At its annual Build conference, Microsoft showed off some new features ofWindows 10, including a more transparent look and feel.
Microsoft's Joe Belfiore, corporate vice-president of the operating system group, unveiled updates to Cortana and the company's new web browser, Microsoft Edge (originally called Project Spartan).
One of the big visual changes to Windows 10 is the re-addition of the transparent Aero Glass look from Windows Vista and Windows 7. "We're trying to bring back some of that feel," Belfiore said.
And it's a good decision, as Aero Glass has aged far better than other UI paradigms. In fact, Apple embraced Aero Glass-ness with its latest desktop operating system, OS X Yosemite.
In addition to its Start menu, Microsoft is bringing back Jump Lists. Windows 10 will also use a new Spotlight feature to show users interesting images on their desktop's lock screen and various Windows 10 apps. Users can then choose to install an app directly from the lock screen (this feature can be turned off).
More ways to get into the Windows Store
Microsoft announced new ways for developers to get apps to its platform and inside the Windows Store.
Until now, developers have had to package their apps as Windows Universal apps for the Windows Store.While that's fine for new apps written with more modern design language, traditional applications written in Win32 or .NET are unable to be added to the Windows Store.
That changes with Windows 10. Now, Microsoft is allowing developers to package their Win32 and .NET apps to sell in the Windows Store.
To ensure security, those apps will be run sandboxed, so they don't harm other parts of the system.
This is big news for traditional app makers. Adobe has already said it will be bringing Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements to the Windows Store.
Microsoft manager Satya Nadella presents his vision for the future of the software company at the developer conference 'Build' in San Francisco, USA, 02 April 2014.
Microsoft's biggest event of the year is about to begin.
The company's annual Build developer conference kicks off Wednesday with an opening keynote from CEO Satya Nadella and other top execs who will share the latest on Windows 10, HoloLens and more.
If you want to follow along with every second of the two and a half hour keynote, Microsoft will be streaming the entire event on Build's website beginning at 8:30 a.m PT Wednesday.
The company is expected to preview the latest updates to Windows 10, which will run across phones, tablets and PCs. We're also likely to hear more about the latest Office apps, HoloLens, Microsoft'snew browser and the company's Siri rival, Cortana.
Microsoft, which has been increasingly focused on cross-platform experiences since Nadella took over, may also reveal new ways developers can bring existing Android apps to its platform.
With so many updates in the works, it's sure to be a jam-packed keynote so stay tuned as Mashable will be reporting live from the event in San Francisco with all the latest news and analysis.
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Microsoft Principal Program Manager Scott Hanselman speaks at the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 29, 2015.
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Microsoft caught many off guard Wednesday when the company announced it would be embracing almostall developers in Windows 10, even if they develop primarily for competing operating systems.
In a significant departure from its previous mobile strategy, Microsoft is now welcoming iOS and Android developers to Windows — part of its more ambitious plan to get Windows 10 on one billion devices within "two or three years," as Microsoft's executive vice president Terry Myerson noted.
But if Microsoft wants to get on a billion devices, it will need to address its lingering app problem. Despite previous efforts to inspire developers, Windows is still far behind iOS and Android in terms of quantity (and, in many cases, quality) of apps. The Windows and Windows Phone Store together have 585,000 apps, according to Microsoft, while Android and iOS both have well over a million.
Closing this gap, and winning over developers, will be key to Microsoft's 1 billion devices goal, which is why the company is now turning to iOS and Android developers. The company is appealing to them through something it calls Universal Windows Platform Bridges, a series of programs that allow developers to port iOS, Android, web and and classic Windows apps to Microsoft's new Universal App Platform.
IMAGE: MICROSOFT
Android developers will take advantage of a program called Project Astoria while iOS developers will have Project Islandwood. The specifics of these programs are not yet clear — interested developers can sign up now to become early users — but Microsoft says both projects will only require a few minor changes to an app's existing code to make them Windows Phone-ready.
In theory, this seems like a huge win for developers and Windows users alike. Developers now have a way to support a new platform with minimal extra work while Windows Phone users stand to benefit from an expanded app catalog.
Back in the real world, however, many developers are not yet convinced.
Is it worth the effort?
Although the ability to reuse code is nice, plenty of developers we spoke with said simply having that ability wouldn't change their decision about whether or not to target Windows or Windows Phone.
Moshe Berman, a Brooklyn College '16 student who has developed on iOS says the announcement is "interesting" but that he has enough on his plate handling current projects.
"I'm definitely excited to see where this new Microsoft of open source is going, and this is a welcome move. How effective it is remains to be seen," Berman says.
It's also worth noting that for plenty of developers, the issue isn't so much around porting over code, but around maintenance and support.
@film_girl No. There's still not a large enough user base to be worth the trouble of Dev + Testing + Support.— Bryan O'Malley (@bryanomalley) April 29, 2015
@film_girl no. We dropped all WinPhone & blackberry apps because of support & maintenance costs
Plenty of developers we talked to said the big problem they face is that there still aren't enough users on Windows Phone or who buy apps from the Windows Store on the desktop to necessitate the effort — even if it is minor — to move.
One lead iOS developer for a large social network told Mashable that this doesn't change his company's perspective towards Windows at all. The service has active development teams for Android and iOS, but last updated its Windows Phone app in 2013.
Another leading indie iOS developer toldMashable that "while this theoretically lowers the bar quite a bit, the biggest issue is still that there's effectively no installed base, and even if you try targeting the entire Windows desktop platform as well, there simply aren't many Windows users who buy apps like what most iOS developers make."
"So it solves a problem, but not theproblem."
@film_girl It's not enough to build it, but we'll have to maintain it, so chances are we won't until we have enough requests for it.— Michael Gaines (@starmike) April 29, 2015
The problems with porting
No matter how much Microsoft would like to pretend otherwise, developers are skeptical that it will really be that easy to actually bring code over to Windows from iOS or Android. At least, if you want an app to work correctly.
@film_girl we built Pocket Casts natively for windows phone. Porting never ends well
Shane Elliott, the director of technology solutions at Stellar Digital Design Agency, points out that the "write once, deploy everywhere" solution "isn't exactly new." The problem with these solutions, Elliott says, is that "it never comes without the usual steep learning curve and migration cost in terms of time."
"The issue is that in order to get fully native, optimized code deployed on a platform, you simply can't get all the way there unless you write it natively. Doing otherwise requires my team to rely on some level of automation to compile the code down. I'm not convinced this is a problem that's been solved yet."
Still, that's not even why Elliott won't be moving any of his code over to Windows from iOS or Android. For Elliott, it's the migration itself that's the biggest problem.
Since the code originates on a different platform, the code will still need to be restructured to some extent — what's called refactoring — to make it ready, Elliott explains, saying the idea of Microsoft replacing existing Google APIs sounds "like a terrifying prospect."
"In the end, I'd need to be convinced that I'm making the effort to move and refactor all that code onto a platform that offers some advantage," he says. "In terms of user base, Windows simply can't compete. So moving code to the platform with the smallest user base is just philosophically unwise."
Elliott notes Microsoft's approach feels like a move to win over new developers, rather than to migrate experienced ones. Still, he thinks Microsoft may eventually get to be where it wants to be, if it continues on the path of cross-platform development.
Elliott brings up a good point when it comes to refactoring and re-assessing what parts of the APIs are supported by Microsoft's new tools, and what parts need to be rewritten. For apps such as Candy Crush Saga — and potentially for clients for apps such as Snapchat or Instagram — the time necessary to port over code, even with optimizations, could still pale in comparison to taking the time to dedicate resources specifically for Windows.
It's also true that the less complex the app, the more it would makes sense to use the code-sharing tools. But for apps with very custom user interfaces and custom or complex API usage, porting code over will likely require a lot of work to get things to compile under Windows, and that's before we even talk about optimization.
The problem for Windows developers
Meanwhile, many experienced Windows developers are also troubled by Microsoft's more inclusive developer strategy. Those who have spent careers creating Windows apps are now concerned about their place in Microsoft's new ecosystem as iOS and Android developers can easily take their place.
To be clear, there will still be a need for developers who can create native Windows apps, particularly in the enterprise space. And, unlike BlackBerry's Android push, developers will still need to do some work to make their apps ready for the move, so knowledge of Windows will still be a valuable asset.
On its part, Microsoft has suggested this tension will sort itself out as users get a chance to actually get their hands on apps and provide developers with feedback. And executives maintain more apps and more developers will only make the platform stronger.
"Fundamentally, we believe that it's sort of the free market-system," Microsoft's head of Windows Phone Joe Belfiore said during a developer session at Build. "The end users will use ratings and in-app purchases to decide what they value the most, and that feedback goes back to developers, and you get a better result. So I don't think we're going to suddenly lose Windows 10's or Windows Phone's unique personality."
It's still worth a shot
The reality is, Microsoft is way behind in developer mindshare when it comes to mobile. That creators of some of the biggest apps on iOS and Android — Snapchat, Instagram and Lyft, to name a few — are nonexistent or ignored for years on Windows Phone has long been one of the platform's biggest, and most difficult to fix, problems. The best way to get developers to even consider Windows is to say, "hey, bring your code over to us from your platforms of choice."
If even a fraction of iOS or Android developers are willing to explore options on Windows, that could be enough to help Microsoft begin to finally catch up.
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A Dell laptop computer running Windows 10 is on display at the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 29, 2015.
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Microsoft revealed a number of new details about Windows 10 during its Build developer conference in San Francisco this week.
Between a closer look at Cortana's new abilities, new ways for developers to bring their apps to Windows, and finally giving the new "Project Spartan" browser a name, we learned much more about how Windows 10 will work on phones, tablets, PCs, wearables and more.
Windows 10 is coming this summer to PCs, and everything else later
In a briefing with media on Thursday, Microsoft Senior Vice President Joe Belfiore said Microsoft would indeed release Windows 10 this summer, but on PCs only to start. Since Windows Phone 8.1 came much later than Windows 8.1, the overall product cycle for phones is on a later track. Belfiore also said the arrival of Windows 10 on other device types — including the HoloLens and Surface Hub — would be "staggered."
IMAGE: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
When asked about whether Windows 10 would have a "release to manufacturing" (RTM) release — when the "final" software is given to PC makers, prior to general release — Belfiore was careful with his words. At some point Microsoft will give a version of Windows 10 for manufacturers to use as the build for new hardware, he said, but how that would differ from the upgrade that all Windows users will be able to download to Windows 10-ready machines (pretty much all Windows 8.1 PCs) is still being determined. He did say that if there is a difference between those releases, they would be weeks apart and not months.
Microsoft Edge
Windows' new browser finally got its official name at Build 2015: Microsoft Edge. It has a much more minimalist and touch-friendly design than its predecessor, Internet Explorer. Users will be able to mark up web pages and Cortana will be baked in. Even better, it will no longer have the bifurcated experience that plagued IE in Windows 8/8.1.
The main thrust behind launching a new browser is performance, and Microsoft claims that in tests of the preview software, it beats even the category-leading Google Chrome. If you had hopes of getting Edge on OS X or Android, however, you can forget it, at least for now: The company says there are no plans to bring Edge to other platforms.
IMAGE: MICROSOFT
More superpowers for Cortana
Cortana has come a long way since the virtual assistant was first introduced at last year's Build and the feature will take on a much more central role in Windows 10. Cortana, which will be embedded in Windows 10's new Start menu will be able to launch apps and games.
In the Edge browser, Cortana will occasionally make herself known in subtle ways. When visiting a retailer site, for example, an animated Cortana icon will appear in the URL bar, letting the user know about coupon suggestions.
On phones, Cortana will also get new abilities as the assistant will be able to field a wider range of questions thanks to more in-app integrations. Microsoft says more than 500 apps already support Cortana but developers will soon be able to integrate it even more deeply into their apps.
If Cortana detects an event on your calendar or in your email, say movie tickets you bought online, it will remind you to call an Uber at the right time and call the car for you.
IMAGE: MICROSOFT
A new interactive lock screen
An optional feature called "Windows spotlight" will bring Google Now-like functionality to lock screens. If enabled, it learns from your past use to provide tips and recommendations of new features to try or even new apps to check out.
The feature will also periodically change the image on your lock screen, based on what it recommends. It may be a Cortana-like image when offering Windows tips, for example, and change to a photo of an app when providing an app recommendation. Like Google Now, it can also provide some contextual information about your day such as upcoming appointments from your Outlook calendar.
Third-party apps on Outlook
Developers will soon be able to take advantage of "add-ins" for Outlook.com, which will allow companies to create a version of their service that runs natively within the service.
"The Outlook APIs create an open platform for developers to build contextual experiences for Outlook.com and Office 365 users that simplify everyday tasks, helping them get more done without the hassle of switching between multiple applications," Microsoft explains on its Office blog.
With Uber, for example, you can schedule a ride in Outlook and get a reminder on your phone when it's time to request your ride.
Microsoft says we'll hear more about add-ins in the "near future" but the three early partners we've heard about so far are PayPal, Uber and Boomerang(makers of the popular email scheduling extension for Gmail).
Resizable windows and Aero Glass return
Resizable overlapping windows is returning with Windows 10, Microsoft confirmed. It's a simple but significant update for many users who have long complained about Windows 8's reliance on full screen apps. Company executives even made a joke about this during Thursday's keynote, saying the running joke on the engineering team was that Windows 8 should have actually been called "Window 8" because of it.
Windows 10 features the return of translucent layers, the so-called "Aero glass."
Another legacy feature slated to make its return in Windows 10 is the "Aero Glass" look that originally debuted in Windows 7. The effect, which adds a transparent background on the Start menu is already available in the latest Window 10 preview and Microsoft says it expects the final look will be "pretty close" to what's already out there.
Continuum for phones and tablets
We learned a lot more about Continuum, the way Windows 10 will adapt for multiple form factors. Switching to tablet mode calls up a more minimalist Start screen than in Windows 8, and tablet mode will get a back button to make it consistent with Windows phone.
But what will the back button do? Some Universal apps don't use a back button and in that case it'll just take you back to the last window, Microsoft says.
Continuum will allow Windows phones to run apps on external displays as if they were full PC apps.
IMAGE: JEFF CHUI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
We got a taste of just how powerful Universal apps with how Continuum works on Windows phones. Hooking up the phone to an external display, you can run the tablet or PC version of the app directly from the phone, with the entire user interface adapting to the larger area.
It's also been sorted how Continuum will handle multiple desktops: Switching to tablet mode will simply treat the apps open on the various desktops as separate windows, preserving the desktops for when you switch back to PC mode. New apps that you launch will simply appear on the desktop you were using when you launched them.
Xbox live streaming
One of the new abilities of Windows 10 is the ability to stream games from an Xbox One on the same network. Microsoft says as long as your Wi-Fi is 802.11ac, there should be next to no latency, and checking out the feature on a Surface Pro 3, I'd say the claim is accurate.
Playing a little Sunset Overdrive via Xbox Live Streaming — and dying multiple times — I was tempted to blame my lousy gameplay on the quality of the stream, but it worked just fine and didn't stutter at all. I'm not sure how many Xbox owners will want to play Xbox games on a PC if they have a console, but the feature is solid.
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