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Windows 10: The Major New Features, In Pictures
By , Adam Overa,
1. Approaching The Threshold

Two days ago Microsoft unveiled the first draft of the successor to Windows 8, once codenamed "Threshold", now officially dubbed "Windows 10". Yesterday, the company released the first draft of Windows 10 in the form of a Technical Preview for businesses and other partners. With this new version of Windows, Microsoft has two major objectives: correct the strategic mistakes of Windows 8, and migrate all current Windows users (be they on XP, Vista, 7 or 8/8.1) to Windows 10.

But Microsoft is also pursuing secondary goals, beginning with the unification of its underlying systems. Windows 10 will be on PCs, tablets, smartphones, the XBox One console and other connected devices — only the user interface will vary between platforms.

2. The Return Of The Start Menu

The Start menu is back, folks! This is perhaps the most iconic feature of Windows 10. It epitomizes how Microsoft is finally reacting to the opinions of the majority of its user base: that removing the Start menu was a mistake, and the idea that a single touch-based interface would be appropriate for the typical desktop or laptop was absurd.

Meanwhile, the company hasn't abandoned some of the few good ideas introduced by the Windows 8 Start screen, such as Live Tiles. Like the Taskbar of Windows 8, the color of the Start menu automatically adapts to the dominant color of the desktop wallpaper.

The newly revived Start menu retains the classic list of programs, but it can now be resized at will, and it incorporates the iconic Live Tiles of Windows 8. The tile still scroll through information without having expand the associated applications just like they did in the Start screen. However, you aren’t obligated to pin any Windows Store apps to the Start menu. If you don’t, they will appear in the master list of applications just like any other.

3. Windows Store Apps Run In A Window

In Windows 10, the desktop can rule once again! On a typical PC, the Desktop regains its role as the primary user interface. Windows 8 users who want to continue using the Start screen still can, but may find that it's been disabled by default. What's more, when Windows Store apps are launched from the Start menu, the Taskbar or the Desktop, they open as regular windowed Desktop apps by default. Windows Store apps will, however, be displayed in full screen view if launched from the Start screen.

4. The Charms Bar, Redesigned

In Windows 8 and 8.1, the Charms Bar had essentially no use on the desktop whatsoever. In Windows 10, it disappears completely in this environment and will now only be available on tablets and other touchscreen-enabled PCs. The features of the Charms Bar are now located inside a new menu that appears on the titlebar of Windows Store app windows.

5. Virtual Desktops

Now that the desktop regains supremacy, Microsoft needed to add some serious innovations to its traditional user interface. Sometimes you can't have more than one monitor (like on a laptop), and some apps are simply better off maximized than they are snapped (such as Photoshop). Hence, the introduction of a longstanding feature of Linux and OS X: virtual desktops.

In this UI paradigm, the user has several desktops which they can organize as they see fit, and switch between them at will. With the Windows 10 virtual desktop system, it’s pretty easy to create desktops and close apps wherever they are via a redesigned Task Switcher (former Alt+Tab) which is now incorporated into the Desktop Switcher.

Unfortunately, moving apps between desktops is an unwieldy right-click affair, and repositioning desktops appears to be impossible in the Technical Preview. If OS X’s Mission Control, or even some of the Linux solutions are the benchmark, Microsoft still has a ways to go with its virtual desktop implementation.

6. The Desktop, Refined

The Desktop may be given a slight makeover, but this hasn't materialized too far in the Technical Preview. One change that is noticeable is the new File Explorer icon and the additional Share entry in the ribbon, which as its name implies, let's you more easily share files and folders with friends and colleagues.

7. To 4K And Beyond

Microsoft is also working towards better native management for high-density screens. True 4K UHD screens are starting to appear on the market, and some manufacturers are already working on 8K panels. Already improved under Windows 8.1, the dynamic management of font size by pixel density should be even easier and more natural in Windows 10.

8. Start Screen, Enhanced

Despite the return of the desktop and Start menu, the Start screen of Windows 8 does not entirely disappear. It will remain the primary user interface for tablets and smartphones. Microsoft also intends to further enrich the user interface formerly known as Metro by introducing even more interactivity to the Live Tiles in the form of action buttons.

9. Notification Center

Born in version 8.1 of Windows Phone, the centralized Notifications Center will also appear in Windows 10. It will house all alerts, reminders and notifications issued by the system and by applications. Operation will be very similar to Windows Phone 8.1, with notifications grouped by app.

10. Storage Sense

Budget Windows tablets generally come equipped with the bare minimum amount of flash storage (16GB or even 8GB). Therefore, it should be possible to install the Windows Store apps on external media such as microSD cards (as is the case with Windows Phone 8.1). The upcoming "Storage Sense" function is designed to help you better understand your disk usage, and if desired, move items to and from external storage.

11. Wi-Fi Sense

Windows 10 will also inherit the "Wi-Fi Sense" feature of Windows Phone. It allows you to connect automatically whenever a Wi-Fi hotspot is detected, and to authenticate and accept any required terms of use. The feature also allows you to share Wi-Fi access with your friends without having to actually disclose the password to your home network.

12. Cortana

Cortana is truly one of Microsoft’s best efforts on the mobile front, and she’s coming to Windows 10! An intelligent personal assistant that understands who you are, where you are and what you are doing, Cortana can assist when called upon, either by providing key information, suggesting actions and sometimes even performing them for you if granted the appropriate permissions.

13. Internet Explorer 12

Microsoft hasn’t given up on its browser either. On the contrary, Windows 10 will be sporting a version of Internet Explorer (12) which will finally be able to accommodate extensions ­— like Chrome and Firefox. We do not yet know where these extensions will come from, nor what they will do, but it is likely that Microsoft will pay particular attention to the enterprise, given the renewed focus on business users.  

Compliance with the latest web standards, already greatly improved in Windows 8.1, should also be further refined in IE12.

14. Back To Business

Businesses were particularly neglected by Windows 8 and 8.1, as most of the new features were feared towards the consumer market. With Windows 10, Microsoft definitely wants to see all businesses, including all those remaining Windows XP installations, adopt the new system. Not only is yesterday’s the first Technical Preview intended for these folks, but all new BYOD features and remote administration are also expected to be incorporated along with improvements to Hyper-V.

15. Windows Update, Redesigned

So far, Windows Update has been distributing the same updates to all Windows users. Windows 10 introduces the concept of continuous delivery, where new features will still be regularly offered, but only up to the allowable specifications of the machine and the type of user.

This principle is essential to the Technical Preview. Though still very incomplete, and very unstable, it will allow users to receive patches and new features as soon as they’re finalized by the developers. Moreover, many of the features shown here (such as Cortana, Storage Sense and Wi-Fi Sense) are not present in yesterday’s Technical Preview. Instead, they will be gradually installed by early 2015 via Windows Update.

16. Windows Insider Program

Microsoft also introduced a new Windows Insider Program in which users who volunteer will frequently receive new features to test. A mechanism for feedback is integrated to allow them to tell Microsoft what they like, what they dislike, suggest improvements, chat with other “insiders" about what's new. Microsoft seems more interested than ever in listening to its users. Perhaps it wants to avoid another Windows 8 fiasco.

17. The Consumer Preview

The Windows 10 Technical Preview, which became available for download yesterday afternoon, is not without bugs. This is still a very incomplete draft, intended for engineers, developers and enthusiasts, and aimed primarily at IT departments. However, Microsoft plans to release a Consumer Preview around the New Year, and that should better reflect the final version. The Consumer Preview should also be offered on the ARM-based Surface RT and Surface 2, which the Technical Preview is not (x86-only).