The first build for Windows 10 Technical Preview for Phones launched a couple of days ago for a limited number of devices, bringing a plethora of changes, features and improvements to the OS. These features include a revamped UI, a redesigned keyboard and a new built-in file manager, but there are several other smaller, albeit welcome changes as well including the improved stock calculator app.
The previous calculator app for Windows Phone 8.1 was quite limited in features, allowing Windows Phone users to perform only a limited number of basic and scientific calculations. However, the redesigned and vastly improved calculator in the first technical preview of Windows 10 for Phones takes productivity to a whole new level. The calculator can perform several operations including:
- Standard: Allows users to complete basic arithmetical operations.
- Scientific: Significantly advanced than the standard calculator used for trigonometric functions, modulus, logarithmic functions and calculations involving the use of Degrees, Radians etc.
- Programmer: Quite a decent calculator allowing users to convert between binary, decimal, hexadecimal and octal. It also allows users to perform logical operations including the use of AND, OR and NOT logic gates.
However, one of the most impressive additions to the stock calculator is the "converter"; also present in Windows 10 for desktop. As the name implies, it comes in quite handy when one needs to perform conversions related to:
- Volume: For conversions between millimeters, cubic centimeters, cubic meters, liters, teaspoons, tablespoons, quarts and gallons.
- Length: To perform conversions between meters, kilometers, centimeters, nanometers, inches, feet, microns, and millimeters.
- Weight: To interchange between grams, kilograms, hectograms, dekagrams, metric tons, ounces, pounds and stones.
- Temperature: For converting Celsius to Fahrenheit or Kelvin.
- Energy: Quite useful for conversions between joules, electron volts, kilojoules, thermal calories, food calories, foot-pounds and British thermal units.
- Area: Comes in handy when converting square meters to square kilometers, square centimeters, square millimeters, hectares, square inches and square feet.
- Speed: Extremely useful for students studying Physics which involves conversions between meters, centimeters and feet per second. It can also be used to convert kilometers to miles per hour and for knots and machs as well.
- Time: Ever faced difficulties in converting minutes to seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks or even years? This converter has you covered.
- Power: Used for conversions between watts, kilowatts, horsepower, foot-pounds and BTUs per minute.
- Data: This calculator will also come in handy when one needs to convert data between kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes etc.
- Pressure: For conversions related to pascal, PSI, bars and atmospheric pressure.
- Angle: This converter can be used for basic calculations between degrees and radians.
All these different type of calculators and converters can be accessed by tapping on the menu button in the top left corner of the app. It will surely come in handy in times of need, especially for students, programmers and engineers. The UI of the app is also cleaner and consistent with that of Windows 10 for desktop, which further emphasizes on Microsoft"s initiative to unify the Windows OS.
Enjoy the gallery below!