Microsoft announced early this month that its upcoming Windows 10 operating system will be available on 29 July 2015 in 190 countries (including Malaysia) as a free upgrade to people using Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 with qualifying devices.
The editions of existing Windows operating system that are qualified for the free Windows 10 upgrade:
Some of the key features of Windows 10 according to Microsoft:
- Cortana, the world’s first truly personal digital assistant helps you get things done. Cortana learns your preferences to provide relevant recommendations, fast access to information, and important reminders. Interaction is natural and easy via talking or typing. And the Cortana experience works not just on your PC, but can notify and help you on your smartphone too.
- Microsoft Edge, is an all-new browser designed to get things done online in new ways, with built-in commenting on the web – via typing or inking — sharing comments, and a reading view that makes reading web sites much faster and easier. With Cortana integrated, Microsoft Edge offers quick results and content based on your interests and preferences. Fast, streamlined and personal, you can focus on just the content that matters to you and actively engage with the web.
- Office on Windows: In addition to the Office 2016 full featured desktop suite, Windows 10 users will be able to experience new universal Windows applications for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, all available separately. These offer a consistent, touch-first experience across a range of devices to increase you productivity. Designed from the ground up to run on Windows 10, you can easily create and edit Word documents, and deliver PowerPoint presentations while annotating on the fly. With new touch-first controls in Excel you can create or update spreadsheets without a keyboard or mouse. You will also be able to enjoy new versions of OneNote and Outlook, which are included with Windows 10 at no additional cost.
- Xbox Live and the integrated Xbox App bring new game experiences to Windows 10. Xbox on Windows 10 brings the expansive Xbox Live gaming network to both Windows 10 PCs and tablets. Communicate with your friends on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One – while playing any PC game. You can capture, edit and share your greatest gaming moments with Game DVR, and play new games with friends across devices. You can play games on your PC, streamed directly from your Xbox One console to your Windows 10 tablets or PCs, within your home. Games developed for DirectX 12 in Windows 10 will see improvements in speed, efficiency and graphics capability.
- New Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People, Mail & Calendar apps have updated designs that look and feel familiar from app to app and device to device. You can start something on one device and continue it on another since your content is stored on and synched through OneDrive.
- Windows Continuum enables today’s best laptops and 2-in-1 devices to elegantly transform from one form factor to the other, enabling smooth transitions of your tablet into a PC, and back. And new Windows phones with Continuum can be connected to a monitor, mouse and physical keyboard to make your phone work like a PC.
- Windows Hello, greets you by name and with a smile, letting you log in without a password and providing instant, more secure access to your Windows 10 devices. With Windows Hello, biometric authentication is easy with your face, iris, or finger, providing instant recognition.
- Windows Store, with easy install and uninstall of trusted applications, supported by the broadest range of global payment methods.
System requirement for Windows 10:
- Latest OS: Make sure you are running the latest version either Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
- RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
- Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
- Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
- Display: 1024×600
Microsoft said users can reserve their free Windows 10 upgrade now through a simple reservation process. Qualifying users with automatic Windows updates enabled should look out for an icon (Get Windows 10) at their system tray at the bottom right of the screen. Simply click on the icon, and then complete the reservation process. More details here.
The Verge has reported that users who upgrade to the new Windows 10 might have some limitation. Users who upgrade to Windows 10 will be saying goodbye to Windows Media Center, the card game Hearts, and Windows 7’s desktop gadgets.
Updates are forced on Windows 10 Home, users won’t have the option to disable it unless they upgrade to Pro or Enterprise editions.
The technology site also reported that Cortana will only be available in the US, Canada, UK, China, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain at launch, while Windows Hello (which offers support for various biometric passwords) will need an infrared camera for facial recognition, or a supported fingerprint reader. The Xbox Music and Xbox Video streaming apps will only be available in selected countries.
The Windows 10 upgrade will be available for free to exiting Windows users for up to 1 year, after that, users who did not upgrade will have to pay for Windows 10.
For those who are not qualified for the upgrade or did not take up the free upgrade offer(within 1 year), Windows 10 Home will cost $119 (estimated RM444), while Windows 10 Pro will cost $199 (estimated RM749). Users who wants to upgrade from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro, it will cost them $99, estimated RM374 (Windows 10 Pro Pack).
[Link]– Windows 10 FAQ