The final release of Windows 10 is now available. Numerous new features and changes, as well as a smooth transition aim to make the new client tempting to users and companies. In this article, I look at the various appetizers and tidbits in Windows 10.

Now that the Windows 10 download app has started to appear on the interface of most Windows 7 and 8 computers, and because changes will certainly be made before the final publication, I first want to state that this article is based on the Windows 10 Enterprise Technical Preview Build 10049.

Small Talk with Windows

Cortana is the Microsoft personal assistant, which has been available to Windows Phone 8.1 users for some time. It can also be found in the beta versions of Windows 10, and the aim is for it be an integral part of the final version of the operating system. Cortana will help search the Internet and computers, keep the schedule in view, and even tell a joke if working on the computer gets too boring. You can communicate with Cortana via text or voice input.

You need to jot down the preferences and user tasks that you want Cortana to assist you with in the notebook. After the tool receives facts, such as interests, favorite places, and rest periods from the user, the language assistant should only give you relevant information at desired times.

Edge, the Second Browser

The market shares for Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) may have risen continuously in recent years, but its reputation is still not the best. Internet Explorer is seen as a gateway for many pests in the form of Trojan horses, viruses, and worms, and is in the focus of Windows administrators on Patch Tuesday every month.

With Windows 10, Microsoft decided not to develop Internet Explorer any further but, instead, to provide a different web browser in parallel with Internet Explorer called Edge [1], which is probably intended to end the era of Microsoft Internet Explorer in the medium term. However, for compatibility reasons and to ensure that all applications run, Internet Explorer does remain part of Windows for now. Edge is a universal app that runs on all devices such as smartphones, tablets, desktop PCs, and embedded devices.

The features of Edge are reminiscent of Google Chrome in many respects (Figure 1). The interface is limited to the essentials and does not appear cluttered. According to Microsoft, Edge is based on a new, fast rendering engine that runs without any ballast inherited from Internet Explorer.

Figure 1: The new Edge web browser is reminiscent of Google's Chrome.

Notebook for Websites

The notes mode is new in Edge. If it is enabled, websites opened in Edge are frozen. The user then has the option to attach notes and comments on the page content. Pages or parts of pages marked in this way can then be edited directly in other programs or forwarded to other Edge users.

Internet sites also can be bookmarked digitally; this feature hides, along with other functions, behind discreet control icons in the browser.