Microsoft is at it again. Recently, they held a small conference to discuss their upcoming Windows 10 operating system in a bit more detail than they had before. Not only did they announce who will receive the update for free, they also make a few other announcements that were pretty, well, unusual for Microsoft (in my opinion). Let’s dig in.

First off, the biggest surprise to me was Microsoft phasing out Internet Explorer in favor of a new web browser. Now, at first glance, I thought they were nixing IE all together, but it turns out that is not the case. Internet Explorer will still be preloaded into Windows, but the primary web browser coming default with the installation is what they are calling Project Spartan. Internet Explorer will remain for legacy use; websites that are still running older protocols, but will primarily be included simply for Spartan to piggyback off of. If you navigate to a web page that requires some elements from IE11, then Spartan will load the engines from IE, and load the page within itself. Upon further investigation, it appears that, while IE will be present, it will not be able to be accessed or launched by users. This is coming from several sources, all with seemingly conflicting information. One source says that it seems that the wording Microsoft used during their conference states that enterprise customers will be able to obtain copies of Windows 10 that include Internet Explorer still, but they don’t state whether or not these copies will have both Spartan and IE, or if they will only have IE. Personally, I’m very eager to see if Spartan performs better than Internet Explorer, or if it just explodes in a similar manner due to the many plugins and addons that run in the background.

The next surprise Microsoft left me with is their voice assistant, Cortana. Every time I think of it, I can’t help but remember playing the Halo series games on my Xbox and Xbox 360, she was a wonderful character, and very well modeled in my opinion (and yes, the name was inspired by the video game character, and is even voiced by the same person on US devices). Now, I will have the chance to reminisce once again due to her integration to Windows 10. Originally, Cortana was only available on Windows Phone and the Microsoft Band (which is their spin on the fitness band). Now, with the release of Win10, we will get to use her Siri and Google Now related use. As with any voice assistant, you gain the ability to use your voice instead of finger to dictate actions to be performed. Now, Microsoft hasn’t exactly stated what Cortana will be capable of on this platform, but they say that she will rival Siri and Google Now. During their demo of her functionality at the conference, they show her drafting an email by simply talking. (Hopefully one day I can speak to my computer to write these current events instead of typing!) Another feature of Cortana is being able to say (as demonstrated in an article from CNET) “Hey, Cortana. Find me photos from Month.” And Cortana will bring up photos from that month. I assume you will be able to specify more than just the month, but that is not confirmed as she has yet to be released. CNET also states that you will be able to set privacy filters for better privacy when using this seemingly power-packed voice assistant. Also like her other mobile counterparts, the desktop/laptop version of Cortana will still be able to give you weather updates, check sports scores, and track flights (according to CNET), and I can only assume perform the other features of current voice assistants such as searching contacts, launching applications, and checking the time of specific cities in different time zones. I’m actually pretty hyped about what all Cortana and Windows 10 as a whole will have to offer us.

The next and final surprise from Microsoft is one that probably shouldn’t surprise me. When Windows 8/8.1 were released, Microsoft allowed Windows XP/Vista/7 users to update to it, but they had to buy a license in order to do so. That is not the case this time around. To me, it seems Microsoft really wants to forget Windows 8/8.1 (I don’t know why in all honesty, the complaints I’ve found about it are more so that people don’t like that it looks different and don’t want to learn how to use a new OS…). Accoring to Terry Meyerson, who is Microsoft’s executive VP of operating systems, users running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 will receive a free upgrade to Windows 10, as long as they do so within the first year of the product being released. To me, it feels like Microsoft is really selling out to the consumer with this move, and that’s why it surprises me. When they realized that they messed up with Vista, they fixed the mistakes and released Windows 7, and you could upgrade if you bought a new license. Now, because people simply don’t like how Windows 8/8.1 looks, you get to upgrade – for free, might I reiterate – to a new, more different operating system that a majority of people are only going to bitch more about. They’ll be happy that they have a menu instead of a screen again for the Start interface, but they’ll still complain that it feels too much like Windows 8, and not enough like Windows 7. Windows 10 is still just as intrusive as 8/8.1 is, as I’ve witnessed in the Technical Preview. While the interface truly is more like the now legacy Windows operating systems, I really don’t think it’ll be enough to win over the crowd once again. Luckily Windows 10 still have all of the wonderful features of Windows 8 that I absolutely love, such as their Task Manager and wonder File Transfer window.

There are a few little chunks of technological delightfulness that I did choose to skip over, the Microsoft Surface Hub Pro (which has no relation to the Surface Pro), and the new HoloLense/HoloStudio. Personally, I didn’t find them too interesting, or really relevant to the Windows 10 conversation. Feel free to leave your opinions in the replies below, and because I’m curious, will you upgrade your Windows 7/8/8.1 device(s) to Windows 10? Personally, I’m going to purchase another license that way I can still have a valid product key for my Windows 7 machine for legacy program support.

Source: Various links on CNET.com