Windows 10: everything you need to know – The Verge

LG brings ultra light Gram laptops to the US as Microsoft Signature Editions

2015-09-28T07:00:00-04:00

Coming to Microsoft Stores across the United States today is a new range of Windows 10 laptops from a familiar brand. Better known to US consumers for its TVs, home appliances, and smartphones, LG is debuting its premium LG Gram Ultra PCs to an American audience, confident that it can capitalize on the momentum of Windows 10.

The main selling points of the Gram don't actually have much to do with Microsoft's new operating system - there's no touchscreen option or RealSense camera for Windows Hello. Instead, LG is relying on classically useful laptop features like compact dimensions and an attractive display. The 14-inch LG Gram is no larger …

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Here’s what’s next for Windows 10

2015-07-30T10:40:40-04:00

Windows 10 is now available as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. While millions are performing the upgrade this week, Microsoft is working hard on updates and fixes behind the scenes. Some of those patches have already started rolling out, but there are more to come. The first bigger collection of fixes will come with what Microsoft calls Service Release 1 (SR1). Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that SR1 is due to be released in early August, possibly as early as next week. While SR1 won't include new features, it will fix some of the issues people have been experiencing with Windows 10.

After the ini …

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A closer look at logging into a Windows 10 PC with just your face

2015-07-30T09:20:18-04:00

Windows 10 introduces a number of new apps and features, but one of the more unique additions is Windows Hello. Much like the Xbox One, Windows Hello will allow you to log into a Windows 10 PC with just your face. You can also use a fingerprint reader, but the facial scanning is the unique, new feature for Windows 10. It works by using a special Intel RealSense 3D camera, which means you can't use regular webcams on existing PCs to enable Windows Hello. A number of PCs and laptops are starting to ship with built-in RealSense cameras, and more will be available later this year.

Windows Hello is relatively easy to setup. You go into settings, en …

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Why Microsoft is giving away Windows 10 for free

2015-07-29T11:36:48-04:00

When Microsoft released Windows 95 almost 20 years ago, people packed into stores to be among the first lucky buyers to get their hands on this cutting edge new technology. Microsoft had an iron grip on productivity software in the enterprise, but even ordinary consumers were accustomed to paying hundreds of dollars for software. Two decades later, Microsoft is releasing Windows 10. But most people won't have to rush out and purchase a copy. Anyone with a copy of Windows dating back to Windows 7 can upgrade for free, a first for Microsoft.

The decision to forgo that traditional revenue stream and attempt to broaden the install base of Windo …

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Microsoft Edge review: Windows finally has a good browser

2015-07-29T10:00:02-04:00

For two decades, the default web browsing experience in Windows has been Internet Explorer. Over the years, Microsoft's home-built browser became bloated, insecure, confusing to use, and just plain hated by many users. A lot of people turned to alternatives, such as Google Chrome, as a result. With Windows 10 (check out our full review here), Microsoft went back to the drawing board and scrapped everything it had done so far with Internet Explorer. It built an entirely new browser from scratch, one that would shed all of the baggage of Internet Explorer and offer a modern, fast web browsing experience for Windows users. That browser is Edge.

…

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The best Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts

2015-07-29T09:52:20-04:00

Windows 10 is available today as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. If you've followed our guide on how to upgrade, then you might be interested in some new keyboard shortcuts. Microsoft has introduced a variety of keyboard shortcuts to navigate between new features, like virtual desktops, and even activate the new Cortana digital assistant. All the new important additions use the Windows key, so they're easy to activate. If you're a trackpad user, then there are also some changes here: tapping three fingers activates Cortana (you can change this to activate Action Center), swiping three fingers up shows the new Task View, a …

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What is the best Windows 10 PC?

2015-07-29T09:15:02-04:00

Windows 10 has arrived, and with it comes the inevitable question: should I upgrade my PC? Even with a few outstanding bugs left to quash, Microsoft's new software marks a major improvement over its predecessors and should be considered essential, so that's a fairly solid yes to Windows 10 itself, but what about the PC that runs it? The answer to the hardware upgrade question is much less obvious. Microsoft's minimum spec requirements haven't changed since Windows 7, making it possible to enjoy the latest software without having the latest PC. And yet, to get the best possible Windows 10 experience, with neat extras like Windows Hello facial …

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Which version of Windows 10 should you buy?

2015-07-29T08:45:02-04:00

Microsoft is positioning Windows 10 as "the last version of Windows" you'll ever need to get, with regular feature updates and product improvements taking the place of big releases every couple of years. But that means that you'll need to do the traditional "which version of Windows should I buy" dance one more time. Fortunately, your options for buying Windows 10 are a lot simpler than they were in the Windows Vista and Windows 7 days. As it did with Windows 8, Microsoft will offer four versions of Windows 10: Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education.

Before getting into the differences between these four options, it's worth remembering that W …

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The nine most important updates in Windows 10

2015-07-29T08:30:02-04:00

Windows 10 is officially out today. It's the biggest update to Windows in years and represents a number of new directions for Microsoft's premier software product. Windows 10 replaces Windows 8 and 8.1, and serves to attract those Windows 7 users that never bothered to update to Windows 8. There are a host of new features in Windows 10, ranging from updated interfaces to new apps and services. For all of our in-depth thoughts on the new platform, be sure to check out our full review.

Perhaps the most notable thing about the new platform is that you don't have to pay for it, so long as you already have Windows 8 or Windows 7. But if you're l …

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The story of Windows 10 from inside Microsoft

2025-07-29T05:45:20-04:00

Windows 10 has a lot to live up to. Microsoft has made a lot of promises about it. And oddly enough, we've heard most of them before, with Windows 8. Both were designed to acknowledge and embrace mobile and mobile apps, work well on touchscreens as well as laptops, and form the basis of a new phone platform. But there's a big difference between them: Windows 10 actually does all those things.

Three years ago, tablets like the iPad looked like they might be a serious threat to Windows. In response, Steve Ballmer, Steven Sinofsky, and the rest of Microsoft took a big bet on a forward-thinking interface that asked its users to forget their old …

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