Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10, is scheduled to be released in late 2015.
Announced in April 2014, it's Microsoft's attempt to unify multiple platforms such as the Windows PC, Windows Phone, Windows Embedded, and Xbox product lines.
In its January event, the OS manufacturer unveiled some of its features like the virtual assistant Cortana, the holgram system Hololens, and the browser Spartan, among others. It also introduced the Surface Hub, an 84-inch touch screen device that utilizes Windows 10 for enterprise-level conference rooms.
Speaking of enterprise support, Microsoft also came up with Continuum, which helps transition the OS in 2-in-1 devices such as laptops with tablet capabilities. The enterprise version, possibly being offered as a SaaS, will also carry a two-factor authentication standard for security.
The company also took into consideration the Internet of Things, which is why it took pains in trying to integrate mobile devices into the OS.
In an effort to avoid Windows 7 from becoming the next Windows XP which stayed around for at least a decade, Microsoft is bringing Windows 10 as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users. While the company has yet to announce the price for the new OS, the upgrade will be available to the users for the first year of its release. Of course, this means that one will get the beta version of the OS which will get the updates accordingly.
MS Office 2016 will also be released later this year, possibly a little ahead of the planned Windows 10 release.
This can be seen as an effort of the company in gaining the nod of Windows users, more than 50% of which are still on Windows 7 and around 20% of which remain on Windows XP. These users are having a hard time adjusting to the changes made in Windows 8.1, most notably the loss of the Start Menu. This has so far been rectified in Windows 10.
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