Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin Windows 10 promises big changes but is it worth the upgrade after Windows a Microsoft had a big task ahead of them they need a single OS that works well on everything from a desktop to tablet and its mission accomplished mostly the first thing you'll notice is the return of the Start menu instead of having an entirely separate interface when you hit the Windows key now it's a smaller menu that still includes the Universal search and the useful Live Tiles one of the biggest things that jumps out to me is just how fast it is start to type the name of an app and it immediately pops up but you can also do a search online just as easily a big reason for this is the addition of Cortana like on Windows Phone and soon to be on iOS and Android Cortana works out a lot like Google now you can search using voice and the results are pretty impressive they can't quite match the natural language searches of Google but it's totally usable being able to set reminders and keep track of your flights and calendar is nice on your phone and it's just as useful on your PC Windows 10 has also gotten a fresh coat of paint it's a clean look without going all-in on Metro which looks nice on a phone or tablet but could be awkward on a PC Microsoft really did give the desktop some love this time around snap has been one of my favorite features since Windows 7 and it now gives you the option of automatically adding other windows to the side of the screen we've also got tasks view which gives you multiple desktops this has been one of the most useful features on Mac for a long time now and while it can be a little awkward to switch between desktops it's an awesome addition to Windows 10 maybe the built-in apps have also been updated the Windows Store has apps games music and video all in one place unlike before you'll be able to use apps as a normal window instead of being forced to go fullscreen which makes a lot more sense Microsoft is also finally retired internet explorer in favor of the edge browser is rocking a new much nicer design and like most of Windows 10 it's really fast you can still use Internet Explorer if you need it but the days of immediately installing a new browser might just be over another big area Microsoft focused on is gaming DirectX 12 is the backbone that gives developers much lower level access to the hardware which can result in nearly four times the draw calls don't expect your games to perform four times better on Windows 10 but for new games going forward this should make a big difference to performance speaking of a game that hasn't always had the best performance a Windows 10 edition of Minecraft based on Pocket Edition it doesn't have the same support for mods and all the features of the full version just yet it runs smoothly even on lower end hardware and it's free if you already own the PC version of Minecraft you can also enable game DVR to record gameplay without needing dedicated screen capture software and it works surprisingly well another addition is the new Xbox app this allows you to access your friends download new games and stream from the Xbox one you can test to see what your connection will support but as long as both the Xbox and PC are on the same network you should be good it's an impressive setup plug in an Xbox one controller to your computer and it's basically like you're right in front of an Xbox image quality is slightly compressed but it's totally usable and there's minimal lag even when streaming over Wi-Fi there's a lot right with Windows 10 and if you're on Windows 7 or 8 you can get a free upgrade assuming you're up-to-date you should see a notification where you can register to get your free update a few people have had problems getting it but for the most part it seems to be a fairly smooth rollout so far anyway I've run into a few weird bugs mostly to do with graphic glitches and even with updated drivers metal computers are going to be ready for DirectX 12 there are also a few options you'll probably want to turn off including disabling the default advertising ID turning off Wi-Fi cents which automatically shares your network password with your contacts and disabling peer-to-peer sharing of updates to other computers online Windows 8 was ambitious and ultimately a failure but thankfully Windows 10 is a much better OS it might not be a bad idea to hold off a few months for the minor bugs to get worked out but Windows 10 is absolutely worth the upgrade