10 things to know about Windows 10

Microsoft Windows 10 will be available for download, starting July 29. (©Microsoft)

1. It’s free

Taking a page from Apple, which has been releasing free updates to its Mac operating system lately, Windows 10 is free for most users.

But there’s a catch: users must upgrade within the first year of availability. So if you’re keen on updating, do it before the $119 price kicks in next July.

2. It’s available July 29 … automatically, with an app

Don’t worry about rolling out a sleeping bag next to your computer: There’s no need to stay awake until 12:01 a.m. July 29 in order to click the download button.

Anyone who installs the "Get Windows 10" app will be able to schedule a download time from their existing computer.

3. Most (newish) computers should work with it

Any computer purchased in the last few years should work with the new OS. According to the minimum system requirements, users will need an existing computer running Windows 7 or newer, 1 GB of RAM, a 1 GHz processor and 16 GB of hard disk space.

However, users still operating a computer with a floppy drive will need to download a special driver to access the ancient medium. (They should also get a prize for using such a relic.) https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/windows-10-specifications

4. Holograms!

Sitting at a screen is so 1995.

HoloLens, a virtual-reality headset from Microsoft, is technically a Windows 10 device.

As such, users can turn anything from their living room to a park into a digital workspace.

Though you can’t order one right away from Amazon, it appears as though the holographic technology built into Windows 10 will help future-proof the OS.

5. Office is (sorta) included for free

People with a mobile device (ie. tablet) running Windows 10 will have free access to something called “Universal Apps for Office.” It’s designed to be a basic version of Office so users can view and make simple edits to documents and presentations when they’re not at a traditional computer.

Windows 10 desktop users will have to shell out for the traditional Office suite.

6. Cortana not available to Canadians

The new operating system will have a virtual assistant much like Apple’s Siri.

“Cortana,” built into the search function, can create reminders to take out the trash or search the Internet for recipes.

However, the feature is not available to Canadians just yet. At launch, Cortana will only be available to users in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

7. New web browser

Rather than use Internet Explorer to browse the web, Microsoft’s new browser “Edge” will be the default browser shipping with Windows 10. It’s supposed to perform faster and be more secure than IE.

Otherwise, most users will likely just download Chrome.

8. Goodbye Metro screen

Remember how Microsoft replaced the traditional desktop and Start button with a flat, tile-like Metro display? That’s mostly gone in Windows 10.

Sure, there is a way to re-enable that user interface (if you really want to), but the look and feel of the whole operating system is back to the Windows most people remember.

9. The Start menu is back

Banished for that clean, tablet-like tile look in Windows 8, Microsoft is bringing back the Start button and its associated menus for this version.

Users will still be able to add smaller, resizable tiles to their own Start menu. These tiles can be used to quickly launch apps or glance at incoming notifications, like emails and weather updates.

10. The last Windows?

It’s quite unlikely that we’ll ever hear about Windows 11 as the company shifts its strategy with the operating system. However, don’t expect this to be death of an operating system you’ve used since before the Internet.

Rather than wait a year or two for each new version, users may instead receive regular updates via a subscription model. As Forbes points out, it’ll be like “Windows Update on steroids.”