Microsoft announced a bunch of things yesterday, one of which (HoloLens) looks like it came out from a science fiction movie. Along with these announcements, Microsoft also showcased the upcoming Windows 10 for phones.
This time around Microsoft has focused on better integration and is moving towards its predefined goal of unifying its operating system across all platforms. We narrow down 10 things you need to know about the latest update.
1. First of all, the interface of Windows 10 for phones still has the live tiles, but is now enhanced with translucent tiles on top of fullscreen backgrounds.
2. All notifications are now actionable and can be dealt with directly, right from from the notifications pop-up.
3. The new software keyboard in Windows 10 for phones has a joystick within which acts like the red pointing stick Lenovo uses on its ThinkPad laptops for precison. Microsoft has also added a microphone button to its keyboard so that you can dictate text instead of writing it.
4. Microsoft has integrated Skype chat into its stock messaging app, in Windows 10 for phones, something like what Google does with Hangouts.
5. With Microsoft pushing for seamless app integration across all platforms, Microsoft apps like Outlook, Maps, Skype, Photos and Messaging will get synced across all registered devices. The action centre now syncs to your PC so if you dismiss a notification on the phone, it will get dismissed from all other connected devices.
6. The new Outlook app comes with Word support built in which will let users change full text formatting and will even let you insert tables. The app will also support Gmail across all platforms via IMAP.
7. Cortana is better integrated into the whole ecosystem and will be able to understand you better. You can ask Cortana to repeat navigation instructions or just add a hashtag to a text and it will do it.
8. The new version of Office which brings better touch optimization has been included in the Windows 10 for phones.
9. With Windows 10, the all new Spartan browser makes its entry. It will replace Internet Explorer and will bring better functionality than IE10. It even has a save for offline, Pocket-like feature built-in.
10. According to Microsoft, all devices running Windows Phone 8.1 will be updated to Windows 10 for phones but there could be some devices that don't meet the minimum system requirements for the new OS, that don't make the cut.
Photo Credits: WindowsCentral