Microsoft recently made news when it unveiled Windows 10.
The company's online presentation video was intended for the third-party Windows software development community, not regular users.
Despite being intended for a very narrow audience, the announcement was the sort of news that traveled very quickly.
Before you get too excited about this, bear in mind that Windows 10 is still very early in its development cycle.
Traditionally, Microsoft reveals its new operating systems to consumers at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and then releases them commercially about nine months later. In the past, the company refrained from public announcements like this one, intended only for developers.
The actual target release date for Windows 10 is in late 2015, so there's more than a year before you even have to begin to think about whether you are going to upgrade.
I cannot answer all of the questions I have received about Windows 10, but here are the most common ones:
Why is it being called Windows 10 and not Windows 9?
Microsoft has been very vague about this question, though they insist that the reason is not to bring Windows into step with Apple's OS X.
One very likely reason is more technical. Recently on the Reddit social network a user named cranboune, self-described as a Microsoft developer, claimed that it comes down to pragmatism.
During the installation process, modern third-party apps on Windows use a compatibility check to determine the version of the operating system installed. That search string begins "Windows 9" in order to detect whether the system is a Windows 95 or 98 version.
So naming the OS Windows 9 would cause all sorts of problems for any software that uses that compatibility check.
It's certainly a plausible explanation and, if it's true, that's a brilliant decision by Microsoft: It avoids upsetting both its developer base and customers who are still happily using legacy software. That sounds reasonable to me.
I contacted Microsoft to ask about this, but their spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, instead quoting a widely circulated company statement: "Windows 10 carries Windows forward into a new way of doing things. It is not an incremental change, but a new Windows that will empower the next billion users."
What is new and exciting?
One standout feature is that the old Start Button and Menu system from Windows 7 is present, but you have to activate it to use it. The default mode is similar to the Windows 8 Start Button.
The new Windows will feature keyboard-controlled virtual desktops — which allow you to have your apps running in their own desktop space, and then switch between them as desired by hitting a key combination.
That's a pretty cool feature, but there have been third-party apps that have done that since Windows 3.
Is Windows 10 going to be free?
More than one online source has claimed that Microsoft plans to distribute Windows 10 free to all Windows 8 owners. That unsubstantiated claim appears to have originated in a comment that was made by a Microsoft spokesperson in Indonesia.
I wouldn't count on that being the case. Microsoft's spokesperson said that they have nothing to share at this time on the question. Considering the position that Windows holds in the company profit line, that does not sound likely.
Should I download and install the technical preview?
No! Or maybe yes. It really depends on whether you have a spare computer handy that you don't need, or care if it ends up partially nonfunctional or even bricked.
The copy of Windows 10 that is being offered online is not a full copy of the operating system. And it is not yours to keep forever. It is a temporary license to use for a set period.
You also need to bear in mind that it requires Windows 8, as it installs on top of it. While the core OS components are there, it is still missing a lot of the stuff that users need.
Just so you know, the touch-first, plug-in-free Internet Explorer is not present. The voice-control assistant named Cortana is not yet present, and there is no Notification Center (but those will eventually be added in).
Source: capecodonline.com
