--- description: Windows 10 releases on July 29 with a few crucial improvements title: 5 Windows 10 Features We Can't Wait to Use image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d6addf0adcae448/6986a348169ab0ae6c27b28d/microsoft.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 Windows 10 Features We Can't Wait to Use  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2015 3:22 PM CUT  Microsoft's logos sit on display on plant buildings at the Nokia Oyj mobile handset factory, operated by Microsoft Corp., in Komarom, Hungary, on July 21, 2014. Microsoft's logos sit on display on plant buildings at the Nokia Oyj mobile handset factory, operated by Microsoft Corp., in Komarom, Hungary, on July 21, 2014.Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 1, 2015 3:22 PM CUT [Microsoft will release Windows 10](http://time.com/3903014/microsoft-windows-10-release-date/ "undefined") as a free upgrade on July 29, introducing a host of new features for Windows users. Here are five stand out features that can’t come soon enough: **The Start Menu –** It’s the little things that count. In Windows 8, Microsoft banished the start menu from the start screen, bewildering users with a sprawl of “live tiles” for launching apps. In Windows 10, the start menu will make a grand re-entry into the left-hand corner of the screen, albeit with a few clever tweaks. The live tiles for launching apps will now appear as an embedded column in the start menu. An embedded search bar makes it easier to surface lesser-used apps. **Cortana –** Microsoft’s personal digital assistant will feel familiar to anyone who regularly gives commands to Siri or Google Now, with one essential difference: Cortana will be baked into your desktop. As a result, Cortana can conduct a single search across your hard drive, as well as the cloud and the web, bundling the results into a single pop-up menu. **Microsoft Edge** – Microsoft’s new web browser draws its name from a graphic rendering engine, the Edge, which uploads web pages at much zippier speeds than its aging predecessor, Internet Explorer. A smarter Bing-powered search, built into the address bar, draws results directly from the web as you’re typing. Weather forecasts, for instance, automatically appear in a pop-up menu below the address bar. Expand that predictive search to stores, restaurants and other items of interest, and it could circumvent the need to visit Google’s search page entirely. **Continuum** – Windows 10 will automatically detect a screen size of any device and tailor the display accordingly in a new screen-sensing feature called “[continuum](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://time.com/3841783/microsoft-continuum-phones-computers/&sa=U&ei=M3FsVfmBIfD8sATuioLQCw&ved=0CAgQFjAB&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHwa9EspuNJcpaoscXyGtvSkvYVCQ "undefined").” Connect a PowerPoint demonstration on a smartphone to a large screen display, and the view will automatically switch to desktop mode. Like that, the phone can offer a PC experience, blurring the line between what can be done on various devices. **Universal Apps** – Microsoft could finally end its app drought with the introduction of a unified code that works across desktops, tablets and smartphones. A new code base makes it easier for iPhone and Android developers to [transfer](http://time.com/3840459/microsoft-windows-apple-android/ "undefined") their code into the Windows ecosystem, rapidly filling in the gaps in the Windows Store. A preview of the next generation of Microsoft Office apps showed how Microsoft had managed to pack more desktop features into smartphones and tablets by giving the interface a thumb-friendly [redesign](http://time.com/3825609/microsoft-office-windows-10-smartphones/ "undefined"). ### These Vintage Computer Ads Show We've Come a Long, Long Way  1974  1976  1976  1977 Picasa 3.0  1977  1978  1978  1980  1980  1981  1983  1983  1983  1984 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3903068/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-features/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3903068/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-features/"},"headline":"5 Windows 10 Features We Can't Wait to Use","datePublished":"2015-06-01T15:22:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:46.300Z","description":"The new Windows comes out in July","url":"https://time.com/3903068/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-features/","keywords":["Tech","Microsoft","windows 10","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d6addf0adcae448/6986a348169ab0ae6c27b28d/microsoft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d6addf0adcae448/6986a348169ab0ae6c27b28d/microsoft.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Microsoft","caption":"Microsoft","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3903068/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-features/","name":"5 Windows 10 Features We Can't Wait to Use"}}]}] ```