Cortana is designed to look and feel like an extension of the Start menuĬortana’s visual interface is a lot more useful. It’s useful for simple things like the weather, but I found myself mostly using it to demonstrate Cortana to friends and family. There’s also an option to enable a "hey Cortana" feature that lets you simply holler questions at your laptop.
#Netsim 10 review windows#
It’s called Cortana, and it’s designed to look and feel like an extension of the Start menu, and just like the Windows Phone equivalent, you can also use your voice to search. Microsoft has also built a virtual assistant like Siri right into Windows 10. I find the quickest way to access Task View (and virtual desktops) is simply by swiping up with three fingers on a trackpad. There’s no quick way to switch between virtual desktops using a trackpad or mouse, but Windows key + Ctrl + left / right is a handy shortcut. I consider myself a Windows power user, but I only find myself using virtual desktops on my laptop rather than my desktop PC. It’s a true power user option, allowing you to create separate virtual desktops with different apps. Yes, Microsoft has finally added this to Windows after years of having to use third-party alternatives. That little button is also the gateway to a great new feature: virtual desktops. Microsoft claims the vast majority of its users have never used Alt+Tab to switch apps (one of those "weird but true" things about computers), so the idea is to help those users get better at multitasking.
#Netsim 10 review windows 10#
Microsoft has added a dedicated button to the task bar to try and get Windows 10 users to activate Task View and start using it. It displays all your open windows on a single screen so you can find what you’re looking for quickly. If you use a touchscreen, you can swipe from the left to bring up a list of all open apps and snap two of them alongside each other.Īlongside the snapping improvements is a new feature called Task View, which is a lot like Mission Control on the Mac. You can drag any window to a screen edge to snap it to half of your screen, and then the OS helpfully displays all of your other windows in an array for the other half. The Snap feature has seen the biggest improvements here. Microsoft has focused a lot on multitasking with Windows 10.
#Netsim 10 review windows 8#
The annoying hot corners in Windows 8 have been removed - thank god A new Action Center works as a notification center to collect alerts from apps and provide quick access to settings. The annoying hot corners in Windows 8 that made you pull your hair out just trying to access settings or even the Start screen have been removed - thank god. Navigating around Windows 10 is also greatly improved. It feels utilitarian, but in a modern way. Microsoft hasn’t added any transparency to built-in apps like File Explorer, so the effect isn’t overplayed or irritating. Across all three, you’ll notice subtle transparency effects have returned to Windows 10 from their roots in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
A black theme sets the stage for Windows 10, but if you’re not a fan of the darkness, then there are options to pick an accent color that can be shown on the Start menu, task bar, and the new Action Center. It’s more restrained than Windows 8 or Vista were - but not as boring as Windows 7. It seems like every version of Windows brings a different theme, and Windows 10 is no different.
This mix of features feels like the best approach for bringing the Start menu back, and you can resize it freely to customize it further. You can pin both modern and traditional apps to the Start menu, and there’s easy access to settings, shutdown or restart, and a list of most-used apps complete with handy jump lists for apps like Word that handle files. That means that they won’t take up your entire monitor anymore (unless you really want them to). Microsoft is keeping the Live Tiles it introduced in Windows 8, but it’s put them inside the Start menu. Instead of booting you a completely different screen, the Start menu lives in the lower-lefthand corner - just like it did in Windows 7. Instead, it’s completely redesigned it in a way that combines the best aspects of the last two versions of Windows. But Microsoft hasn’t simply just reinstated the old version from Windows 7. It’s probably the biggest change, aside from the dark theme, that you’ll notice after Windows 8. It feels slightly odd to celebrate its return, as it should never have gone away. If you’re upgrading to Windows 10 on a desktop or laptop PC, then prepare to be delightfully surprised: the Start menu you know and love is back.
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