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Microsoft Announces Windows 10

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-7-8-9 dept.

Today at a press conference in San Francisco, Microsoft announced the new version of their flagship operating system, called Windows 10. (Yes, t-e-n. I don't know.) With the new version of the operating system, they'll be unifying the application platform for all devices: desktops, laptops, consoles, tablets, and phones. As early leaks showed, the Start Menu is back — it's a hybrid of old and new, combining a list of applications with a small group of resizable tiles that can include widgets. Metro-style apps can now each operate inside their own window (video). There's a new, multiple-desktop feature, which power users have been demanding for years, and also a feature that lets users easily grab objects from one desktop and transfer it to another. The command line is even getting some love. The Technical Preview builds for desktops and laptops will be available tomorrow through the Windows Insider Program. They're requesting feedback from customers. Windows 10 will launch in late 2015.

4 of 644 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Unified Experience Across Devices by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You're not the only one, obviously, and that's intentional. By calling it Windows 10, they're trying to put as much distance as possible between it and Windows 8. And make 7 look even more "old".

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  2. No 9? by Retron · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When I was a kid I remember reading that in Japanese, "4" sounded like death and "9" sounded like suffering. A quick bit of Googling 25 years on and:

    "[In Japanese] Nine is also sometimes pronounced ku, which can mean suffering."

    I'm guessing they skipped Windows 9 because they didn't want it to sound like "Windows Suffering" in parts of the world!

  3. Re:Unified Experience Across Devices by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And the OS version will probably report something linke 'Version 6.5.xxxx'

    This seems odd, but they do it on purpose for driver compatibility.

    --
    All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
  4. Re:Unified Experience Across Devices by jd2112 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not just driver compatibility.

    Windows 7 fixed a bunch of Vista compatibility issues with programs built for XP simply by having the version be set to 6.1.

    Turns out that companies doing braindead Windows version detection of

    if (majorVersion >= 5 && minorVersion >= 1)

    had it fail spectacularly for version 6.0.

    Particularly bad since Windows does have built-in functions to compare version numbers (eg. major.minor.patch.build format)

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.