skytoast
Videomaster
So it's almost here - launching officially on July 29, 2015. I've been testing the free insider beta versions for the past month or so and so far, I like it.
WINDOWS 10
"Windows 10 Hero" Desktop wallpaper
Skipping the title "Windows 9" and going straight to "Windows 10", this is suppose to be the "definitive" version of the next Windows operating system which is suppose to fix and bridge all the gaps between the last (and popular version) of Windows - "Windows 7" and the (generally) ill received "Windows 8/8.1". Gone is the confusing and less intuitive interface and nuances of "Windows 8". The really missed "START" button is back but now adds the live metro tiles from "Windows 8". Internet Explorer has finally been killed off in favor of a more slick new browser called "Windows Edge". They also included "Cortana" (named after the AI from HALO series of games) to act as sort've your personal assistant and search functionality like "Siri" on iOS devices. There's a lot of other things underneath the hood that's suppose to make the system more snappier, lighter and more (arguably) secure - i.e. built in biometric and face recognition, hypervisor, asymmetric encryption.
But more importantly, for gamers, the inclusion of DirectX 12 will be the major reason for the upgrade. DirectX 12 is suppose to make your PC more like a "console" because the API will have more direct straightforward access to the hardware graphics and memory rather than going through the traditional route through the OS and system resources which is often bloated and a bottleneck to performance.
If you have an Xbox One, the "Xbox" branding and ecosystem will be coming to the PC platform allowing you to game stream from the console in your living room and be able to play it on which ever PC is running Windows 10 in your home network. This is a nice added feature but we'll have to wait and see how viable it really is.
It's going to be a free upgrade if you already got a (genuine) version of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. But you got a year to do the upgrade for free. And to avoid any confusion, Microsoft has made it clear, that once upgraded and activated, it's the full version, "no strings attached" - no "subscriptions" (conspiracy theories ensue?). I guess it makes sense because they really want everyone or at least the vast majority to be under this one new unified Windows eco-system across many devices (desktop, mobile, phone) and not have too many people splintered across older versions of Windows.
Oh and in case you don't have a "genuine" or eligible past version of Windows, you can still get Windows 10 for "free" with one caveat. If you install and join the insider preview program, you can keep using "Windows 10" even after the official RTM release just as long as you stay in the insider preview program and continue to try and download new preview "patches" and updates in the future.
{It seems, like Intel with its modern CPUs, Windows always had this "tick-tock" cadence in its evolution. You always wanted to skip a generation}
-Windows 1-3.1 /early versions of NT - vintage (origin)
-Windows 95 -start of the "modern" OS (some people considered it crap - buggy/ at the time of launch, most hardware were too deficient to run the OS - "not enough ram" which was 4MB (8MB preferred)
-Windows 98/SE -improved version (general hardware catches up)
-Windows ME - crap
-Windows NT - for Workstation/Professional
-Windows 2000 - culmination for NT Workstation/Professional
-Windows XP - Definitive version at turn of the Century
-Windows Vista - crap
-Windows 7 - Definitive version start of the new Century
-Windows 8/8.1 (arguably) crap - too much focus on mobile/tablet config.
-Windows 10 - definitive version for the next decade/beyond?
WINDOWS 10
"Windows 10 Hero" Desktop wallpaper
Skipping the title "Windows 9" and going straight to "Windows 10", this is suppose to be the "definitive" version of the next Windows operating system which is suppose to fix and bridge all the gaps between the last (and popular version) of Windows - "Windows 7" and the (generally) ill received "Windows 8/8.1". Gone is the confusing and less intuitive interface and nuances of "Windows 8". The really missed "START" button is back but now adds the live metro tiles from "Windows 8". Internet Explorer has finally been killed off in favor of a more slick new browser called "Windows Edge". They also included "Cortana" (named after the AI from HALO series of games) to act as sort've your personal assistant and search functionality like "Siri" on iOS devices. There's a lot of other things underneath the hood that's suppose to make the system more snappier, lighter and more (arguably) secure - i.e. built in biometric and face recognition, hypervisor, asymmetric encryption.
But more importantly, for gamers, the inclusion of DirectX 12 will be the major reason for the upgrade. DirectX 12 is suppose to make your PC more like a "console" because the API will have more direct straightforward access to the hardware graphics and memory rather than going through the traditional route through the OS and system resources which is often bloated and a bottleneck to performance.
If you have an Xbox One, the "Xbox" branding and ecosystem will be coming to the PC platform allowing you to game stream from the console in your living room and be able to play it on which ever PC is running Windows 10 in your home network. This is a nice added feature but we'll have to wait and see how viable it really is.
It's going to be a free upgrade if you already got a (genuine) version of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. But you got a year to do the upgrade for free. And to avoid any confusion, Microsoft has made it clear, that once upgraded and activated, it's the full version, "no strings attached" - no "subscriptions" (conspiracy theories ensue?). I guess it makes sense because they really want everyone or at least the vast majority to be under this one new unified Windows eco-system across many devices (desktop, mobile, phone) and not have too many people splintered across older versions of Windows.
Oh and in case you don't have a "genuine" or eligible past version of Windows, you can still get Windows 10 for "free" with one caveat. If you install and join the insider preview program, you can keep using "Windows 10" even after the official RTM release just as long as you stay in the insider preview program and continue to try and download new preview "patches" and updates in the future.
{It seems, like Intel with its modern CPUs, Windows always had this "tick-tock" cadence in its evolution. You always wanted to skip a generation}
-Windows 1-3.1 /early versions of NT - vintage (origin)
-Windows 95 -start of the "modern" OS (some people considered it crap - buggy/ at the time of launch, most hardware were too deficient to run the OS - "not enough ram" which was 4MB (8MB preferred)
-Windows 98/SE -improved version (general hardware catches up)
-Windows ME - crap
-Windows NT - for Workstation/Professional
-Windows 2000 - culmination for NT Workstation/Professional
-Windows XP - Definitive version at turn of the Century
-Windows Vista - crap
-Windows 7 - Definitive version start of the new Century
-Windows 8/8.1 (arguably) crap - too much focus on mobile/tablet config.
-Windows 10 - definitive version for the next decade/beyond?
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