice, but M$ has burned too many bridges. I HATED Windows 8, and all their attempts to patch it just proved they didn't have the slightest clue what they were doing. Right now, I see NO reason to leave Windows 7, even if they PAID me to do it. If I see a decent product with some nice features, I'll reconsider my stance, but as of now, I see NOTHING in Windows 8, 9, 10 or 53 that I have any desire in purchasing or using! (And keep in mind, I use my desktop computer for hours every single day, so I'm not a disgrunted Apple fanboy.

Sir Sabotage - January 21, 2015 at 10:15pm

I'm switching to Microsoft lol ✌️

gamerscul9870 - January 21, 2015 at 11:12pm

Downgrading to windows I see. Another even number windows means another bad version. You get the pattern, think about why 9 came and went even when it was unreleased.

Yeaaaaaa.... - January 21, 2015 at 10:04pm

They skipped Windows 9 because a lot of the older coding that has "Windows 98" mentioned in it, would have conflicted with the naming. Also, they did not copy iCloud, the "cloud" has been around long before Apple even had iCloud. Do some research before opening your Apple Pie Hole.

NoGoodNick - January 21, 2015 at 10:23pm

No, they didn't SKIP Windows 9, instead they abandoned it. Windows 8 was a complete disaster. Once they gave up on it, they invested time developing Windows 9, only deciding later that it was too little, too late. They then abandoned it and started work on Windows 10, which is where they are now.

gamerscul9870 - January 21, 2015 at 11:15pm

There are few things windows does Apple can't, but it's still a huge gap to getting close to beating Apple even if it's this texture less, but even those mocking ads drew the line of me being with Microsoft. 7 was the best windows ever made, but comparing to OS X Yosemite, security was one of the reasons I jumped the glass ship. I haven't looked back since 2013.

Dommm - January 21, 2015 at 9:46pm

Good improvements but I wouldn't use the Xbox thing because I haven't got one ¿

Yeaaaaaa.... - January 21, 2015 at 9:44pm

...wait for the Microsoft haters to start commenting in 3...2...1...

Vic - January 21, 2015 at 9:50pm

Wannabe apple now

NoGoodNick - January 21, 2015 at 10:29pm

Not so much "Windows Haters", but users of Windows who've been disillusioned with M$ ability to develop useful software any more. I still rely on Windows, but I no longer trust M$ to know what direction is up anymore.