Microsoft shows off Windows 10 and ‘HoloLens’

Microsoft is making a big bet that Windows 10 will help it regain ground the company has lost to the mobile computing boom

January 22, 2015 09:18 am | Updated 07:17 pm IST - Washington

Microsoft engineer Alex Kipman releases a miniature helicopter designed on a hologram device and then created on a 3-D printer at an event demonstrating new features of Windows 10 in Redmond on Wednesday.

Microsoft engineer Alex Kipman releases a miniature helicopter designed on a hologram device and then created on a 3-D printer at an event demonstrating new features of Windows 10 in Redmond on Wednesday.

Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new version of Windows and a new wearable 3D gadget it calls the HoloLens.

The company showed the new headset, which lets users view and interact with three-dimensional images, at an event where it also revealed new features coming to the company’s flagship operating software.

Executives said Windows 10 is designed to embrace the way people use computers today, offering a familiar experience as they switch back and forth from personal computers to tablets, smartphones and other gadgets such as gaming consoles or even holographic projectors .

While it’s designed to let apps work in similar fashion on all those devices, Windows 10 will also come with a new Web browser that will be closely integrated with Cortana, the company’s voice-activated answer to Siri .

Microsoft is expanding Cortana to serve as a search engine and personal assistant, capable of answering questions and responding to commands such as “Play music” on desktop and laptop computers, as well as mobile devices.

And in a break from past practice, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will be released later this year as a free upgrade for anyone owning a computer or gadget that’s currently running Windows 8.1 or 7, the two previous versions of the software.

Microsoft is making a big bet that Windows 10 will help it regain ground the company has lost to the mobile computing boom.

Windows has long been the dominating operating software for desktop and laptop computers, but that business has suffered as more people have begun using smartphones and tablets.

Microsoft tried to reach those users by emphasizing touch-screen features in its last update, Windows 8, but many traditional PC users found it jarring and difficult to navigate.

Hoping to win back a larger audience, Microsoft is promising Windows 10 will provide a familiar experience to users on across devices, and a common platform for software developers to create apps that work on all of them.

“Windows 10 is built for a world in which there are going to be more devices on the planet than people,” CEO Satya Nadella told reporters and industry analysts at Microsoft’s headquarters.

He said Microsoft wants to “enable that seamless cross-over, across devices as you move around at home and at work.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.