Microsoft unveils next version of Windows, surprises everyone by calling it Windows 10

Microsoft today held a press event to announce the next major version of Windows, called Windows 10. To the surprise of many, the software giant skipped Windows 9 entirely, and went right to Windows 10 from Windows 8.

With Windows 10, Microsoft is unifying all its different platforms under the same Windows label:

Windows 10 will run across an incredibly broad set of devices – from the Internet of Things, to servers in enterprise datacenters worldwide. Some of these devices have 4 inch screens – some have 80 inch screens – and some don’t have screens at all. Some of these devices you hold in your hand, others are ten feet away. Some of these devices you primarily use touch/pen, others mouse/keyboard, others controller/gesture – and some devices can switch between input types.

Microsoft had faced a lot of criticism for a bad implementation of its bold strategy of unifying the PC, laptop and tablet platforms, and with Windows 10, the company hopes to address those criticisms, while also bringing Windows Phone under the same Windows label.

Here are some of the main features of Windows 10:

A new start menu

Metro apps open in windows, just like regular apps

4-way window snapping

Snapping is one of my favorite features in Windows, and one that I miss on OS X. Windows 10 makes snapping even better with a quadrant based layout, where you can snap up to 4 windows at once.

Multiple Desktops

Microsoft is adding support for multiple desktops, a feature that has long been present in OS X. You can classify these desktops based on the nature of tasks, and easily switch between them.

Microsoft’s “Insider Program” to let enthusiasts try early versions of Windows 10 starts tomorrow. The company plans to publicly launch Windows 10 in late 2015, and it has a lot more feature-related announcements that will be made early next year.

[via Windows]