This week Windows announced the details of its new operating system, Windows 10. Quite what happened to Windows 9 we’re not sure, but here we are anyway!
The new feature that is grabbing most people’s attention is in fact an old one: Windows 10 will bring back the Start button. A lot of Windows users missed it when they upgraded to 8, so this news will make a lot of users happy.
Windows 7 and 8 were vast improvements on Windows Vista, which everyone seemed to hate. The problem with 8 was that it appeared to be designed primarily for tablet devices, and just happened to run on laptops and desktops as well. Using any computer other than a tablet, you couldn’t help but feel that Microsoft didn’t really care about you anymore. Now it looks like they’re trying to win back the love of some of their non-tablet users.
But fret not, this isn’t the only new feature. The coloured tiles of the Windows 8 Start Screen have been resized and adapted to appear alongside a more traditional Start menu, accessed via the Start button. The Start Screen will still appear on touch-screen devices.
Windows 10 is designed to run on all devices; mobile, tablet, PC and server. Apple makes separate operating systems for its various products; OS X for Macs, iOS for mobile devices. Windows 10 will be all things to all people, if it works (and if people go out and buy it, which they haven’t done in great numbers for Windows 8). We’ll know by 2015.