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WINDOWS 10 Codenamed “Threshold” Part of Windows NT family of operating systems Unveiled on September 30, 2014. Currently in public beta testing with

scheduled release in 2015 Goal: to create a unified application platform and development toolkit

for Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox One (which all use a similar Windows NT kernel)

WINDOWS 10 Satya Nadella explained that the company was planning to "streamline

the next version of Windows from three operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes," unifying Windows, Windows Phone, and Windows Embedded around a common architecture and a unified application ecosystem

Steps towards restoring user interface mechanics from Windows 7 to improve the experience for users on non-touch devices

FEATURES OF WINDOWS 10

RUNS ON EVERYTHING Optimized for both touch and non touch devices Microsoft is allowing users running the Desktop SKU (version) to run their Win32

applications in windows, rather than requiring them to use a separate desktop to do so The Windows 10 Desktop SKU can

run Modern/Universal and Win32

apps In either tablet or desktop modes. A single OS can run across a variety

of devices including but not limited

to PCs, mobiles, tablets and gaming consoles

KERNEL VERSION

Block diagram of Kernel Program Modular Kernel used by Windows

• Kernel version bumped to 10.0 from 6.3 as in Windows 8.1• Main reason for retaining Version 6 was to support backward compatibility of

programs• Applications without a manifest get the Windows Vista behavior. To get the

Windows 7 behavior, they need a manifest that declares that they support Windows 7

• With this change, changing the internal version number has become a lot safer.• It lets Windows 10 safely be version 10, when Windows 8 and Windows 7 could not

be versions 8.0 and 7.0, respectively.

GAMING AND DIRECT X12• DirectX 12 introduces the next version of Direct3D, the graphics API at the heart of

DirectX. Direct3D is one of the most critical pieces of a game or game engine• Direct3D 12 enables richer scenes, more objects, and full utilization of modern GPU

hardware.• It provides a lower level of hardware abstraction than ever before, allowing games

to significantly improve multithread scaling and CPU utilization• DMark on Direct3D 11 uses multi-threading extensively, however due to a

combination of runtime and driver overhead, there is still significant idle time on each core.

• After porting the benchmark to use Direct3D 12, we see two major improvements – a 50% improvement in CPU utilization, and better distribution of work among threads.

MEDIA CAPABILITIES• Adds native MKV support including thumbnail and metadata support in File Explorer• Also comes with new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) Standard out of the box• HEVC is a successor to the well known H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression

standard. • In very basic terms, HEVC allows for 4K resolution video to be compressed and

streamed on an Internet connection. In theory, it will even allow for 8K resolution video to be streamed

• Windows 10 will officially come with FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Code) support for all of your lossless audio needs

RESILIENT FILE SYSTEM• ReFS was designed to overcome issues that had become significant over

the years since NTFS was conceived, related to how data storage requirements had changed.

• Major new features:• IMPROVED RELIABILITY FOR ON-DISK STRUCTURES: ReFS uses B+ trees for all on-

disk structures, including all metadata and file data. Metadata and file data are organized into tables similar to a relational database. The file size, number of files in a folder, total volume size and number of folders in a volume are limited by 64-bit numbers; as a result ReFS supports a maximum file size of 16 exabytes, a maximum of 18.4 × 1018 folders and a maximum volume size of 1 yottabyte

RESILIENT FILE SYSTEM• BUILT-IN RESILIENCE: If nevertheless file data or metadata becomes corrupt, the

file can be deleted without taking down the whole volume offline for maintenance, then restored from the backup. As a result of built-in resiliency, administrators do not need to periodically run error-checking tools such as CHKDSK when using ReFS.

• COMPATIBILITY WITH EXISTING APIS AND TECHNOLOGIES: ReFS supports only a subset of NTFS features but does not require new system APIs and most file system filters continue to work with ReFS volumes. ReFS supports many existing Windows and NTFS features such as BitLocker encryption and Access Control Lists

CORTANA AND PROJECT SPARTAN• Cortana, the personal digitalized assistant from Microsoft, integrates deeply into the

OS• Spartan is the code-name for the new browser in Windows 10. The browser features

a new rendering engine, a new look and feel for Windows 10, and even features Cortana built right in.

• Windows 10 uses a new web rendering engine internally referred to as "Edge", which is "designed for interoperability with the modern web".

• Both "Spartan" and Internet Explorer use the "Edge" engine by default, but can revert back to MSHTML (Trident) for backwards compatibility reasons on internal, enterprise web pages

CONTINUUM MODE• Continuum is a new technology that auto-senses the user experience

and adapts. • The Windows 10 UI will change according to how you use your PC at any

given time. • For example, if using a Microsoft Surface as a laptop (with keyboard

attached) and then switching to tablet mode (detaching the keyboard or folding it behind the tablet), the UI will change automatically.

HOLOGRAMS