CHAPTER 1
What's New in Windows 10

IN THIS CHAPTER

1. New platforms
2. The Windows 10 Interface
3. Office universal apps
4. Cortana
5. A new browser experience
6. Xbox and Windows 10
7. Microsoft HoloLens
8. Microsoft Surface Hub
9. Other new features

If you have been using Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, you'll find Windows 10 both familiar and new. Windows 10 builds on the significant development done for Windows 8.x but adds improved usability. Windows 10 isn't just a tweak to Windows 8.1, however. Not only does Windows 10 offer a better user interface, but you'll find a long list of new and enhanced features.

If you are currently using Windows 7 or even Windows XP, you'll find Windows 10 to be a bit of a departure from your current experience in some ways. In other ways, Windows 10 isn't much different from Windows 7. For example, the Windows desktop still functions the way it does in Windows 7. With the changes introduced in Windows 8.1 and refined in Windows 10, you'll find that working in Windows 10 — whether on the Windows desktop or with the Start menu — is really not that different from your current experience. That means you can become productive with Windows 10 in a very short time.

In this chapter, we don't focus on the features you've encountered in previous versions of Windows — we explore the new and changed features in Windows 10. This chapter provides an overview of these features, and other chapters provide a deeper explanation. Although we can't cover every new feature in this chapter, we hope to give you a good overview of the key features and conceptual changes introduced in Windows 10.

Now, whip out that new Windows 10 tablet or PC, start reading, and start taking advantage of the great new features that Windows 10 has to offer.

NOTE

The first part of this chapter focuses on what is new in Windows 10, compared to previous editions of Windows (Windows 7 and Windows 8.x). See the section “Windows 10 Anniversary Edition Update,” later in this chapter, for details on many of the new features and changes in Windows 10 build 1607, known as the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition.

New Platforms and Devices

One of the most significant additions to Windows 8 was its support for platforms other than the traditional PC. Windows 8 moved beyond the Intel and AMD x86 processor family to support System on a Chip (SoC) devices from both the x86 and ARM architectures. Windows 8.1 naturally also supported the ARM architecture, as does Windows 10.

ARM, which stands for Advanced RISC Machines, was developed by the company now known as ARM Holdings. Although you may not have heard of ARM processors, they are common in tablets, cell phones, MP3 players, gaming consoles, computer peripherals, and many other consumer electronics devices.

While the traditional PC portable form factor continues to shrink with ultra-light tablets and notebooks, SoC support for Windows 10 offers the capability to provide a Windows experience on small form-factor tablets, cell phones, and smaller handheld devices, in addition to the generally larger (and typically more powerful) traditional PC platforms. For ARM devices, the result is an opportunity for device manufacturers to provide a new selection of handheld devices running a Windows operating system (dubbed Windows 10 IoT Core) with support for applications like those in the Microsoft Office suite.

For users, it means a consistency of user experience across a broad range of devices. For example, your experience can be largely the same on your notebook, your tablet, and your cell phone. A single app can give you the same data and user experience across each device, with only small interface differences driven by screen size. Support for ARM also opens up some interesting possibilities for embedding Windows in consumer electronic devices. Someday soon your TV may be running Windows and giving you the same streaming experience as your PC. Devices such as these are loosely labeled as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Windows 10 Mobile and IoT Core

In addition to the more traditional PC editions for home, professional, and enterprise users, Windows 10 is available for a variety of IoT devices. Windows 10 supports a common platform for universal apps and drivers across all of these types of devices, which further reinforces the capability to deploy apps across a very broad range of devices. But even with a common platform, the user experience on these three categories of devices is different depending in part on which edition of Windows 10 the device runs.

Windows 10 Mobile targets mobile devices and provides features such as a familiar and consistent user interface, instant on, and long battery life. Windows 10 Mobile supports universal apps, meaning an app developed for a desktop or tablet device can also run on a mobile device. Although Windows 10 Mobile does not support classic Win32/.NET apps, it provides lockdown capabilities to enable developers to create and deploy line-of-business (LOB) apps to mobile devices. For example, the app you use to submit and approve expense reports on your PC can also deploy and run on a special-purpose handheld device running Windows 10 Mobile as well as your Windows Phone, also running Windows 10 Mobile. Windows 10 Mobile is also available in an Enterprise edition that provides additional device management capability and security.

Windows 10 IoT Core is a small-footprint edition of Windows 10 with a subset of features that targets small devices and single-purpose devices, and has lower requirements for RAM, processer, and storage. Windows 10 IoT Core supports universal apps and drivers, the same development tools as for all Windows 10 devices, and the key features that Windows 10 provides on other platforms, such as security, update capability, manageability, and Windows apps.

NOTE

Apps designed for the new Windows 8.x and Windows 10 interface and available through the Microsoft Store were originally called Metro apps, then Modern apps, and now, simply Windows apps. Legacy apps written for previous editions of Windows are called Windows desktop apps. The term Windows app throughout this book refers to these modern Windows apps.

NOTE

Windows 10 IoT Core supports headed devices (those with a video display) as well as headless devices (those without a display).

However, Windows 10 IoT Core does not include any Microsoft branding or Windows UI, has no Windows shell or apps, and does not include the apps you would otherwise expect on a tablet or other multi-use device, such as Windows Explorer, the Mail app, or a browser. Windows 10 IoT Core is geared toward device-specific user experience scenarios. For example, a GPS manufacturer might design a GPS device that uses Windows 10 IoT Core as its operating system, or a wearable technology company might use Windows 10 IoT Core as the underlying OS for a new smart watch.

NOTE

Windows 10 IoT Core supports SoC devices as well as the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 single-board computers. The latter enables hobbyists and developers to create Windows 10 apps for this credit card–sized device.

Xbox and Windows 10

Xbox has been the leading game console for several years, and although users have been able to control and integrate with their Xbox from a Windows 8.x PC, they could play Xbox games only on their Xbox consoles. Windows 10 changes that paradigm.

Windows 10 enables users to play Xbox games on their Windows 10 PCs and tablets. The games do not run natively on the PC, but instead stream from the Xbox to the other device using the Xbox app on the Windows 10 device. For example, if you're playing a game on your Xbox but need to move to another room, you pick up your tablet, connect to the Xbox, move to the other room, and continue playing.

If you have visions of playing Xbox games at work, that's still a dream (unless you have an Xbox at work). The only way Windows 10 streams is via Wi-Fi on a local network, and you can stream to only one device at a time. In addition, the game must be designed specifically to support streaming.

The Windows 10 Xbox app (Figure 1.1) enables you to stream compatible Xbox games to your Windows 10 device as well as to interact with your Xbox console and Xbox Live.

FIGURE 1.1 Use the Xbox app to stream games to your PC.

HoloLens

HoloLens is a new product from Microsoft that was conceptualized as part of the initial Microsoft Kinect project. HoloLens is essentially a wearable computer in the form of a headset that Microsoft touts as the “first fully untethered holographic computer” (see Figure 1.2). HoloLens is a perfect example of Windows 10 IoT in action. The device is fully self-contained and does not require an external computer to drive it.

FIGURE 1.2 Microsoft HoloLens is a wearable holographic PC running Windows 10.

HoloLens overlays holographic content on your real-world view for an augmented reality experience. The device has obvious potential in the gaming world, but even more so as a means for artists, engineers, educators, and many others to change the way we work, teach, and learn.

Surface Hub

Microsoft's Surface Hub is a large-screen, hybrid TV/computer/tablet device designed for in-person collaboration as well as video conferencing...