Windows 10 may have received its last preview build for the year, but that’s not to say Insiders and those interested in Windows have nothing to look forward to. In fact early 2015 is right about the time we expect to see the first Consumer Preview of the OS.
Winbeta is reporting, citing unnamed sources, that the first version of Windows 10 aimed at showcasing consumer features will start rolling out early next year. With the Technical Preview Microsoft has focused heavily on the desktop and has tried to show that Windows is still the best platform for the enterprise.
However, a consumer version will highlight previously unseen features including a new start screen, a full version of Continuum, Cortana on the desktop and so on. Some of these we know are coming and currently being tested from our own sources.
Winbeta adds to that list by mentioning Live Tiles on the desktop, a feature we’ve been asking for but which hasn’t showed up until now. According to this report Live Tiles will work exactly the way you’d expect, with users being able to drag them to their workspace and then they’d act similar to the way widgets used to.
Of course we’ll also get to finally see Internet Explorer 12, with its simplified UI, as well as further improvements to the Notification Center and a much more unified UI – aka Vista icons will be gone forever.
So when is all of this coming? There’s little doubt we’ll start seeing some of these features trickle down as early as January but any major announcements might have to wait until BUILD 2015, when Microsoft is also expected to launch an RC or at least a beta version of Windows 10 alongside Windows Phone 10 (technically the same OS) and the touch optimized Office suite.
Source: Winbeta