Windows 10 – For better or worse?

Microsoft is soon to release Windows 10, the follow up to the polarising Windows 8.

Windows 8 was a bold attempt to redefine the computing experience, taking parts from mobile and tablet use and incorporating it into the desktop experience.

On the whole it wasn\’t the disaster many expected, but this had a lot to do with the 8.1 update that \”fixed\” a number of things including backtracking on some user experience issues that appeared to be a bridge too far for many users having problems moving to the new layout and design.

Overall I quite liked it, but tellingly, I decided to stay with Windows 7 when I upgraded my PC. Windows 7 worked, it worked well and I didn\’t have to learn too many things when I moved from XP.

Windows 10 is supposed to combine the best of both user experiences. It is also supposed to unify the experience across many devices, from phones and tablets to laptops and desktops.

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The Start menu is back, which was the bugbear of so many people, but the tiles remain and so becomes a fusion of both user experiences.

The date for release is around June 2015, users of Windows 7 and up (excluding enterprise editions and some others) will get a free upgrade for the first year. That definitely sounds like a future subscription model, so we could be in for paying monthly or yearly for our operating system.

Plenty of people will jump on the free upgrade, but I am concerned about the potentially higher cost of the subscription.

For a more in depth look at Windows 10, have a look at this CNET hands on