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Microsoft has pulled a U-turn
on its reinvention of the PC,
ditching Windows 8 and creating
something that blends the old
Windows with the new.
By Samuel Gibbs
processor.
Processors supporting 64-bit operation have been
on sale from Intel and AMD since 2004, so most PCs
still in operation will support 64-bit software.
The fate of ARM-based Windows tablets (that is,
not running x86 processors) is unclear. Windows RT
powers the Microsoft Surface and Surface 2, Nokia
Lumia 2520 and the Dell XPS 10, among others.
Microsoft has yet to announce whether Windows RT,
which only runs on tablets powered by smartphoneclass ARM processors, will be upgraded to Windows
10. A question about RTs future wasnt answered at
the introduction on Tuesday.
1 Start menu
After complaints from users about its absence, the
start menu is back. Clicking the start button brings
4 Universal apps
Windows Store Microsoft promises that Windows
universal apps will run on any Windows product,
including smartphones, tablets and desktops.
Along with the one Windows for all devices
idea, Microsoft is pushing what it calls universal
Windows apps, which is the new name for apps
downloaded from the Windows Store. The idea is
that one app will be able to run on all Windows
platforms, including Windows Phone. Microsoft has
been talking about this for over a year.
How it will work is not yet clear, but it is likely that
new Windows apps will have a condensed version
for Windows Phone and full-size versions for tablets
and computers. Apples universal apps do something
similar between the iPhone and iPad, but are not the
same as the desktop OS X apps.
5 No more full-screen; universal apps can be
windowed
Bringing back the start menu has given the traditional Windows desktop more prominence again. To
help merge the Windows 8-style modern apps from
the Windows Store with the traditional desktop,
Windows 10 can now run the newly renamed universal apps in windows on the desktop, as though
they were any other desktop app.
6 Snap assist
The snapping feature, which automatically resizes
windows on the desktop to ll part or all of the
screen, has been enhanced, allowing tiling of windows, snapping side-by-side and an array of new
layouts to including virtual multi-desktop modes
to try to help computer and tablet users be more
productive with both universal apps and traditional
desktop Windows apps.
7 What will it run on? Is Windows RT dead?
Windows 10 will run on most things that Windows
8 can run on. That includes almost any new PC
bought in the last couple of years, but will exclude
some older PCs, as Windows 8 requires a 64-bit