windows 10

Extended support until January 9, 2029The original release of Windows 10 receives mainstream support for five years after its original release, followed by five years of extended support, but this is subject to conditions. Microsoft stated that these devices would no longer receive feature updates, but would still receive security updates through January 2023. Microsoft will continue to support at least one standard Windows 10 semi-annual channel release until October 14, 2025. Other critics argued that Microsoft should not have triggered any downloading of Windows 10 installation files without user consent.

Windows 10 contains a host of new features, security updates, and a platform-unifying design aimed at both enterprise users and consumers. Windows remains Microsoft's flagship product, and is still the dominant PC operating system. By switching to a semi-annual release schedule, it's able to add features and support new services building on a familiar platform and user interface. At the Build Conference in April 2014, Microsoft's Terry Myerson unveiled an updated version of Windows 8.1 that added the ability to run Windows Store apps inside desktop windows and a more traditional Start menu in place of the Start screen seen in Windows 8. The new Start menu takes after Windows 7's design by using only a portion of the screen and including a Windows 7-style application listing in the first column.

Myerson said that these changes would occur in a future update, but did not elaborate. Windows Phone 8.1 would share nearly 90% of the common Windows Runtime APIs with Windows 8.1 on PCs. Windows 10 received mostly positive reviews upon its original release. Critics also praised the improvements to Windows 10's bundled software over Windows 8.1, Xbox Live integration, as well as the functionality and capabilities of the Cortana personal assistant and the replacement of Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge. A new iteration of the Start menu is used on the Windows 10 desktop, with a list of places and other options on the left side, and tiles representing applications on the right.

The menu can be resized, and expanded into a full-screen display, which is the default option in Tablet mode. A new virtual desktop system was added by a feature known as Task View, which displays all open windows and allows users to switch between them, or switch between multiple workspaces. Universal apps, which previously could be used only in full screen mode, can now be used in self-contained windows similarly to other programs. Program windows can now be snapped to quadrants of the screen by dragging them to the corner.

When a window is snapped to one side of the screen, Task View appears and the user is prompted to choose a second window to fill the unused side of the screen (called "Snap Assist"). OneDrive lets you back up and sync the Desktop, Documents, and Photos user folders automatically. You still can't designateanyfolder on the system for backup, as you can with Google Drive or SugarSync, but those folders contain most of what people want to protect.

OneDrive's new Personal Vault feature rolled out to all users in October 2019. It uses strong encryption to safeguard your most sensitive files. In March 2016, some users also alleged that their Windows 7 and 8.1 devices had automatically begun upgrading to Windows 10 without their consent. In June 2016, the GWX dialog's behavior changed to make closing the window imply a consent to a scheduled upgrade. It was concluded that these users may have unknowingly clicked the "Accept" prompt without full knowledge that this would begin the upgrade.

The upgrade offer was marketed and initiated using the "Get Windows 10" application, which was first downloaded and installed via Windows Update in March 2015. Registry keys and group policies could be used to partially disable the GWX mechanism, but the installation of patches to the GWX software via Windows Update could reset these keys back to defaults, and thus reactivate the software. Third-party programs were also created to assist users in applying measures to disable GWX. 10 heavily emphasizes freemium services, and contains various advertising facilities.

Some outlets have considered these to be a hidden "cost" of the free upgrade offer. 10 Home and Pro is "Semi-Annual Channel " (formerly "Current Branch", or "CB"), which receives stable builds after they are publicly released by Microsoft. Each build of Windows 10 is supported for 18 months after its original release. In enterprise environments, Microsoft officially intends that this branch is used for "targeted" deployments of newly-released stable versions so that they can be evaluated and tested on a limited number of devices before a wider deployment.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Update does not allow the selective installation of updates, and all updates are downloaded and installed automatically. Users can only choose whether their system will reboot automatically to install updates when the system is inactive, or be notified to schedule a reboot. If a wireless network is designated as "Metered"—a function which automatically reduces the operating system's background network activity to conserve limits on Internet usage—most updates are not downloaded until the device is connected to a non-metered network. Version 1703 allows wired networks to be designated as metered, but Windows may still download certain updates while connected to a metered network. 10 product keys, meaning they could be entered during installation to activate the free license, without the need to upgrade first to "activate" the hardware with Microsoft's activation servers. Since the release of Windows 10 version 1709, Microsoft decided to release multi-edition installation media, to alleviate installation and product activation issues users experienced because of accidentally installing the wrong Edition of Windows 10.

On May 2, 2017, Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 S , a feature-limited edition of Windows 10 which was designed primarily for devices in the education market , such as the Surface Laptop that Microsoft also unveiled at this time. The OS restricts software installation to applications obtained from Microsoft Store; the device may be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for a fee to enable unrestricted software installation. As a time-limited promotion, Microsoft stated that this upgrade would be free on the Surface Laptop until March 31, 2018. Windows 10 S also contains a faster initial setup and login process, and allows devices to be provisioned using a USB drive with the Windows Intune for Education platform.

The Windows Runtime app ecosystem was revised into the Universal Windows Platform . These universal apps are made to run across multiple platforms and device classes, including smartphones, tablets, Xbox One consoles, and other devices compatible with Windows 10. Developers can allow "cross-buys", where purchased licenses for an app apply to all of the user's compatible devices, rather than only the one they purchased on (e.g., a user purchasing an app on PC is also entitled to use the smartphone version at no extra cost).

Windows 10 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It is the successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier, and itself was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and broadly released for the general public on July 29, 2015. Windows 10 was made available for download via MSDN and TechNet, as a free upgrade for retail copies of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 users via the Windows Store, and to Windows 7 users via Windows Update. Windows 10 receives new builds on an ongoing basis, which are available at no additional cost to users, in addition to additional test builds of Windows 10, which are available to Windows Insiders. Devices in enterprise environments can receive these updates at a slower pace, or use long-term support milestones that only receive critical updates, such as security patches, over their ten-year lifespan of extended support. Windows 10 OEM is a full version of the operating system not an upgrade.

To acquire Windows software with support provided by Microsoft please see our full package "Retail" product. Microsoft recommends all files and programs be backed-up prior to installation. The Windows 10 Anniversary Update was released on August 2, 2016. The update included new and better security features with improvements to applications like Windows Hello, Windows Defender, and Windows Information Protection.

The Anniversary Update also augmented support for digital pens with the addition of Windows Ink, a built-in platform that can interpret input beyond the traditional mouse and keyboard. Microsoft Edge gained support for extensions, including AdBlock, Translator, and Office Online. Extensions allow developers to create apps inside Edge and greatly enhance the browser's overall capabilities. Insider channels give early access to new features, but should only be used for test machines or by enthusiasts. Skip Ahead is for early access to the next major build of Windows, with Slow and Fast rings giving access to the current development builds.

A Release Preview option gives early access to drivers and security updates, allowing IT departments to qualify updates in advance of wider availability. Microsoft actively suggests that IT departments keep a selection of machines on the different Insider rings in order to ensure that key applications are compatible and to set development targets for new Windows SDK releases. You may still be running your computer on Windows 7 or 8, and if so now's the time to buy Windows 10.

This isn't just a performance update, Windows 10 brings new features and security settings to your machine that are crucial to getting your work done in today's operating systems. From the ease of the Cortana assistant to the speed boost you'll notice instantly, upgrading your older system to Windows 10 will be well worth your while. Whether you are playing the hottest new games or working with the latest creative applications, NVIDIA drivers are custom tailored to provide the best possible experience.

If you are a gamer who prioritizes day of launch support for the latest games, patches, and DLCs, choose Game Ready Drivers. If you are a content creator who prioritizes reliability for creative workflows including video editing, animation, photography, graphic design, and livestreaming, choose Studio Drivers. No worries, either can support running the best games and creative apps. Windows 11 also comes with a new Microsoft Store that features an all-new design.

It brings new features like Stories - editorial content to keep you informed about the best apps and a new pop-up store to install apps from the browser. The new Microsoft Store also introduces several changes for developers, including support for more types of apps as well as an option to bring their own or a third party commerce platform in their apps. This is available in preview, which you can enable on the Play Store's entry for the Microsoft Launcher.

Microsoft's goal with all this is to make your mobile devices smarter by tapping into its cloud services, using what the company calls the Microsoft Graph. This includes data from Office 365, LinkedIn, and that gathered by its Bing search service, which crawls the entire web. The Start menu is a differentiator from both macOS and Ubuntu, which have no centralized place for the user to start working with apps, files, search, and settings.Chrome OShas a Launcher tool, but that's not as far-reaching as Windows' Start menu.

Another differentiator is that programs have their own menus, rather than using the operating system menus along the top of the screen as macOS and Ubuntu do. Critics have acknowledged that Microsoft's update and testing practices had been affecting the overall quality of Windows 10. In particular, it was pointed out that Microsoft's internal testing departments had been prominently affected by a major round of layoffs undertaken by the company in 2014. Microsoft relies primarily on user testing and bug reports via the Windows Insider program , as well as correspondence with OEMs and other stakeholders. In the wake of the known folder redirection data loss bug in the version 1809, it was pointed out that bug reports describing the issue had been present on the Feedback Hub app for several months prior to the public release. Following the incident, Microsoft updated Feedback Hub so that users may specify the severity of a particular bug report.

Feature updates prior to version 1909 are distributed solely as an in-place upgrade installation, requiring the download of a complete operating system package (approximately 3.5 GB in size for 64-bit systems). Unlike previous builds, version 1909 is designed primarily as an update rollup version of 1903, focusing primarily on minor feature additions and enhancements. For upgrades to 1909 from 1903, a new delivery method is used where its changes were delivered as part of the monthly cumulative update, but are left in a dormant state until the 1909 update "enablement" patch is installed. The full upgrade process is still used for those using builds prior to 1903. Enterprise licensees may use the Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC edition, where "LTSC" stands for "long-term servicing channel", which only receive quality of life updates (i.e. security patches), and has a full, 5 or 10-year support lifecycle for each build.

This edition is designed for "special-purpose devices" that perform a fixed function . For this reason, it excludes Cortana, Microsoft Store, and all bundled Universal Windows Platform apps . Windows 10 is often described by Microsoft as being a "service", as it receives regular "feature updates" that contain new features and other updates and fixes. In April 2017, Microsoft stated that these updates would be released twice a year every March and September in the future.

Mainstream builds of Windows 10, until and including 2004, were labeled "YYMM", with "YY" representing the two-digit year and "MM" representing the month of release. This was changed with the 20H2 release where "MM" represents the half of the year in which the update was released, for example H1 for the first half and H2 for the second half. Microsoft Family Safety is replaced by Microsoft Family, a parental controls system that applies across Windows platforms and Microsoft online services. Users can create a designated family, and monitor and restrict the actions of users designated as children, such as access to websites, enforcing age ratings on Microsoft Store purchases, and other restrictions. The service can also send weekly e-mail reports to parents detailing a child's computer usage.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, child accounts in a family must be associated with a Microsoft account‍—‌which allows these settings to apply across all Windows 10 devices that a particular child is using. The Anniversary Update added Windows Subsystem for Linux , which allows the installation of a user space environment from a supported Linux distribution that runs natively on Windows. The subsystem translates Linux system calls to those of the Windows NT kernel . The environment can execute the Bash shell and 64-bit command-line programs (WSL 2 also supports 32-bit Linux programs and graphics, assuming supporting software installed, and GPUs support for other uses). Windows applications cannot be executed from the Linux environment, and vice versa.

Linux distributions for Windows Subsystem for Linux are obtained through Microsoft Store. The feature initially supported an Ubuntu-based environment; Microsoft announced in May 2017 that it would add Fedora and OpenSUSE environment options as well. Charms have been removed; their functionality in universal apps is accessed from an App commands menu on their title bar.

In its place is Action Center, which displays notifications and settings toggles. It is accessed by clicking an icon in the notification area, or dragging from the right of the screen. The Settings app was refreshed and now includes more options that were previously exclusive to the desktop Control Panel. In 2021, however, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would be succeeded on compatible hardware by Windows 11–and that Windows 10 support will end on October 14, 2025. On September 30, 2014, Microsoft officially announced that Threshold would be unveiled during a media event as Windows 10. Myerson said that Windows 10 would be Microsoft's "most comprehensive platform ever", providing a single, unified platform for desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, and all-in-one devices.

He emphasized that Windows 10 would take steps towards restoring user interface mechanics from Windows 7 to improve the experience for users on non-touch devices, noting criticism of Windows 8's touch-oriented interface by keyboard and mouse users. Despite these concessions, Myerson noted that the touch-optimized interface would evolve as well on 10. The vulnerability isn't necessarily confined to just Razer peripherals. Another commenter, @Lechatquirit, claimed that the attack also works "with any asus ROG mouse. It will prompt to install armory crate and execute it as Sys," the user tweeted in response to jonhat.

Armoury Crate is a software portal that displays real-time performance and settings information for connected devices and which works with ROG, TUF Gaming and ASUS products. The plug-and-play Razer Synapse installation then allows users to gain SYSTEM privileges on the Windows device lickety-split, since, as part of the setup routine, it opens an Explorer window that prompts the user to specify where the driver should be installed. TheWindows 10 Creators Update was released on April 11, 2017, and included a new 3D Paint app, new security features, changes to how Microsoft updates Windows 10, and laid the foundational for new hardware and content based on augmented and virtual reality. Similarly, Windows 10 Pro allows access to Current Branch releases and the Current Branch for Business.

Using the Current Branch for Business, you can delay major updates until they've been tested and approved. Windows 10 builds on Windows 7 and on Windows 8, mixing a familiar user interface with mobile and touch-friendly user elements. With Windows XP and Vista no longer supported, and Windows 7 close to end-of-life, it's intended to be both an upgrade from older Windows releases and the OS on new Windows PCs. With new security features and a built-in store, it also brings a new set of modern application development APIs in the shape of the cross-platform UWP. Windows 10 is not a supported operating system for CS6 and earlier product versions. Adobe recommends customers do their own testing on a non-production partition to ensure new OS'es work with their hardware, drivers, and workflows.

Current support for CS6 is limited to up and running assistance until discontinuation of support on May 31st, 2017. Adobe and Microsoft have worked closely together to test Adobe Creative Cloud applications for reliability, performance, and user experience when installed on Intel-based systems running Windows 10. The latest versions of all Adobe Creative Cloud products are compatible. Getting hold of the Windows installer is as easy as visiting support.microsoft.com. Whether you've paid for Windows 10 already or not, anyone is allowed to download a Windows 10 ISO file and burn it to a DVD or create installation media on a USB drive for free.