Announcing Windows 10!

This is kind of old news for some of us, but there have been some new developments in the release of Windows 10. In September 2014, Microsoft publicly announced the forthcoming release of Windows 10 in this blog post: Announcing Windows 10. Windows 10 is another step in Microsoft's move towards a single operating system that can span across all genre of computing devices: phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, etc. (Technically, this even applies to Servers since Windows Server 2012 is "the server version of Windows 8" and was internally code-named "Windows Server 8" and both show as Windows Version 6.3 ... but we don't want to go down that path right now.)

According to Microsoft's official Windows 10 page and an announcement made at the big Windows 10 reveal on 21 January, the upgrade will be FREE for most users of Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise users are not eligible for the free upgrade because businesses that use the the enterprise version should theoretically be able to pay for their Windows 10 upgrade.

Microsoft hasn't provided a release date other than "later this year", but if you just can't wait for it, you can sign up for the Windows Insider Program, to download, install, and evaluate the Windows 10 Technical Preview.

Some people have gotten wrapped around the axle asking why is it Windows 10 instead of Windows 9. According to the article Microsoft's New Windows Marketing Boss Explains What Happened To Windows 9, the short answer is that Microsoft wants to establish that Windows 10 isn't just Windows 8.2, that it's not an incremental upgrade to Windows 8/8.1. You can find some more technical information here about the version numbering versus the OS numbering, to include some speculation on Why is it called Windows 10 not Windows 9?

Microsoft has FINALLY brought back the beloved and much missed Start menu! With the return of the Start menu, those of us who prefer the Desktop won't have to resort to 3rd-party add-ons like Classic Shell, even though it's adequate.

Here's an interesting article from PCWorld that summarizes some of the new or updated features : Windows 10's new features: Cortana, a 'Spartan' browser, Xbox streaming, and more.

If you have 2 hours to kill, and are THAT curious about Windows 10, you can watch the video of the official reveal here on YouTube: Microsoft Windows 10 Event January 2015 (Full).

I'm trying to get my act together so I can start posting helpful articles for Windows 7 and 8.x users in the near future.

As always, I'm open to questions and constructive comments. Your feedback is welcome.