Windows 10 – TC Insight

Windows 10 – TC Insight

by Tinder Corporation, 2nd July 2015

The Tinder team are busy testing the latest release candidate version of the much anticipated Windows 10 operating system, due for release later this year.

Windows 10 Start MenuThe latest offering from Microsoft includes a host of new features, most notably the jubilant return of a more “familiar” Start Menu, blended with the “live tiles” approach heavily utilised by the somewhat less popular Windows 8 Metro UI approach.

Deeply embedded into the core of Windows 10 is Microsoft’s new digital assistant, and Siri rival “Cortana”.

Microsoft Cortana For Desktop

 

The voice recognition assistant will search local files and folders as well as pulling information from the web via Bing and all with a simple “Hey Cortana” to kick off the process.   Our testing has found the recognition engine to be very good – even with a definite non-American accent!

 

With this release, Microsoft has definitely listened to user feedback and of course, alarming market share statistics and finally decided the time was right to overhaul the much neglected and often criticised Internet Explorer with a new browser, codenamed Project Spartan.

Windows 10 - Project Spartan Edge BrowserThe new browser has clearly been influenced by some of the more popular browsers, such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It includes some additional (useful?) features, such as direct annotation of webpages, allowing you to highlight and share portions of a webpage right from within the browser window.  What we will say from our testing is, the new browser seems to be a lot quicker and more reliable at rendering webpages.  It’s rumoured its release name will be “Edge”.

 

Windows 10 Task Switcher & Multiple DesktopsScreen usage is a key focal point in the new look and feel of Windows 10. Microsoft has “borrowed” a long-established and much celebrated idea from the Linux world – multiple desktops.   With a simple click on the new task switcher button you can quickly and easily see all of your open programs and switch between multiple desktop spaces, making it easier to manage that mountainous workload!

If you are working on a tablet or touch enabled device, there is even a great little “tablet mode” button, which quickly and easily re-organises your windows, apps and Start Menu into a more tablet friendly layout.  Switch back to desktop mode and everything will seamlessly snap back to where it was before your switched modes – it works very well.

 

So, do I upgrade immediately?

If you haven’t heard by now, then we have a little good news for you… if you currently run a legitimate copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 (including 8.1), you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free!

Windows 10 Upgrade AppAt some point you will notice the new Windows Upgrade application popping up on your current device, urging you to proceed ASAP.  We definately think Microsoft have made some great progress with their latest OS however here is our word of caution…give the world a chance to take a few turns on this one!   Being an early adopter of a new operating system is a nice idea, but is normally the reserve of geeky IT guys (like us). We would strongly suggest you let the IT community test the software in the real world for a few months, as every new software package that any company releases will inherently cause some challenges and have some bugs to iron out.

The free upgrade offer lasts for a whole 12 months, so there’s no need to panic and upgrade immediately – why not liaise with your local friendly IT company (and of course yes..I do mean Tinder!!) and let us plan the upgrade with you to minimise the risk of any compatibility issues.

 

 

 

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