Microsoft Windows 10: 5 Features to Make Apple Users Jealous

July 29, 2015 12:01 AM EDT

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Apple devices often just look better than competitors’ offerings. That said, there’s always room for improvement. With Windows 10, out Wednesday, Microsoft is rolling out a whole new batch of features — some long overdue, others truly innovative, and several that haven’t made it to Apple’s desktops just yet.

Here are the Windows 10 features most likely to make Apple users jealous:

Smarter Screens

Windows 10 has a screen sensing feature called “Continuum,” which morphs your device’s layout according to how you’re using it. Got a touchscreen? Windows 10 strips away the tiny menus and fattens up the buttons. A PC? Back they go for easy clicking. The seamless switch from tablet to desktop suddenly makes those 2-in-1 tablet PCs — like Microsoft’s own Surface lineup — a far more enticing proposition.

“These are form factors that don’t exist in the Apple ecosystem,” says Forrester principal analyst J.P. Gownder. “Apple has the sleek design, but they don’t have the diversity.”

The Windows Stores lists more than 80 varieties of PCs, laptops and tablets, versus seven at the Apple Store. Now that Microsoft is expanding its retail footprint with more than 100 stores across the country, it has a better shot at guiding shoppers to a device that uniquely suits their needs.

Editable Webpages

Windows 10’s new browser, Microsoft Edge, makes finger painting on the web a breeze. The new “inking” tools includes digital pens and highlighters that can be applied directly to a webpage. “If you have a static web page and you want to share something, the quickest way to do something is to circle it and send it to your friend,” says Gownder.

See How Microsoft Windows Has Evolved Over 30 Years

Microsoft Windows 1.0 — **Windows 1.0** The seminal version of Windows released on November 20, 1985. Users could run programs in multiple windows simultaneously, sparing them the nuisance of quitting one application before launching another one.Microsoft

Microsoft Windows 95 — **Windows 95** released on August 24, 1995, equipping users with their first Start menu, as well as minimize and maximize buttons. Roughly 8 in 10 of the world's PC's were running Windows at the time of its release.Microsoft

Microsoft Windows 2000 — **Windows 2000** launched on February 17, 2000. Rocker Carlos Santana performed his song "Smooth" at the launch party, but the rollout proved bumpy due to several hack attacks that made headline news. Microsoft was forced into defense, releasing security patches throughout the product's lifecycle.Microsoft

**Windows Vista** released on January 30, 2007, on the heels of the massive success of Windows XP. Vista proved to be a harder sell. Despite security improvements and graphical flourishes, such as transparent window panes and smoother animations, corporate users blanched at the initial price tag and the onerous licensing requirements. Adoption rates flagged as users stuck to their older versions of WindowsMicrosoft

**Windows 7** released on October 22, 2009 to rave reviews and a palpable sense of relief that Microsoft had recovered from the missteps of Windows Vista. The system introduced a new "Snap" feature that enabled users to easily snap windows into place, side-by-side, for easy multitasking. It also debuted touch gestures in response to the burgeoning market for touchscreen devices.Microsoft

**Windows 8** released on October 26, 2012, attempted to radically redesign the start screen with "Live Tiles," a grid of commonly used apps designed for easy touching. The vast majority of Windows users continued to use the desktop PC's, however, and found the redesign, particularly the loss of the Start button, disorienting.Microsoft

**Windows 8.1** released on 17, 2013, attempts to bridge the chasm gap between touch and PC interfaces, offering users their choice of Start screens. By now, tech pundits have a theory: every release of Windows alternates between hits and misses, setting expectations high for the next version, Windows 10.Microsoft

**Windows 10** which released on July 29, 2015, blends the familiar layout of Windows 7 with touch features from Windows 8. The Start menu makes a grand reentrance, with Live Tiles discreetly tucked inside. Cortana, Microsoft's speech-activated assistant for smartphones, will also debut across all devices.Microsoft

Snappier Windows

The “Snap” feature, which fits one viewing window alongside another for easy multitasking, traces its lineage all the way back to Windows 7. The idea is a no brainer. Amazingly, it has eluded Apple’s design team until just now — Apple has finally announced snappy windows will release with iOS 9 later this year. But Windows 10 users will go on using it for the sixth year running.

Broader Search

The search bar embedded in the Windows 10 start screen can take a high-altitude view of stuff stored on your device, the cloud and the web — making it a one-stop shop for all your search needs. In its finest moments, it pulls answers directly from the web into a pop-up menu, eliminating the step of launching a separate browser window.

Digital Assistance

Cortana, Microsoft’s digital assistant, can go toe-to-toe with Siri on voice commands, but it really shines on personalized service. Microsoft took the unusual step of showing what Cortana’s machine learning algorithms have inferred about the user. Cortana’s “Notebook,” modeled after the notebooks kept by real life assistants, shows if Cortana thinks the user has a penchant for certain kinds of news, cuisines or apps. Users can modify the settings in an open dialogue with the digital assistant.

These 5 Windows 10 Features Will Make Apple Users Jealous

See How Microsoft Windows Has Evolved Over 30 Years

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