Windows 10 after the live event: the key points
Microsoft revealed information about the company's upcoming operating system Windows 10 today during a live event.
While some questions are still left unanswered, the company managed to provide information about several topics of interest including free updates to Windows 10, whether Cortana will make an appearance, what the new browser code name Spartan does, information about DirectX 12, and whether Windows 10 for mobile phones will be unveiled during the event.
Microsoft announced during the event that upgrades to Windows 10 are free for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. The offer is limited to the first year after release of Windows 10.
Considering that the majority of Windows users are currently working on systems that run Windows 7, it is fair to say that the offer is available to the majority of all Windows users.
The company did not reveal information about the update procedure, whether it will be automatic using Windows Update or if users need to register on a website before they can run upgrades on their devices.
A couple of new and improved desktop features were showcased during the event as well. Probably most interesting from a desktop's user point of view is the new Settings menu that seems to unify the classic Control Panel and the Start Screen's PC Settings.
The classic Charms Bar evolved into a notification and actions bar that that combines notifications and options to turn off device-specific features such as WiFi or Airplane Mode on or off.
Cortana
Cortana, a personal assistant similar to Siri, was confirmed as well. According to Microsoft, it will be a huge part of the operating system including on the desktop.
Cortana can look up and display documents and files for example based on user requests (Cortana show me photos from December) and may become the primary search tool for many users. Apart from search, Cortana can be used for other tasks such as finding apps, controlling media, getting predictions, adding information to the calendar and more.
What is definitely impressive is the natural conversational flow of Cortana especially when compared to Siri or Google Now.
New Web Browser Spartan
Microsoft revealed the new web browser, Project Spartan, today as well. It features a new look and feel, and uses a new rendering engine according to the company.
Besides the clean new look of the browser, Microsoft demonstrated three new features the company added to it during the presentation:
- Note Taking to take notes right on the page. Supports touch and stylus but can also be used with mouse and keyboard. Notes can be shared and saved to OneNote.
- Reading Mode which offers a clean and simple mode to read articles on the Internet in a minimalistic environment.
- Cortana integration right in the browser.
Gaming
Microsoft revealed the new Xbox app that ships on all Windows 10 systems. It is offering features known from Xbox Live to all games that run on the Windows 10 desktop.
The company added an option to all systems running Windows 10 to create snapshots and record game video automatically. One interesting feature in this regard is the ability to record the last 30 seconds of gameplay on PCs by using the shortcut Windows-G to bring up the menu.
DirectX12 is another big part of Windows 10. According to Microsoft, it improves game performance by up to 50% and cuts power consumption on mobile devices in half.
Gamers can play multiplayer games across Windows 10 and Xbox One devices.
Windows 10 on mobile devices
On the mobile side of things, Microsoft revealed Windows 10 for phones and small tablets, and announced that Office will be coming to those operating systems as well.
The company plans to release a bunch of new and improved applications for all devices supporting Windows 10 including a new photo application, people and music app.
Windows 10 users will be able to put music collections on Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service.
Microsoft will release a new build of Windows 10 in the next week. Languages support will increase from four to 25.
New Devices
Two interesting new hardware devices were revealed during the event as well. Microsoft Surface Hub is a 84-inch 4K display that supports multi-touch and pen-input and ships with an advanced array of sensors, cameras and microphones.
Designed for the business world, it improves meetings in several ways while running on Windows 10. The feature demonstrated was the boards whiteboard functionality and options to run other apps, such as Skype group calls, side by side with it.
The second device is more ambitious than that. Windows Holographic is an augmented virtual reality device that brings holograms to the environment you are in. It is powered by HoloLens, a virtual reality headset
Additional information are available on the Blogging Windows site.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help