Some big news you may have missed at the Windows 10 Keynote

Published: January 22, 2015 1:00 PM /

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Windows 10

Yesterday Microsoft took to the stage to show off even more information about Windows 10, the latest version of their operating system. This will be the next step up from Windows 8.1 and will completely skip the title of Windows 9. Here are some of the biggest announcements from the event.

The first piece of news is a large one that anyone who currently is using Windows 8.1 or even Windows 7 will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 completely for free. This includes all Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 devices from desktops to tablets and even to the Windows Phone.

Windows 10 will be free for everyone, unless you're still on XP
Windows 10 will be free for everyone, unless you're still on XP

For users of the Windows tablets when you disconnect from a keyboard you will be asked if you want to switch to tablet mode. In tablet mode the applications are full screen and enable you to do things like swipe in from the left to bring up switching between windows and other ease of use tablet features. When reconnected to a keyboard then the device will resume normal desktop mode.

Cortana, the person assistant currently available on Windows Phone, will also be coming to Windows 10. Just like on the phone Cortana will be able to track things like flight information, news topics that you'd like to pay attention to. Cortana can also be used to take notes, schedule calendar appointments and search for information on the web.

Cortana will now be available over all of your Windows 10 devices!
Cortana will now be available over all of your Windows 10 devices!

Windows Phone 10 is also being worked on and has a variety of new features to compliment Windows 10 on PC. It still has the same start screen look but will allow users to set custom background photos. Office for Windows Phone 10 will have even more features and will be a lot closer to it's desktop equivalent in terms of what you can do on it.

Moving away from the past Microsoft is dropping Internet Explorer and is instead showing off the new "Project Spartan" or Spartan browser. Spartan is a new browser designed to fit the rest of the Windows 10 environment. Some key things to note about Spartan is the emphasis on what is on the page itself leaving the tab and address bar smaller in comparison. Spartan will also have a "reading list" that will take images and PDF's and store them within the browser so that they can be viewed at any time even offline. Finally Cortana will be integrated into the experience, during the keynote we can see information like maps, images and reviews for a restaurant while looking at the page.

Phil Spencer took to the stage to show off some of the ways that Windows 10 will be integrating with the Xbox experience and the Xbox One specifically. Some features included having the Xbox activity feed available on your Windows 10 device as well as being able to select an Xbox One game that you were playing on the console and stream it to your Windows 10 device while at home.

Finally one of the largest announcements made was the introduction of Microsoft HoloLense a wireless augmented reality heads up display powered by Windows 10. To show off how it worked they gave a demo showing the HoloStudio in use while everyone else was able to watch what was happening through another camera.

What did you think of the Windows 10 keynote? are you excited for the free upgrade or are you going to stick with your current OS? What are you most looking forward to?

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


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| Senior Content Manager

Andrew has written Video Game and Entertainment news, reviews, and guides for 10+ years. As Senior Content Manager, he assists in creating and editing… More about Andrew