Microsoft Announces Windows Phone GDR3 Update, Adds 1080p And Large Screen Support

Windows 10 launched globally on 29 July, with Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users, as well as Windows Insiders, all starting to receive their free upgrade to the new OS. Here's our round-up of everything you need to know about Windows 10. Our understanding is that it's essentially using desktop-class code, bits and pieces of Internet Explorer 7 and 8 tossed together and massaged into something that'll look (and work) better on a smaller display with less horsepower. One other thing that concerns us is that a number of sites that detect our iPhone and Android devices to show mobile versions don't detect Windows Phone 7 properly - a key example being Gmail, which shows you a nasty WAP-compatible site designed as the lowest common denominator for data-capable dumbphones. A couple of other important aspects to note about Zune and Windows Phone 7 is that the desktop software and these devices are now extremely interconnected, and the Zune desktop software allows wireless sync. Microsoft has always been good about syncing, but this makes the process slightly less obtuse than its ActiveSync options from the Windows Mobile heyday. Once you've set up your device and computer to sync, you can drag content onto the icon in the Zune software, but your phone won't sync back to your PC until you've got the device on AC power. Not a problem once you get used to it - but our phone could really use some kind of dock. We'd heard before that one of Microsoft's big goals for Windows Phone 7 devices was stellar camera performance - not just in terms of picture size and quality, but speed, too. Image quality varies by device, but since the bare minimum is 5 megapixels for the Windows Phone 7 spec, you'll at least have decently high res photos. Once you've taken your shots, the phone can be configured to automatically upload them to your Windows Live SkyDrive account in the background with your choice of privacy level (private, friends only, or public). In our review period, the company's app store wasn't flooded with titles, but we got a good chance to see how third-party software would preform on Windows Phone 7 devices. Tight Office integration, complete with an awesome on-phone document and viewing experience, stands to be one of the biggest differentiators for Windows Phone 7 - a feature that could almost singlehandedly make these devices impossible to ignore for serious business users regardless of their seemingly consumer-centric slant. We walked away from our gaming experiences being very impressed with the capabilities of Windows Phone 7 handsets as gaming devices. Though it's not quite as full-featured as the latest renditions of Google Maps on Android have been, Microsoft's Bing Maps implementation on Windows Phone 7 is pretty great - they've done a fantastic job of blending the experience of using a mapping app into their so-called Metro design language. One application, Pictures Lab, which is meant to be act as a standalone application and hub component, not only crashed, but froze the phone which required a soft reset to get it working again. In our original preview, we said that Windows Phone 7 didn't quite feel like a complete smartphone OS yet. Microsoft isn't walking away from Windows Phone 7 anytime soon, and the company has created an incredibly promising base set of features to build off of. With terrific Zune and Xbox Live integration, a fast and smart method of getting around the OS, great Office and email experiences, and a genuinely beautiful and useful user interface, Microsoft has definitely laid the foundation for the next several years of its mobile play. We've admired Windows Phone for years now, but the 8.1 update marks the first time that the platform actually feels... complete. With version 8.1, you can now enjoy a functional personal assistant, robust notification center, solid hardware support and a great keyboard, all of which were huge pain points that needed to be addressed a long time ago. The One M8 for Windows is worth considering if you're looking for a beautifully designed Windows Phone with fast performance. HTC's been tight-lipped about whether the phone will eventually head to other markets or carriers. The Verizon version of the M8 for Windows comes with quad-band LTE, which covers both of Verizon's high-speed frequencies and a couple of bands (3 and 7) friendly to many countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. What matters is that it's here now, and Windows Phone flagships are no longer limited to Nokia's Lumia series; it introduces more options for fans of the OS, and it gives the platform more visibility for everyone else. HTC tweaks aside (I'll tackle those shortly), the M8 is a Windows Phone 8.1.1 device without a custom user interface. As you'd expect, then, the phone features Cortana, Live Tiles, quick controls, notifications, folders and the new lock screens, among other things. The biggest early question about the M8 for Windows was how (or if) it would utilize HTC's homemade software features from its Android skin, such as Zoe, BlinkFeed, Duo Camera capability, Sense TV and Video Highlights. BlinkFeed on Windows is its own separate app and Live Tile as opposed to a full home screen panel on Android. BlinkFeed feels more at home on Windows Phone than it does on Android, primarily because its interface is tile-based. At present time, the Windows Phone version doesn't come with a search option or custom feeds, so you'll just have to stick with what HTC offers. The on-screen navigation bar is a recent addition to Windows Phone, and a very welcome one, at that (Android has had this functionality for a while). The Dot View case is an optional accessory introduced on the One M8 for Android, but HTC's made it compatible with the Windows Phone version as well. The M8 for Windows sticks with the same love-or-hate UltraPixel Duo Camera setup as its Android brother, and it even offers a nearly identical user interface. But while the camera modules are exactly the same, a quick image comparison between the Windows Phone and Android versions reveals a few minor disparities. The M8 for Windows seems to do better at capturing dynamic range, and the photos are more saturated in color. The M8 for Windows produced images that were fuzzier and less detailed than those taken on its counterpart. This may be in part due to the length of time HTC's worked on optimizing its UltraPixel tech on Android versus Windows Phone, and I'm hopeful this can be fixed in a future update. HTC's signature Zoe feature, which takes a few seconds of video and burst-mode shots and converts it into a Harry Potter-esque moving picture, isn't available; the Zoe app , which is a social network that lets you show off your Video Highlights to friends and family, is also restricted to Android 4.4. Lastly, the Windows edition lacks a few of the M8's Duo Camera editing tools. In its early days, Windows Phone earned a reputation for robust performance that has continued to the present. The M8 for Windows runs WP 8.1 Update 1 , which is still only available as a Developer Preview on other devices; this is the first time it's been included on a new device out of the box. To nitpick ('tis my burden and duty), the Android version is a little faster when loading apps and multitasking, primarily due to the time-wasting animations scattered throughout the Windows Phone OS. It's a difference of a couple seconds each time, which likely won't matter at all to most users. Occasionally, the processor on the Windows version would slow down, making games extremely choppy for around 15 seconds, after which it'd smooth out for two or three seconds before returning to its frozen state. Images and graphics on the Windows Phone model appear to be fuzzier and have less clarity when looking at the two devices side by side, as if they're displayed at a lower resolution somehow, but at least text and games look great. Running benchmarks can be a little tricky when doing cross-platform comparisons, since most Android tests aren't available on Windows Phone. Microsoft's OS was slightly better on internet-based tests like SunSpider (609ms vs. 649ms, where a lower time is better) and Google Octane (2,801 vs. 2,666), while the Android version did better on GFXBench 2.7 (28 fps vs. 19 fps). So, just like it was on the camera, there's no clear-cut answer to which phone is the better choice. When using the device for email, taking a few photos, browsing the web and running an occasional app, I was able to get slightly more battery life than on my Android M8. When streaming movies through Netflix, the Windows Phone M8 soundly defeats its Android counterpart. Additionally, it lasted for 12 hours and 10 minutes in our standard video rundown test, an increase of 40 minutes over the Sense-clad version. Now that a flagship phone is available on more than one major mobile platform, it's tougher to clearly define its competition; whether you're a fan of Windows Phone, Verizon or nothing more than good phone design, there are plenty of factors to consider. The M8 for Windows is available for $100 on-contract, which is half of what the Android edition cost when it first came out. It may have limited appeal at first because of its exclusivity, but Windows Phone users on Verizon will appreciate it because they can now choose among this and two other flagship devices: the Lumia Icon, which is renowned for its 20-megapixel camera, and the Samsung ATIV SE , which is somewhere between a GS4 and GS5 in terms of specs. Let's go more into specifics on how it compares with the Lumia Icon, its direct Windows Phone competitor. If you're looking for a superior imaging experience, go with the Icon; the M8 is in no way a horrible picture-taking device, but Nokia's had a lot more time and experience to get things right on Windows Phone than HTC has. In a way, the M8 for Windows is competing against its Android brother as well, but HTC's goal isn't to cannibalize sales. I also doubt many people have held off on buying the M8 because it wasn't on Windows Phone, as fans of the platform will have already looked at other options already available to them. People who already use and love Windows Phone now have a flagship option that isn't the latest Lumia device. This phone won't end the platform wars by showing undeniable proof that Windows Phone trumps Android or vice versa; both devices clearly have pros and cons in different areas, and it ultimately comes down to your personal preference. According to Statistica , over two billion PCs have been shipped since 2009, meaning that Windows 10 has been installed on around 200 million devices. Microsoft's stated aim is to have Windows 10 on over one billion devices — which means tablets, PCs, smartphones, and the Internet of Things — by 2019. Comparing Windows 10, which is free, to previous versions of the operating system is problematic. Paul Thurrot, a noted Microsoft blogger, did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and found that Windows 10 adoption is exceeding Windows 7, the most popular version of the operating system, from the same period. As of today, Windows 7 is used by 54% of the PC market — over one billion devices — with Windows 8.1 coming in second, with 11%. The total share of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop operating system, sits at 7% — roughly 158 million devices — meaning that Windows 10 has outgrown it. Next up, according to the data, is Windows XP. Gaming continues to grow on Windows 10 - in 2015, gamers spent over 4 billion hours playing PC games on Windows 10. Gamers have streamed more than 6.6 million hours of Xbox One games to Windows 10 PCs.

He argues that Microsoft's data collection is anonymized — though the value of such anonymity is highly questionable, given the ease with which the veil of anonymity can historically be pierced — and notes that modern websites and social media also collect enormous amounts of data. The problem with Windows 10 is that Microsoft transformed tracking from an opt-in behavior (Windows 7) to a mandatory feature that non-enterprise customers can't opt out of. I don't know how many users would pay for a version of Windows 10 that stripped out and disabled the tracking that Microsoft now uses, but I know I'd happily purchase a retail copy with such features rather than taking the free upgrade I'm eligible for. It's something Microsoft has hinted at even before the launch of Windows 8 (and it's one reason it shoved the NT kernel into Windows Phone 8). Microsoft is building a unified Windows platform - not just another operating system upgrade. Aside from universal apps, that also translates into Xbox One gaming features like game DVR and cross-platform multiplayer support making their way into Windows 10 PC games. Even more intriguing, Windows 10 apps will also work with Windows Holographic , Microsoft's futuristic augmented reality play. Windows 10 is the ideal next step for Microsoft, bringing together the best elements of Windows 7 and 8. With new features like Cortana and Edge, extensive desktop interface refinements and Microsoft's free upgrade offer, it's a must-have for anyone who uses Windows. Windows 8 was notable for unifying desktops and mobile devices, but it also felt like a desperate attempt to prove that it could do touch interfaces too. Windows 10, with its hooks into Azure Cloud services, better support across a variety of devices and the promise of freaking holograms with HoloLens, finally puts Microsoft back into a leadership role. Several years after Windows 8's launch, I can only think of a handful of truly compelling apps. And, aside from the vague promise of easy porting to Windows Phones, Microsoft never really gave developers a compelling case to jump ship. Windows 10 has all of the cross-device promise that Windows 8 had, except it's potentially far more useful. The new Continuum feature , for example, reshapes the OS' interface depending on how you're using it. If you've got a Windows 10 tablet, it'll be much more touch-friendly. If you've got a traditional laptop or desktop, it'll resemble Windows 7 with a revamped desktop Start menu. At Build, Microsoft also showed off how a Windows 10 phone can spit out a decent desktop interface. It's no wonder Microsoft laid out an ambitious goal to bring Windows 10 to a billion devices in a few years. By doing so, it will finally be able to court the developers who've ignored Windows 8 so far. Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant is steadily improving with every new early Windows 10 build. I also got a taste of Windows 10's Xbox One streaming feature, which performed surprisingly well, with no discernible lag or stutter. Most impressively, HoloLens isn't some far-off satellite project for Microsoft - it's part of the company's vision of a unified Windows 10 platform. On top of being powered by the new OS, it can also run any Universal Windows app. Maybe this is reading too much into things, but I noticed a very different feeling in the air after chatting with developers and Microsoft employees over the past few days, when compared to the Windows 8 launch years ago. Since this update is aimed mostly at keyboard-and-mouse users, let's start where those folks are likely to spend a lot of their time: the desktop. Of course, that was already an option in Windows 8.1; the difference is that if you buy, say, a mouse-and-keyboard machine, like a clamshell laptop, the OEM can make that the default so that you never even have to bother with the settings. Speaking of the Taskbar, the rumors were true: You can now pin Windows Store apps to the bottom of the screen, along with traditional legacy programs. In particular, the Windows Store shortcut will come pinned by default on every Windows machine, though you can, of course, remove it if you're so inclined. In fact, the default setting is not to show Windows Store apps on the Taskbar at all, which means another visit to the Taskbar settings is in order. It's not just Windows Store apps making a cameo on the desktop - the Start Screen has meanwhile gotten more mouse-friendly. Throughout, too, Microsoft has fine-tuned Windows so that all of the existing mouse gestures are more precise. Now, following this latest update, mousework in Windows feels more... controlled. It's finally time for Steve Ballmer & Co. to unleash its major annual update (not counting NoDo here), codenamed Mango, to a litany of devices both old and new. Also known as Windows Phone 7.5, the latest build delivers an onslaught of features - no less than 500, according to Microsoft - many of them we've been missing dearly. Mango brings many desperately needed features to Windows Phone, elevating the platform to the modern era. Our purpose in this review is not to go over every minor feature or change brought to WP7.5 - head over to our in-depth Mango preview for all of the finer details - rather, our goal is to highlight what Mango brings to the table and how it does so. The update adds over 500 features to Windows Phone, and unless you're a hardcore fan, you won't have any interest in roughly 470 of them. In short, Mango is precisely what we wish Windows Phone would've been from the beginning - a platform that's capable of handling all of our needs, no matter how crazy they may be. You may have noticed that almost every Windows Phone launched over the last year has been eerily similar in hardware specs, and most lack any significant customization. It's looking into ways to incorporate the newer processors eventually, but it's still a work in progress and integrating them into Windows Phone will likely have to wait until Tango or Apollo at the earliest. This is because Microsoft's managed to preserve the signature Windows Phone look - also known as Metro UI - complete with two columns of tiles on the Start screen and the full alphabetical listing of apps after a quick swipe to the left. The concept of a universal inbox is one that's been done on most mobile operating systems at this point, but Windows Phone added a twist: instead of forcing all of your email accounts into the same box, you can pick and choose exactly which ones you'd like together. Allow us to explain - in previous versions of Windows Phone, each email was treated as its own entity, regardless of if it's part of a full-length conversation. Groundbreaking, we know, but it's an absolute must-have feature in this day and age, and it works seamlessly in the update. The messaging app also gets a +1 in effectiveness, going from a regular ol' SMS / MMS depository to a consolidated place where all your texts, Facebook chats and Windows Live IMs live in one threaded conversation. In essence, your phone is now littered with plenty of ways to interact with your friends and family via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If you haven't had the chance to read our preview of Windows Phone 7.5, Facebook integrates in much the same manner as Twitter does. The integration, while a wonderful concept, is nothing new, but at least Windows Phone throws the capability into its phones with relatively few hiccups. Another area that was half-baked when we first played with it was multitasking, the oh-so-sweet word that penetrated the hearts and souls of phone geeks everywhere when it was first announced for Mango. Its convenience is undeniable: it's immensely frustrating when we can't save our spot in a game when a phone call comes in and go directly back to that same place after the conversation is done. The functionality is all built in so a simple long-press of the back button pulls up your most recently opened apps in a webOS-style card view (each card being a thumbnail of that particular app, which puzzles us as to why we can't actually take our own screenshots on the phone). This is primarily because few third-party apps are compatible with the update yet, though this incompatibility will be a concern of the past soon enough, as devs work to get their apps ready. In some instances, we waited roughly 10 seconds before we were back into the same place on the app. Windows Phone has incorporated it seamlessly into the user experience, making the process quick and simple to set up and easy to enjoy. As much as Microsoft would like us to do everything in Windows Live, it's simply not practical. Marketplace - as it appears on the phone - has remained mostly unchanged since the preview build; podcasts can be downloaded directly from the device, the drop-down menu appears as you type in a Marketplace search, and the app can be accessed from the web. As mentioned before, every program in Windows Phone has been enhanced to be more customizable and increase the user's experience - and the camera app is no different. In fact, Windows Phone still lacks any kind of basic image editing functionality, like cropping and rotation. This immediately makes Windows Phone's image sharing functionality a lot less compelling. A quick press of the dedicated Search button on the bottom right of every Windows Phone will take you into Bing Search, and Mango has added several enhancements to this area in a handy little toolbar at the bottom. Bing Music is essentially Shazam: press the button, allow it 10 seconds or so to listen to the music, and boom - you're shown results that list artist, song title and cover art. It's Windows Phone's built-in reader which recognizes barcodes, tags and QR codes; it also can scan foreign text and translate it to your preferred language, with 30 to choose from (up from 26 in the test build). SkyDrive plays a much more important role in the Office now, as you can now easily sync every type of document - Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote - between your phone and the cloud. That comes along with other Exchange features such as the ability to set up Out of Office messages, sync tasks, use alpha-numeric PIN codes and search your Exchange server for older emails and attachments that normally wouldn't still be in the phone. The Exchange and Office support was an absolutely crucial area to improve on in order to win back disenchanted corporate customers that used Windows Mobile until the bitter end. Looking at the bright side, this could just mean that it may take extra time to get the kinks ironed out for existing devices and might come out in a future update, but the folks at Redmond weren't able to give us a firm commitment on it. So, for the time being, current Windows Phones will have a disadvantage here. In fact, Tango video calling is ever-present in the HTC Titan and Radar, the first Windows Phone 7.5 devices announced by the Taiwanese company. Sure, video chat isn't guaranteed to be supported by the handset you choose, but just do a little research before you purchase the phone to be absolutely positive you'll find a client that works. This feature, as small and insignificant as it may seem, could be considered one of the most important additions to Windows Phone, because of the affect it's previously had on corporations who purposely keep their WiFi networks hidden for privacy. Enter Battery Saver, a Mango feature that, with your permission, will turn on automatically once your phone is low enough on juice. While Windows Phone still needs a glass of water to get rid of a few hiccups - and let's face it, every mobile OS has plenty of their own - it ironed out a lot of the wrinkles from earlier versions and made it a much more feature-laden, user-friendly experience. Despite a grim first year, the bright future of Windows Phone is forcing Ballmer to wear shades. The Xbox app brings together your friends, games, and accomplishments across Xbox One and Windows 10 devices. Stay connected to the Xbox Live community, start party chats, launch into cross-device multiplayer, and stream Xbox One games to any Windows 10 PC in your home. Microsoft is drafting a list of Skylake -based processors that it'll support with Windows 7 and 8.1, but that program will only last until July 17th, 2017. After that, the corporate crowd will have to upgrade to Windows 10 to get any help. Like most people using MacBooks, I have no interest in getting rid of my laptop, but thankfully I don't have to buy any new hardware to use Windows 10. Thanks to Apple creating some helpful tools and some solid third-party options, it's rather easy to get Windows 10 up and running right alongside OS X. You can use a virtualization program, which runs Windows 10 like an app right on top of OS X, or you can use Apple's built-in Boot Camp program to partition your hard drive to dual-boot Windows 10 right next to OS X. Virtual machines like Parallels and VMware cost upwards of $70 on top of what you already have to pay for Windows 10, and while you can run OS X and Windows simultaneously, the drain on your processing power can force both operating systems to run less than optimally. Boot Camp doesn't allow you to easily transfer content between OS X and Windows partitions like virtual machines do, and you can't run the two operating systems simultaneously. It's also completely free (apart from the Windows 10 license), and a shared Dropbox / Google Drive / OneDrive folder can make data transfers a bit easier. Right now, the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to get Windows 10 on your Mac is Boot Camp, and that's what we're using for this tutorial. The first thing you should do is check the system requirements to make sure your Mac can actually run Windows 10. Your Mac needs at least 2GB of RAM (4GB of RAM would be better) and at least 30GB of free hard drive space to properly run Boot Camp. You'll also need at least a 16GB flash drive so Boot Camp can create a bootable drive to install Windows 10. Select the Windows 10 ISO location (Boot Camp automatically found it in my Downloads folder), and choose the USB drive as the destination, and click Continue. After Boot Camp creates your USB boot drive, it will prompt you to choose how much of your hard drive you want to partition for Windows. This is a critical decision: after you choose, you cannot shrink or expand the partition without completely reinstalling Windows. If you just want access to Windows 10 and only plan on using a couple apps, 30GB will suffice (a minimum of 20GB is necessary). But if you're looking to play PC games or use Windows 10 as your main OS, you're going to want to ramp up the available space in the partition. To switch back and forth between OS X and Windows 10, you'll need to restart your Mac. Windows 10 runs well on the Mac — on our early-2014 MacBook Air, the OS hasn't shown any noticeable sluggishness or major issues that you wouldn't find on a PC. The biggest difference between using Windows 10 on a Mac and a PC is the keyboard. You can't remap keys easily, which means if you were used to using Cmd+c for copy on OS X, you'll have to remember that it won't work on Windows (it's Cntrl+c). It's definitely an inconvenience, but not one big enough to say you shouldn't give Windows 10 on Mac a try. It's an interesting rundown, from the perspective of an insider, on what has turned out to be a pivotal year for the company — covering topics including Windows, Microsoft hardware, phone apps, the cloud, and the cultural changes at the company under CEO Satya Nadella. However, the Windows 8 Developer Preview has been already out and on a roll for download. Let's explore Windows 8 and depict the major differences between the to-be successor and its predecessor. USB 3.0 support- Windows 8 integrates a built-in USB 3.0 support for a wide range of latest hardware and networking devices such as hubs and ports etc. Individual users or businesses can now easily create virtual USB drives and transfer data 10 times faster than the earlier USB 2.0 functionality. Such an advanced USB device compatibility and data transfer speed are absent from Windows 7. User Interface- The Metro-style UI (user interface) is the catch in Windows 8. It has become the most talked-about thing so far. Documents, Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, and Control Panel among other things. The app windows will close automatically after a certain period of time (don't worry, it will save the changes before being closed) to offer you a more enhanced and faster experience.

You need not worry about closing all the windows before leaving or shutting down your computer. The famous and useful Windows Search utility has been shifted on the right hand of the screen and appears only when you want it to. There are many hidden utilities on the UI that appear only and only when you hover around your mouse. SoC and ARM Support- Windows 8 now integrates a built-in support for SoC (System on Chip) structural designs and ARM (Advanced RISC Machine)-based devices from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm. Powered by ARM designs, Windows 8 devices will now support both full desktop and Metro-style apps. The Windows 8 ARM version will come pre-integrated with Microsoft Office 15 apps viz. Since Windows 7 has none of features, it remains totally different from Windows 8. Built-in Security- Windows 8 integrates an inbuilt antivirus program in its Kernel. So if you plug in an infected USB device in the drive or your Windows 8 computer, it will simply not boot telling you that the device is infected and needs to be removed immediately. Yes, it does as a built-in security is still a dream in Windows 7 and previous OS versions. Both of these older programs are16-bit and will not install on the 64-bit Windows 7 OS. If my client had purchased a computer running 32-bit Windows 7, he could have run his programs in Compatibility Mode but this function will not work in 64-bit Windows 7. But many large companies want to keep running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, and Microsoft wants to support those operating systems for some devices coming out with Skylake. Microsoft is now preparing a list of certain new devices with Intel Skylake chips that it will support for when they're running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 — but not forever, as Terry Myerson, executive vice president of Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group, explained in a blog post today. The idea is that companies will then upgrade their Skylake devices to Windows 10. Well, for one thing, Microsoft believes Skylake and Windows 10 are a great couple. Compared to Windows 7 PCs, Skylake when combined with Windows 10, enables up to 30x better graphics and 3x the battery life — with the unmatched security of Credential Guard utilizing silicon supported virtualization,” Myerson wrote. But Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel's upcoming ‘Kaby Lake' silicon,” Myerson wrote. Microsoft says that delivery optimization will not download or send personal content and only sends parts” of the update cache but enabling it by default isn't fair for users who might be on internet connections with limited bandwidth. Update: Microsoft says that the feature helps people get updates and apps more quickly if they have a limited or unreliable Internet connection” and does not slow down your internet connection” as it uses a limited portion” of idle upload bandwidth. There's been an incredible response to Windows 10 among end-users, IT professionals and developers. The new user interface and updated experience have spurred rapid adoption, with 110 million consumer devices and over 8 million business devices already running Windows 10. Windows 10 represents a huge opportunity for Box to deliver a seamless content collaboration experience from their desktop or mobile device. With Box for Windows 10, users have a seamless content experience across all of their Windows devices - whether they're using a phone, tablet or PC. Our app integrates with the Windows file picker so users can work in an Office file such as Word, PowerPoint, or Excel and have those changes saved directly back to Box without ever leaving Office. TouchPal Keyboard runs on Windows 8 touchscreen tablets and any x86 based Windows 8 computer. Typing on a Windows 8 touchscreen device can be challenging and TouchPal Keyboard solves this issue by making it easier for people to use their devices at home or in the workplace. Perhaps the biggest news, though, even if it doesn't benefit the majority of Windows users - is that Windows apps will now be universal and run across PC, tablet, phone and even Xbox One That doesn't mean PC users won't be getting new apps as well. As early reports suggested, Project Spartan is a new browser for Windows 10, entirely separate from Internet Explorer. Windows 10 goes a long way to fixing the fragmented Control Panel and Settings menus currently in Windows 8.1. A unified settings menu is coming, with a clean design and simple options, and there's also the new Action Center (pictured above), which provides more toggles for switching on or off WiFi and other settings. Not just the name of John Mayer's mellow third studio album and an underrated sci-fi series, Continuum is now a big part of improving Windows on convertibles. We got a brief glimpse of it back at Microsoft's last Windows event, but it's now been fully explained. If you have, for example, a Surface Pro 3 with the keyboard docked, the experience will be very similar to Windows 7 (or Windows 8.1 in desktop mode). To let anyone stream any Xbox One game to any Windows 10 PC or tablet Sure, you have to be on the same network, but it's still pretty massive news. Often times compatibility issues can cause your computer to freeze up. You can check the Microsoft Windows website for the latest updates. When the Windows registry is filled with errors it can't stop your system from properly communicating information. We will provide additional information on this blog when the issues are resolved with the Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1511. CoPilot brings dependable voice-guided GPS navigation to Windows Phone 8 handsets and Windows 8 devices. Availability: CoPilot is expected to launch on the Windows Phone Store and Windows Store in summer 2013 with the following versions: 'CoPilot Premium' a paid app which includes turn-by-turn navigation and 12 months ActiveTraffic; 'CoPilot GPS' a free offline trip-planning and maps app with in-app purchase for turn-by turn navigation; and CoPilot Truck for truck-specific GPS navigation. Combining a traditional desktop with Windows Phone-inspired Live Tiles, Windows 8 was designed to be equally at home on traditional PCs and more finger-friendly devices, like tablets and hybrids. In addition to walking you through the operating system's various gestures and built-in apps, then, we'll spend some time talking about which form factors are best suited to this redesigned version of Windows. So long as you have a touch-enabled PC, Windows 8 is easier to use than you may have feared. When you first boot up Windows 8 you'll be prompted to sign into your Microsoft account. That means that every time you sign into a Windows 8 PC, your settings and custom tweaks will follow you to that new device. Additionally, because your Microsoft account is linked to your SkyDrive storage, you'll be logged into SkyDrive on any Windows 8 device where you've logged in using your Microsoft ID. So, because Office 2013 backs up to SkyDrive by default, it means any document you edit on your Windows 8 device will automatically upload to the cloud. It's safe to say the Windows Phone-esque Live Tiles have been the single most polarizing thing about Windows 8. Which makes sense: the new, mobile-inspired Start Screen looks wholly different from anything we've seen on previous versions of Windows. What's more, you can't even interact with these apps the same way: they run at full-screen, and can't be minimized or re-sized like the windows you're used to. In short, these tiles are the cornerstone of the Windows 8 experience, and they're impossible to avoid, even if you plan on doing much of your work in the traditional desktop. When Windows users say they wish Microsoft hadn't axed the Start button, what they're really nervous about is the fact that the Start Menu is presented so differently. We'd add, too, that once you master this new layout, there are lots of useful things about the OS that feel like clear improvements over previous versions of Windows. As any Windows user will tell you, you can already more or less do this in Win 7, except here you don't even need to find a search bar. Again, we're used to doing this on our smartphones and tablets, but it's a pleasure to be able to use a Windows PC the same way. If you're using a PC without a touchscreen, there's a good chance the trackpad has fresh drivers that allow you to replicate key Windows 8 gestures, like swiping in from the right to bring up the Charms Bar. Point is: this feature in Windows 8 is at its best when you have some sort of touch device at your disposal. Like so many other features in Windows 8, this feels less clumsy with practice, though even after months of testing, we find the swiping Switcher gesture feels smoother, more intuitive. To some extent, you can control the look and feel of Windows 8. No, there's no bringing back the Start button, but you can select different color themes for your Start Screen. Toward the end of the Windows 8 development process, Microsoft added so-called Personalization Tattoos - essentially, Start Screen backgrounds with patterns and borders. So long as you're signed into your PC using a Microsoft account, this, too, will follow you to other Windows 8 devices you might log into. Get another Win 8 PC down the line, and it will show your paisley background as soon as you sign in for the first time. For the most part, the desktop should feel pretty familiar to Windows 7 users, especially compared to that redesigned Start Screen. For starters, the Aero UI is no more, which means windows no longer have a transparent border. In a move that will please power users, Windows 8 also ushers in improved multi-monitor support, with the ability to display different desktop backgrounds on multiple displays, as well as have a single picture span those various screens. All told, it's a welcome improvement, though it would be nice if you could run Modern UI-style Windows 8 apps on more than one monitor at a time. The same ones you relied on in Windows 7 will work here, which should take some of the sting out of getting used to a new user interface. All told, it works similarly to the People Hub in Windows Phone, which is to say everyone you know gets a contact card that pulls in all available forms of contact - everything from email to a Twitter handle. Open your own contact card and you can update your Facebook status as well as post, favorite or reply to tweets. In Windows 8, you get not one, but two versions of the IE 10 browser: one for the desktop, and a more touch-friendly one that lives on the Start Screen.