Thanks for joining our live chat! Microsoft’s Windows 10 event was a box of surprises

By Jeffrey Van Camp and Andy Boxall Published January 21, 2015

Microsoft revealed the future of the Windows operating system today on January 21. It was an action-packed event with several key surprises and a few unsolved mysteries. We really enjoyed our live chat with readers — Thanks for joining us!

Windows 10 brings us a unified platform, Xbox game streaming, and holograms. Here’s everything we learned from the event, including news for mobile, PCs, gaming, and more.

News from the event

Earlier news on Windows 10:

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We were live at the Microsoft event, and we’ll add more hands on posts soon, so keep an eye out! In the meantime, you can watch the entire event here:

Thanks for joining our live chat, everyone! We enjoyed your commentary, and we’ll do another one soon.

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Deputy Editor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Topics

Computing

Microsoft backs off on pressuring Windows 10 users to upgrade

Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating system logos are displayed on laptop screens.

Microsoft has announced that it will ease up the aggressive add tactic to get Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 after receiving negative backlash from users, as Windows Latest reports. There is no official word on whether stopping the full-screen multipage popups is permanent, but a plan to “share a new timeline in the coming months” was mentioned.

Windows 10 Home users saw these ads, but some Pro and Business users also saw them after rebooting their computers. Regardless of who saw them, the ads’ pause comes as the Windows 10 end-of-life date, October 14, 2025, approaches.

Computing

PC gamers still prefer Windows 10 over Windows 11

A man stands in front of a gaming PC.

Windows 11 saw a decline in the latest Steam hardware and software survey for July 2024. According to Valve's data, gamers using Microsoft's newer operating system dropped below the 46% threshold. Currently, Windows 11 accounts for approximately 45.81% of all Windows users on Steam, marking a decrease of 0.82% from the previous month.

In contrast, Windows 10 experienced an increase of 0.74%, reaching a 50.16% share. Although gaming performance is generally similar on both operating systems, a recent test by Hardware Unboxed reveals that Windows 10 may offer better performance in certain titles due to the core isolation feature, where memory integrity is enabled by default on Windows 11.

Computing

Microsoft is backpedaling on future Windows 10 updates

The Windows Update screen in Windows 10.

Windows 10 is on its way out, with support ending in October 2025. That isn't changing, though Microsoft's approach to rolling out new features in the meantime definitely has. In a surprising move, Microsoft announced in a June 4 Windows Insider Blog post that it is bringing a Beta Channel for those Windows Insiders currently running on Windows 10 version 22H2.

This means that despite the end of support, Windows 10 users will continue to get some new features that were initially restricted to Windows 11, such as the new Copilot app. It's also possible that other features may be on the way, but Microsoft has not released any further information on the subject. It was originally stated that Windows 10 version 22H2 would be its final feature update, but that appears to not be true anymore.