Microsoft unveils next on the line AIO operating system: Windows 10

At a press event in San Francisco on September 30, Microsoft offered the first public peek at the next version of its flagship operating system Windows 10, acknowledging that the current version veered off course and pledging to give users a voice in the development of its most famous product. By skipping a number in the company's established product-naming convention. The current version, released two years ago, is called Windows 8. Executives implied the new name symbolized a major advance.
And Microsoft wants to give back to customers the Windows they loved. Held in a ground-floor loft space in an uncharacteristically gritty neighborhood, the Windows 10 preview was as close as Microsoft has come to acknowledging mistakes in the design of Windows 8.



Microsoft showed preliminary new features including ways to switch more easily from one computing task to another, or work in multiple applications—such as email, Web browser and Excel spreadsheet—simultaneously on one screen. The Windows "Start" menu also is getting a makeover, making it possible to search for and select desktop programs, small apps, and websites in one spot.

Windows 10 de-emphasizes a screen of smartphone-like apps introduced with Windows 8 and pitched as a modern complement to the traditional Windows desktop mode. Some users found moving between modes confusing. The new version attempts to meld what had been two distinct ways of using a computer or tablet.



Development of Windows 10 began under former CEO Steve Ballmer, who overhauled the Windows leadership shortly after Windows 8 launched and installed Mr. Myerson a short time later. The task of completing and launching the new version now falls to Microsoft's current chief, Satya Nadella.

Microsoft said it is giving the public a look at the next Windows unusually early in the software's development cycle in large part to give corporate-technology buyers enough time to provide meaningful input.

Microsoft executives said Windows 10 would launch sometime after next spring, but they declined to discuss other details, including timing and pricing. Microsoft will open up the OS to dedicated beta testers under its Windows 10 Insider Program, where you will be able to download and test the yet to be released version of another Windows.