Microsoft announces the new Windows: 3 things you need to know by Kim Komando

Right this minute, more than 1 billion people around the world are using a computer or tablet running Microsoft Windows or a smartphone with Windows Phone. I know plenty of you are reading this on a Windows-powered gadget.

So when Microsoft takes the wraps off a new Windows version that could be in millions of households within a year or two, it's kind of a big deal.

Not only that, Microsoft has a lot riding on the next version of Windows. Its last offering, Windows 8, was a big miss with consumers and businesses - as I predicted even before it came out - thanks to its radical interface and confusing app system.

So, can Microsoft turn it around? It has before - the fantastic Windows 7 followed the poorly received Windows Vista as a recent example.

It only remains to be seen if the new Windows can make up for Windows 8's missteps. So, without further ado let me now introduce you to the next Windows.

1. The name

Microsoft has an uneven history with names. It can never make up its mind on how to label Windows, from version numbers (Windows 1 to 3.11) to years (95, 98, 2000) to acronyms and imagery (NT, ME, XP, Vista) and back to version numbers again (7, 8, 8.1).

So, what was it going to be this time? Going in to the event, the tech world was making bets between Windows 9, Windows Threshold ("Threshold" being the development name) or just plain Windows.

What we got instead was - wait for it - Windows 10.

It seems Microsoft decided to stick with version numbers, but completely skipped 9. Maybe it just finally wanted to catch up to Apple's OS X.

Or, as the speaker suggested in the Q&A after the presentation, Windows 10 is such a big step Microsoft wanted an appropriately big milestone name.

2. The plan

And Microsoft does have big plans for Windows 10. It hopes to make Windows 10 work on every gadget from desktops and laptops to smartphones and tablets.

In fact, the speaker at the presentation joked that Microsoft would have called it "Windows One" if it hadn't already used that back in 1985.

There are a few advantages to this. There will be one store, so apps you buy on your smartphone will work on your desktop and vice versa.

Microsoft is also taking a "mobile first, cloud first" approach. So, presumably, your information will sync with Microsoft's OneDrive so it's the same across every Windows gadget you own.

Of course, Microsoft already tried the "one size fits all" approach with Windows 8 and you saw how that turned out. The mobile features messed up the computer experience and the computer features messed up the mobile experience.

So, why is Windows 10 going to be any different?

3. The fix

Unlike Windows 8, Windows 10 will configure itself for the gadget you're using. So, on desktops and laptops you'll get a Windows 7/XP experience with a Start Menu, taskbar and everything you'd expect.

The Start Menu will have Windows 8-style live tiles that you can customize and resize to look and work however you want. It also features an upgraded universal search.

Apps will load in windows so you can use them on the desktop like any other program.

In other words, everything is more or less back to the way it was in Windows 7. What's old is new again.

On the new-features front, Windows 10 will also have support for virtual desktops and a new "task view" that makes it easier to see every program that's running.

You can see the new/old way it works in action here:

If you have a touch screen computer, of course, some of Windows 8's touch-based features like the Start Screen, Charm bar and edge swiping will stick around. Plus, buttons and other interface elements will automatically customize to be easier to tap.

On tablets and smartphones, Windows 10 will continue to show the Start Screen and live tiles from Windows 8 and Windows Phone, and it's dropping the clumsy-on-a-small-screen "desktop" view. That's actually a good thing, because that's what the Start Screen was originally made to do, and does well.

The verdict

It's actually hard to say at this point how things will turn out. Microsoft didn't go into too much detail at the presentation.

It was mostly to give developers an overview before they download the technical preview.
I will say that Microsoft is saying the right things and the early indications are this could be the next Windows 7. As for its dream of having the same operating system across every gadget, that's a bit more ambitious.

Also, plenty of people are going to be using Android and Apple gadgets with Windows, and there's no word on any plans to integrate those any better than they are now.

Microsoft is going to do a more detailed unveiling in April when Windows 10 is closer to completion. It expects to ship Windows 10 mid-2015. No word yet on pricing or if the rumors of a free upgrade from Windows 8.1 is true.

Stay tuned, though, and I'll let you know the latest as it happens.

Posted in: Windows