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Microsoft Corp's launch of its first new operating system in almost three years, designed to work across laptops, desktop and smartphones, won mostly positive reviews for its user-friendly and feature-packed interface. The launch was seen critical for the company, particularly after the poor response to Windows 8, an ambitious redesign that confused many users by ditching the start button menu and introducing a new layout. The new OS, launched on Wednesday, will be available as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey Fowler said Windows 10 fixes most of...

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) launched its much-awaited Windows 10 operating system at midnight on Wednesday. Windows 10, which comes almost three years after the launch of the company's last operating system, will be available in 190 countries as a free upgrade for users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. The 'free' strategy is a calculated gamble, designed to put Windows on as many devices as possible. The company would then make up for any lost revenue by selling services such as Office over the Internet, or cloud. The new operating system is designed to work across laptops, desktop...

When we first unveiled Windows 10 in September, we outlined our plans for a new era of Windows. We wanted to create a Windows that empowered people and organizations to do great things. Our vision was one platform, one store, and one experience that extends across the broadest range of devices from the smallest screens to the largest screens to no screens at all. For Microsoft, Windows 10 begins to deliver on our vision for more personal computing. In this world experiences are mobile, moving with you seamlessly and easily across your devices. Interacting with technology is as natural as...

Just checked my windows update and noticed WIN 10 attempted to download and failed three times. It is not July 29th...yet. Anybody else notice this on their system? I am running WIN 8.1 and everything is compatible for the upgrade.

On the verge of Windows 10's release, its predecessor has quietly moved into the #2 spot for market share among operating systems. Windows 8.1 has now overtaken Windows XP, the one time king of all operating systems, but it's something of a hollow victory as Windows 7 still leads by a wide margin. According to Netmarketshare, as of June 2015, Windows 8.1's usage has increased to 13.12% among all operating systems, while XP sits at 11.98% and Windows 7 still accounts for a dominant 60.98% share. These three OS' also represent the only three with double digit market share. The...

The global launch of Windows 10 is a pivotal moment for Microsoft as a consumer business, because in recent years Windows has started to matter a lot less.The rise of mobile devices has hit the PC market hard – and no more so than Microsoft, which has around 1.5 billion Windows customers, making it the market leader in that arena. (Snappa) This, combined with Apple’s OS X and Mac computer line-up regularly bucking the trend and actually increasing sales, has left Microsoft and Windows adrift in the technology world, with Google’s Chrome and Android dominating.(Snappa) But a hint of change...

It’s a few days before Windows 10 is officially slated to drop, and still, confusion abounds. Worse, many fallacies regarding Microsoft’s plans around upgrades and support for Win10 remain in circulation, despite efforts to dispel them.Here at InfoWorld, we've been tracking Windows 10’s progress very closely, reporting the evolving technical details with each successive build in our popular “Where Windows 10 stands right now” report. We’ve also kept a close eye on the details beyond the bits, reporting on the common misconceptions around Windows 10 licensing, upgrade paths, and updates. If you haven’t already read that article, you may want...

Last week Microsoft MSFT confirmed every Windows 10 update will mandatory and installed automatically. This was met with a hostile reception from Forbes readers with over 100 comments on my news article voicing their concern. And now some of those fears have been realised… With just four days left before launch, Windows 10’s policy of automatic updates has run into its first major problem and it is causing many PCs to stop working correctly.

As Forbes contributor Gordon Kelly reports, the problem revolves around a conflict between automatic updates and Nvidia graphics card updates using Nvidia’s ‘Nvidia GeForce Experience’—a handy tool for all Nvidia GPU owners. Basically Microsoft has taken control away from users, and made all updates mandatory—including driver updates. This is a decision meant to increase security and stability across the PC user base, but it comes at a cost. Users are reporting problems with multi-monitor setups, dual-card configurations (SLI) and PCs not booting properly, setting off Windows 10 emergency recovery mode. More issues are likely to arise. In other words, for...

The most anticipated feature of Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 10, set for release on Wednesday, isn't some new application. It's the return of the traditional Start screen, which Microsoft ditched in August 2012, with Windows 8. For that reason, Windows 10 is a lot like Coca-Cola Classic. Let me explain. When the Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) announced in April 1985 that New Coke would replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink, consumers protested. Some even hoarded cases of the original flavor beverage. New Coke is now seen as a cautionary tale about tampering with a well-established and successful brand. In October...

Mozilla plans a campaign to stop or slow desertions from Firefox to Windows 10's new Edge browser because the OS's express setup changes previous defaults to Edge during an upgrade, according to published documents. Edge, introduced in Windows 10, will be the default browser out of the box. In fact, according to Mozilla -- supported by a video that showed what happened when Windows 7 was upgraded to Windows 10's build 10162 of July 2 -- those who upgrade by selecting "Express Settings," as most do, will find Edge the default even if they had previously specified a competitor like...

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has said it intends to have one operating system for all types of devices. It apparently takes that promise seriously. The company, which has announced that Windows 10 will power not only PCs but also tablets, phones, and even Xbox, will also make a version of the OS for Internet of Things connected devices.These machines -- which include things like smart thermostats and other household appliances -- won't run the full operating system. Instead, they will run customized versions of Windows 10 designed to enable their functionality. Whether it's a smart toaster or a complicated piece of machinery...

Windows 10 will be the last edition of Microsoft's operating system, so it's no wonder that the tech giant has gone all out to make it the best OS to date. Microsoft has already revealed features, such as a smarter Cortana and Xbox integration, that may appeal to existing Windows users and lure those on other operating systems. Here are 10 reasons why Windows 10 could effortlessly pull you away from your Mac or Chrome operating system when it debuts for PCs and tablets on July 29. 1. Cortana is back and better than ever Forget Siri and all of...

Microsoft today refreshed its Windows support lifecycle fact sheet to include Windows 10, saying there that it would provide updates to the new OS for 10 years, or until October 2025. The new information puts to rest one of the biggest remaining questions about Windows 10: what has Microsoft meant since January by describing the policy as running for the supported lifetime of the device when it described the operating system's support timeline? "The traditional 10-year support lifecycle applies to all SKUs [stock-keeping units]," a Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed in a follow-up email [emphasis added]. SKUs represent the various editions of...

Oh, Forbes contributors. Is there any opinion too silly for you to have? Forbes contributor Gordon Kelly has written a piece in which he explicitly argues that “you shouldn’t upgrade” to Windows 10 because he’s worried that Microsoft is trying to pull a sneaky trick over on its user base.DON’T MISS: The most ironic Google job opening everWhy is Kelly so suspicious of Microsoft’s intentions? He gives us two major reasons. First, he’s concerned that even though Microsoft says Windows 10 will be free “over the lifetime of the device,” he notes that “Microsoft’s own internal slides reference ‘two to four years’ and that...

Microsoft has completed work on Windows 10, and the new OS is ready to go, according to reports from The Verge and Neowin. The final release to manufacturing (RTM) build, number 10240, is the version customers will receive on launch day on July 29.After today, Redmond's developers will be moving towards working on updates. Microsoft's plan is for Windows 10 to be the last version of Windows ever. That means the company will release regular updates, Android style, instead of giant releases once every few years.The news comes on the same day Office for Windows 10 removes the beta...

Microsoft has released a new preview build of Windows 10 Mobile, the version of the new OS for phones, and it has the same build number as the current version for desktop PCs. That doesn't mean it's equally close to release, though. While Microsoft has committed to a July 29 release date for the PC version, it has made no promises about the mobile version. And with good reason; Windows 10 Mobile is still in much rougher shape than the desktop OS. Build 10166 of the PC version of Windows 10, released on Thursday, was mostly about "bug fixing and...

Every time I've looked at Windows 10, it hasn't been long before I've run away screaming. As recently as May the ISO was nowhere near ready for prime time. Testing Windows 10 seemed to me like volunteering to be an unpaid drug trial guinea pig – it would be painful and could potentially give you horrible side effects, and you wouldn't even have an envelope of cash at the end to show for it. Keeping my distance from the very bleeding edge betas gives me some advantages, though. Like a sense of perspective. While bloggers and fanbois get excited over...

Windows 10 is almost here and since Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be allowed to upgrade to the new OS without paying a single cent, usage of these two versions increases on a daily basis. Statistics provided by Net Applications show that Window 7 has reached a market share of 60.98 percent in June 2015, obviously remaining the number one desktop operating system in the whole world. Windows 8.1 is second in this list with 13.12 percent, while Windows XP is still being used by 13.12 percent of the PC owners across the world. Windows 8 has dropped even...

Microsoft has shared more details about how it plans to roll out Windows 10 beginning later this month. We already knew the OS will start shipping to members of the Windows Insider program on July 29. On Thursday, however, Microsoft OS boss Terry Myerson explained in a blog post that not everyone should expect to receive their updates on that date. "From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th," Myerson wrote. "Each day of the roll-out, we will listen, learn and update the experience for all Windows 10 users." What's more, he...