We are back to tell you the latest and greatest when it comes to Windows 10. Join us to hear our take on it and how you can best have an enjoyable experience with this revolutionary new version of Microsoft’s newest release.
Cory Martin, Thomas Geczy and Leonid Prazdnik all welcome Quentin Christensen from 22 Point, a blogger and developer who also happens to be writing a book on Windows 10 from a blindness/low vision perspective. To view Quentin’s excellent blog, click here. So pull up a chair and join us as we discuss our experiences thus far.
Here are the highlights:
- Windows 10 will launch on July 29th. The release will be staggered releases starting with desktop/laptops, then phones and Xbox.
- The upgrade path for Windows 7/8 will be free if the upgrade offer is used within the first year, however a single user license is estimated at $129/£99/€135 to start. The free upgrade will be free for the duration of the lifecycle of the product it is running on.
- Windows 10 is expected to be the last version ever, being upgraded with feature releases as time goes on. There will be a total of 7 versions: IoT, Mobile, Home, Enterprise and Professional, Mobile Enterprise, and Education.
- Cortana is improved from the early beta days and now has the ability to dictate E-mail, as well as being more tightly integrated in to the OS with a highly polished feel.
- Microsoft Edge will be the new browser from Microsoft, though for legacy support, Internet Explorer will also be offered. As screen reader users we may need to stay away from Edge for the time being, unless you’re willing to run nightly beta software.
- Virtual desktops will be offered in Windows 10 and are quite useful, though may pose some key conflicts with other favorite Twitter software in the community.
- The start menu has returned to an older style, though still offering the tiled approach for the modern apps.
- The notification center has been greatly enhanced and now replaces notification balloons, allowing the user to scroll through and selectively or collectively dismiss notifications.
- Screen readers are expected to support Windows 10 at launch, though currently NVDA is pulling ahead of the pack in terms of support.
Give the show a listen to hear us discuss all of these highlights and much more.
As always, feel free to contact us with any feedback you may have, we’d love to hear from you.
