Windows everywhere

Unlike Windows 8, Windows Store apps run inside windows, just like traditional desktop apps. Like normal desktop windows, they can be resized, moved, maximized, minimized and closed.

Going dotty

Another Windows 8 feature that received an overhaul is the Charms menu, a slide-in list that provides a list of app-specific and system-wide commands.

In Windows 8, desktop PC users could summon the menu by clicking in the top right hand corner of the screen and swiping down. Windows 10 ditches the shortcut and replaces it with a button in Windows Store apps.

The use of the dotted button would change in later builds of Windows 10.

Virtual desktops ahoy

Windows 10 brought virtual desktops to a Microsoft operating system for the first time – allowing users to assign apps to multiple virtual workspaces.

Users can switch between the desktops and apps using the new Task View shortcut on the taskbar or with the Windows key + Tab shortcut – as well as moving apps between virtual desktops.

The interface for moving apps would be simplified in a later build.

Touch typing

The Windows 10 touch keyboard improves on that offered by Windows 8 on launch, introducing support for as you type AutoComplete suggestions.

Snappy assistance

Windows 10 refined the ability of Microsoft’s earlier OSes to automatically scale windows to fill portions of the screen – with support for snapping together four equally sized windows.

System compression

Another useful Windows 10 feature introduced in an early build was system compression.

Accessed by running the Disk Cleanup utility as an administrator, the option allows users to compress executable and program files to free up extra space – reportedly able to free up gigabytes on a Surface Pro 3.

Windows 10 also does away with the separate recovery images that occupy gigabytes of space.

OneDrive sync

Like its predecessor, Windows 10 is integrated with Microsoft’s cloud storage offering OneDrive.

Microsoft altered how OneDrive sync works in Windows 10 – preventing OneDrive files that weren’t stored locally from displaying in File Explorer, to avoid confusion over offline access. Following concern over the changes, Microsoft pledged to examine new ways for File Explorer to display OneDrive files not stored locally.

New look

The icons in File Explorer have changed over time, with Build 9926 introducing a design closer to the brighter icons found in later builds, as well as the ability to pin a folder in the “recent files” list.

Streamlined search

Windows 10 search function – further refined in later builds – provides the ability to look for information and software stored both locally and online.

This is Spartan

Arriving in a test build earlier this year, Microsoft’s new browser for Windows 10 aims to tackle the popularity of Chrome head on.

The Edge browser, initially codenamed Spartan, arrived in a fairly bare bones form but during Windows 10’s public outing Microsoft has improved its look and feel.

Microsoft wants Edge to exceed other browsers in both performance and support of the latest web technologies – claiming the browser now beats Chrome and Firefox in JavaScript benchmarks.

Helpful hamburgers

Rather than using an ellipsis button to summon an app and system settings menu, Windows Store apps in later builds of Windows 10 use this “hamburger” icon, seen in the top left, instead.

Your face is the key

A few months back Windows 10 users got their first glimpse of how to log into the OS using their face.

The Windows Hello feature allows users to access Windows using biometrics, specifically a facial, iris or fingerprint scan.

The facial scan requires an infrared, depth sensing camera – such as Intel RealSense devices – so will probably become more useful as such hardware becomes standard on PCs and tablets.

Windows 10’s Passport feature will also allow users to log into the computer, sites and services using a PIN tied to the device.

Adaptive interface

Windows 10 features Continuum mode, which will detect when devices are docked with a mouse and keyboard or being used as a tablet and reorient the UI to suit.

Here you can see the Start Menu reconfigured for Tablet Mode, with larger, easier to hit tiles.

The other major feature will be support for what Microsoft calls universal apps, applications that share their core code but that can switch their interface to be equally usable on desktops, phones, and tablets.

Over time Microsoft has improved Continuum mode to make it better suited to different uses, for instance increasing the size and spacing of the Start button, Cortana, and the Task View when the OS is being used with a tablet.

Handwriting recognition

For hardware that supports it Windows 10 can also recognize a user’s handwriting.

The Text Input Canvas feature has gradually been improved, with the interface tweaked to provide easily accessible suggestions for current and next words.

Return of Aero Glass

Microsoft experimented with bringing back the blurred transparency effect found in earlier operating systems but dropped for Windows 8.

The Aero Glass effect was trialled among select users in earlier builds of Windows 10.

Cortana upgrades

Later additions allowed Cortana to be summoned using the phrase ‘Hey Cortana’ or via the Win key + C shortcut.

More recent builds also integrated Cortana with Microsoft Office 365, allowing Cortana to plug into the office suite’s Calendar and offer users appointment reminders, information on when and where to go for meetings, travel times to work, and even to get updates for upcoming trips.

Taking Spartan to the Edge

The Spartan browser was later rebranded as Edge.

Beyond Microsoft’s commitment to getting the basics of the browser right, Edge comes with various features – such as the ability to quickly look up contextual information about people and places on webpages, to answer simple queries typed in the address bar, a reading mode that strips away clutter and a tool for annotating pages.

Later builds will add support for extensions, software plug-ins that extend the capabilities of the browser, as in Chrome and Firefox.

Internet Explorer 11 will still be available for those who need backwards compatibility with older sites.

UX tweaks

The UI of the OS has been refined over time, adding features you’d expect such as apps being able to indicate they require attention by flashing orange on the taskbar or file transfer progress reflected by the filling of a green bar.

Refined tools

Built in tools have been augmented during the testing program, based on feedback from participants, such as the addition of a five second delay to the OS’s Snipping Tool, to allow it to capture pop-up menus.

Better apps

Windows 10 has default apps handling photos, maps, news, money, music, mail and more.

These apps have accrued new features as new builds arrived, with the maps app integrating Bing search to add in information about places of interest nearby and support for GIFs and the RAW file format added to the default photo viewer.

Facelift

Over time the rather plain icons present in earlier builds have been replaced with what Microsoft describes as “more modern and lightweight” alternatives. The revamp means that app icons will also be more consistent between desktop and mobile in apps such as Word and Excel.

New look Start Menu

The look of the Start Menu has changed a lot since the first build, in order to “create better symmetry”, according to Microsoft.

The look and size of the icons have changed and the power button, File Explorer and Settings has moved to the bottom left.

The Start menu is now also resizable to allow room for more tiles. It can even run in fullscreen, similar to Windows 8’s Start screen.

There are new shortcuts too – the ‘All apps’ list can be brought up by swiping up on the lefthand side of the screen and the ‘All apps’ menu now allows you to click on a letter to go to apps under that letter.

The final cut

The Windows 10 wallpaper for the release version will be this space age-looking Windows icon, which Microsoft created using lasers, projectors and camera-mapping.