Windows 10 release date, price, features

Windows 10 is coming sooner than expected, and without Internet Explorer. With new features the fact that the upgrade will be free for existing Windows users is very good news indeed.
At its WinHEC conference in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft has also said the Windows 10 upgrade could ship this summer. Here's everything you need to know about the Windows 10 UK release date, price and new features. See also: Microsoft's January 21 Windows 10 event live stream and live blog.

Windows 10 will include phones and the Xbox One- in an app form. It will also include Cortana and a new web browser currently known as 'Spartan'. Spartan spells the end for Internet Explorer, although it may not completely disappear for a little while yet, according to the IEBlogat MSDN.

"When we announced Project Spartan in January, we laid out a plan to use our new rendering engine to power both Project Spartan and Internet Explorer on Windows 10… However, today we’re announcing that on Windows 10, Project Spartan will host our new engine exclusively," says IEBlog. Internet Explorer will continue in its current form in Windows 8.1.

New features in Windows 10

Perhaps the biggest news about Windows 10 is that it will be - in Microsoft's words, "One product family, one platform, one store". For the desktop version of Windows 10, there will be no more 'duality', as Microsoft's Joe Belfiore put it. That means no more split personality between modern apps and the 'old' desktop.

Here are what we think are the best 10 new features in Windows 10, including Cortana, multiple desktops, a proper start menu and more.

Windows 10: why is it called Windows 10?

During the short briefing in San Francisco when Microsoft unveiled Windows 10, it made it clear that the next version would be very much unified across all types of devices with screen sizes from 4 inches to 80 inches. It confirmed that the next version of Windows Phone - after 8.1 - would be 10 and said, "This product, when you see the product in your fullness I think you'll agree with us that it's a more appropriate name."

When questioned about ARM-based Surface tablets, the answer was, "we're building the software to update vast majority of devices out there." However, it has now become clear that Surface tablets won't be upgradeable to Windows 10.

Microsoft's Terry Myerson summed it up with, "Windows 10 represents the first step of a whole new generation of Windows, unlocking new experiences to give customers new ways to work, play and connect. This will be our most comprehensive operating system and the best release Microsoft has ever done for our business customers, and we look forward to working together with our broader Windows community to bring Windows 10 to life in the months ahead.

Windows 10: What's Bill Gates got to do with it?

The co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft has been working with the company on a project called Personal Agent, which is in essence an advanced personal assistant.

"One project I am working on with Microsoft is the Personal Agent which will remember everything and help you go back and find things and help you pick what things to pay attention to," he told Reddit. "The idea that you have to find applications and pick them and they each are trying to tell you what is new is just not the efficient model - the agent will help solve this. It will work across all your devices."