Microsoft Skips 9 Heads Straight For Windows 10

During today's press event Microsoft made a rather surprising move. Not by announcing the company's newest operating system, which was widely expected, but rather by announcing a bit of a surprising new name. Windows 10!!

Being described as Microsoft's "most comprehensive platform ever," and the ‘first step of a whole new generation of Windows’, Windows 10 will offer a tailored experience for all hardware across a single platform family. Meaning there won't be 'one user interface to rule them all' but rather a product family, with a tailored experience for each device.

Microsoft has said Windows 10 will run across a broad range of devices and we aren't just talking smartphones, tablets and PCs here. They see Windows 10 running on 'The Internet of Things', which could include everything from family PCs to smart devices, to servers in enterprise datacenters worldwide.

“Some of these devices have 4-inch screens – some have 80-inch screens – and some don’t have screens at all,” writes Terry Myerson, executive vice president, Operating Systems. “Some of these devices you hold in your hand, others are 10 feet away. Some of these devices you primarily use touch/pen, others mouse/keyboard, others controller/gesture – and some devices can switch between input types.”

Windows 10 will combine what Microsoft saw as the best of the Windows 8 "tiles" concept for touch,the familiar we found in Windows 7. Microsoft was looking for the best of both worlds in the new design with features such as:

• Optimized Touch for Mobile Phones and Tablets
• Optimized Keyboard Access for Laptops and Desktops
• Enterprise Features for Secured Business Access
• Scalable Windows to See Apps and Programs on the Same Screen
• Common Interface for for "Universal Apps" that'll work across form factor Windows 10 brings back the "start button" concept to the lower left of the screen along with the "Program Menu" concept that users can add programs like Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, etc. to the menu, PLUS the menu also shows (at the same time) the modern Windows application tiles.

Watch the below video from Joe Belfiore to see many of these features in action.

For those wanting an early look at the new operating system you need to sign up for the Windows Insider Program. For more details checkout the Official Microsoft Blog  or to read Myerson’s post, head over to Blogging Windows, and to learn more about today's announcement read the press release.